ASX Large Caps: Blue chips 1pc up as Tech surges, Whitehaven flags $3bn profit on record coal prices

ASX is up by 1% on Monday
Tech sector leads as Wistech and Brainchip both rose
Whitehaven Coal announces provides earnings guidance

The ASX was up by 1% on Monday at 6,672 points.

It comes on the back of a rally on Wall Street last Friday as bullish sentiment came back ahead of next week’s Fed interest rates decision on the 26th.

A strong retail sales print for June also drove US stocks higher on Friday, but a number of corporate earnings reports due later this week (Goldman Sachs, Tesla) could test the markets again.

Mining was one of the best ASX sectors today, as heavyweight coal miner Whitehaven Coal flagged a $3bn profit, underpinned by record coal prices.

“Limited capital expenditure in fossil fuels capacity, coupled with geopolitical tensions, means structural supply deficits that are supportive of commodity prices,” said a market analysis commentary from Principal Global Investors.

“Although demand may be weakening, it remains firmly above supply,” the note said.

The energy sector also got a boost today after oil prices stabilised to around to US$101.80 a barrel. This comes as the Biden trip to Saudi Arabia ended with no immediate breakthroughs.

“If Russia doesn’t switch gas exports back on to Europe at the end of the week, Brent crude could once again, find itself back near $110.00 a barrel,” says Oanda market analyst, Jeff Halley.

The ASX Tech sector meanwhile, was the best performer today as sector leaders Wisetech (ASX:WTC) and Brainchip (ASX:BRN) rose 6% and 10% respectively.

Looking ahead, the RBA will release the minutes of its July meeting tomorrow, while the Eurozone CPI is out later today (Euro time).

BIG CAP WINNERS

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
BRN	Brainchip Ltd	0.965	12%	7,896,378	$1,487,248,255
GNE	Genesis Energy Ltd	2.75	10%	34,699	$2,624,891,470
PDL	Pendal Group Ltd	4.09	9%	1,967,760	$1,440,642,082
SYA	Sayona Mining Ltd	0.145	7%	23,704,891	$1,113,311,610
LTR	Liontown Resources	1.02	7%	8,637,642	$2,082,613,938
WTC	Wisetech Global Ltd	47.165	7%	531,406	$14,401,655,688
SMR	Stanmore Resources	2.03	7%	1,613,459	$1,712,625,226
VNT	Ventiaservicesgroup	2.64	6%	645,928	$2,130,156,268
SQ2	Block	99	6%	108,119	$3,557,181,740
SUN	Suncorp Group Ltd	11.76	6%	6,696,135	$14,014,915,234
BLD	Boral Limited	2.72	6%	849,593	$2,834,937,237
CXO	Core Lithium	0.945	6%	7,795,897	$1,551,228,066
CCP	Credit Corp Group	22.82	5%	153,166	$1,469,247,163
GRR	Grange Resources.	1.19	5%	3,365,494	$1,307,792,729

Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) rose 6% after the ANZ Bank (ASX:ANZ) agreed to pay $4.9 billion to acquire Suncorp’s banking arm. The acquisition will need to go through the usual hoops, including an approval from competition watchdog, ACCC.

Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) rose 5% after saying it expects full year FY22 EBITDA to come in at $3 billion, compared to just $0.2 billion in FY21. Whitehaven said it achieved a record average coal price in FY22 of $325/t, following a record average coal price in Q4 of $514/t.

BIG CAP LOSERS

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
LFS	Latitude Group	1.505	-6%	17,145	$1,661,538,461
PPH	Pushpay Holdings Ltd	1.145	-3%	329,156	$1,346,235,654
KLS	Kelsian Group Ltd	5.67	-2%	165,443	$1,268,898,469
APA	APA Group	11.73	-2%	878,738	$14,170,525,114
NHF	NIB Holdings Limited	7.43	-2%	658,754	$3,484,605,197
FPH	Fisher & Paykel H.	18.46	-2%	299,045	$10,879,340,070
A2M	The A2 Milk Company	4.42	-2%	1,716,354	$3,353,890,941
SPK	Spark New Zealand	4.51	-2%	674,818	$8,609,302,385
ZIM	Zimplats Holding Ltd	23.92	-2%	4,684	$2,625,282,259
PSI	Psc Insurance Ltd	4.11	-2%	14,572	$1,460,179,420
LNK	Link Admin Hldg	3.935	-2%	532,484	$2,051,949,924
DDR	Dicker Data Limited	12.45	-2%	97,047	$2,186,818,605
EDV	Endeavour	7.94	-1%	1,654,317	$14,435,298,937
COH	Cochlear Limited	211.65	-1%	79,512	$14,122,623,037

Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) was down slightly despite record sales receipts of $351 million in June quarter. However, quarter on quarter revenue decreased to $294.5 million after a reduction in output at its Malaysian plant.