ASX Large Caps: ASX 200 rises on a sparkly Monday and a pretty burst of energy

ASX makes a warm-ish 0.7% start to the month
US shares help fuel the rise after Wall Street’s best month since November 2020
10 from 12 Aussie sectors in the green with battery metals driving Large Cap wins

The ASX 200 is on track to finish the first day of August trade 0.7% higher, after Wall Street’s best month since November 2020. The S&P 500 closed out July 8% higher , the tech-heavy Nasdaq’s July gain topped 11.3%, partly thanks to earnings like Apple’s, which rose 3% on its record June quarter revenue of US$83 billion – up 2% year over year.

Amazon found 10% after posting US$121 billion in Q2 revenue, beating analysts expectations with a US$2 billion stick.

Everyone except Christian thinks the retailer is a monster. More sensible people think it’s still operating on some super-tight margins (and that Jeff B’s still paying off some of his rocket upgrades. Maybe.)

In local news, a look at the sectors shows it was Energy (+2.02%) and Health Care (+1.72%), Telcos (+1.29%) and Utilities (+1.81%) powering the market throughout the day, as quarterlies continued to flood in, giving investors huge amounts of data to consider.

Information Tech (-0.37%) and Consumer Discretionary (-0.33%) provided the only real downward pressure, but that barely-there pessimism wasn’t enough to really dampen the mood.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Market Cap
AKE	Allkem Limited	11.79	5%	$7,192,783,210
LYC	Lynas Rare Earths	9.1	4%	$7,860,004,635
ELD	Elders Limited	11.75	4%	$1,765,055,755
CIA	Champion Iron Ltd	4.98	4%	$2,481,177,005
AIZ	Air New Zealand	0.565	4%	$1,835,813,052
SHL	Sonic Healthcare	35.4	3%	$16,452,803,114
SGM	Sims Limited	15.16	3%	$2,851,540,081
DRR	Deterra	4.45	3%	$2,283,231,041
BFL	Bsp Financial Group	5.15	3%	$2,336,117,115
PNI	Pinnacle Investment	10.31	3%	$1,997,598,573
WDS	Woodside Energy	32.84	3%	$60,722,017,677
GRR	Grange Resources.	1.15	3%	$1,296,219,342

We’re gonna have to belt through these today because the quarterlies are murdering everyone in the newsroom today – but high up among the noteworthy Large Cap winners today was Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC), up 4.49% as the seemingly unquenchable demand for battery metals keeps that sector upbeat and firing.

That sector sentiment also helped to lead Allkem (ASX:AKE) up 4.47%, which has been steadily rebuilding value since hitting a low of $9.92 in mid-July.

Rural suppliers Elders (ASX:ELD) climbed 4.52% after Goldman Sachs indicated the Agribusiness company was a strong buy, giving investors a share price target of $21 at the end of last week, due to its “strong track record; good industry structure; potential for positive earnings surprise; and an attractive valuation.”

And Champion Iron (ASX:CIA) is making the most of this week’s 9.95% surge in iron ore prices, with investors looking to get in on the gains, adding a handsome 3.5% to its price today.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Market Cap
UMG	United Malt Group	3.04	-17%	$1,097,987,425
MP1	Megaport Limited	8.29	-14%	$1,530,768,215
NVX	Novonix Limited	2.57	-9%	$1,376,579,660
IMU	Imugene Limited	0.225	-8%	$1,437,297,304
VUL	Vulcan Energy	7.35	-6%	$1,118,015,348
BRN	Brainchip Ltd	1.025	-6%	$1,865,507,926
SYA	Sayona Mining Ltd	0.185	-5%	$1,608,772,404

Not so lucky was Stanmore Resources (ASX:SMR) which fell 3.62% as coal prices fell by 0.85% and – amazingly – Hawaii announced that it had taken receipt of its last-ever shipment of coal before all of its coal-fired power plants are shut down for good.

Also sliding today was Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), down 3.31%, giving up its short lived gains gifted to it by investors in the wake of its reasonably positive quarterly report released late last week.