ASX Large Caps: Broad gains as blue chips rebound from Friday losses

Local shares have clawed back losses from Friday, gaining 1.21% in a session where 10 out of 11 sectors rose.

Financials, Healthcare, Discretionary were some of the best performing sectors today. Even the Tech finished in the green, despite a pullback of 2% in the Nasdaq index on Friday.

Brent crude and gold prices, two barometers for the war in Ukraine, have steadied to US$109.50 a barrel and US$1,974 an ounce respectively after a volatile past two weeks.

Australia has just announced fresh sanctions against 33 Russian oligarchs, which now include Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

“We strongly support recent announcements by Canada, the EU, New Zealand, the UK, and the US of further restrictive measures against key Russian individuals,” Foreign Minister Marisa Payne told the AFR.

And with the national budget just two weeks away, PM Morrison has hinted at possible packages to ease the pain at the petrol pump. Plans could include reducing or freezing the fuel excise tax.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the US Fed FOMC meeting this Wednesday that’s expected to bring about a 25 basis point rate hike.

While earlier bets of a 50bp March hike has all but dissipated after the Russian attack on Ukraine, traders are still expecting a total of 200bp increase for the year.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ELD	Elders Limited	13.28	11%	1,923,648	$1,877,718,888
JIN	Jumbo Interactive	17.73	8%	263,734	$1,029,312,553
PDL	Pendal Group Ltd	4.54	6%	2,754,850	$1,636,048,322
ORI	Orica Limited	14.83	6%	1,581,990	$5,711,369,824
LFS	Latitude Group	1.865	6%	29,849	$1,827,692,307
VUK	Virgin Money Uk PLC	3.08	5%	3,049,878	$2,483,264,772
GQG	GQG Partners	1.335	5%	2,066,182	$3,764,826,928
DMP	Domino Pizza Enterpr	84.44	5%	220,919	$6,989,228,556
EBO	Ebos Group Ltd	36.03	4%	15,921	$6,509,416,875
NUF	Nufarm Limited	5.89	4%	2,430,163	$2,147,108,231
HUB	HUB24 Ltd	27.02	4%	143,974	$2,076,709,137
GUD	G.U.D. Holdings	11.25	4%	372,164	$1,523,071,664
DDR	Dicker Data Limited	13.89	4%	101,546	$2,310,672,628
GMA	Genworth Mortgage	2.9	4%	2,220,205	$1,148,063,160
CMM	Capricorn Metals	4.15	4%	7,113,336	$1,486,321,732
SUL	Super Ret Rep Ltd	10.54	4%	1,130,344	$2,294,397,240

Agricultural company Elders Limited (ASX:ELD) was the best large cap performer today, up by 10.5%.

Elders updated the market with a strong outlook statement, saying that it expects the FY22 Underlying EBIT in the range of 20% – 30% above FY21 figures, exceeding analysts’ forecasts.

“We have seen improvement in our Retail and Wholesale segments compared with the same time last financial year due to increased sales and favourable seasonal conditions in most parts of Australia,” said CEO of Elders, Mark Allison.

“Our Agency business continues to perform strongly as a result of high prices in both sheep and cattle, offset to some extent by lower volumes due to restocking and the good availability of feed on farm,” he said.

Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) was also up 1.3% after it announced further investment in its travel technology business, TP Connects (TPC).

FLT has agreed to increase its equity interest from 22.5% to 70% in the Dubai- based software as a service (SaaS) business, which has been at the forefront of ongoing changes to traditional distribution.

TPC provides services to customers in both the aviation and travel agency sectors.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
WGX	Westgold Resources.	2.14	-12%	5,449,173	$1,038,210,645
ERA	Energy Resources	0.335	-8%	404,011	$1,347,354,867
PDN	Paladin Energy Ltd	0.805	-7%	18,316,019	$2,330,678,659
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.475	-7%	13,890,316	$1,045,779,683
AVZ	AVZ Minerals Ltd	0.855	-4%	31,489,916	$3,089,596,457
CHN	Chalice Mining Ltd	7.59	-4%	1,082,131	$2,815,336,149
NIC	Nickel Mines Limited	1.15	-4%	29,591,241	$3,147,781,529
ASM	Ausstratmaterials	7.74	-4%	717,569	$1,124,418,408
AKE	Allkem Limited	10.17	-4%	2,761,902	$6,751,395,956
MCY	Mercury NZ Limited	5.23	-4%	35,628	$7,410,917,076
CXO	Core Lithium	1.045	-4%	32,309,651	$1,840,866,015
SQ2	Block	141.19	-4%	192,491	$7,123,372,502
PLS	Pilbara Min Ltd	2.77	-3%	12,846,039	$8,543,514,134
GOR	Gold Road Res Ltd	1.72	-3%	5,244,427	$1,570,620,640
VUL	Vulcan Energy	9.13	-3%	562,778	$1,242,729,650