ASX Large Caps: Broad selloff on the ASX; Big Short goes long on Chinese tech stocks

Local shares finished -0.4% lower on Tuesday
James Hardie and Life360 were two of the best large cap performers
The RBA said further rate hikes may be required

The ASX 200 index finished -0.3% lower on Tuesday, dragged down mainly by losses in Staples and Healthcare sectors.

This comes as the RBA released the minutes for its May meeting, revealing that policymakers were determined to bring down inflation.

“Members agreed that further increases in interest rates may still be required, but that this would depend on how the economy and inflation evolve,” an excerpt from the minutes said.

Bullish on China

Elsewhere, China’s retail sales jumped 18.4% YoY for April, according to data released today.

Industrial production however rose by only 5.6% YoY, versus 10.9% expected by a Reuters survey of economists.

“It’s not good enough to meet with investors’ expectations, that’s a problem,” said Winnie Wu, analyst at BofA.

Meanwhile, Michael Burry of The Big Short fame is bullish on Chinese tech stocks.

Breaking🚨: Michael Burry just disclosed his newest trades

Chinese stocks are now his two largest holdings

He also spent $37M on the banks meaning he bought the dip 🏦

Total new buys: 19
Total new sells: 6 pic.twitter.com/gVg5l5fX8B

— Michael Burry Stock Tracker ♟ (@burrytracker) May 15, 2023

His Scion Asset Management portfolio has acquired more Alibaba and JD.com shares, effectively doubling his positions and making them his two top largest positions.

Alibaba and JD haven’t been performing well since their reopening rally in January, with the share prices down by -3% and -34% respectively on a YTD basis.

Closer to home, rating agency Fitch has confirmed Australia’s sovereign rating of triple AAA, labelling the outlook as stable.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
360	Life360 Inc.	6.59	13.73	2,885,963	$1,151,558,584
JHX	James Hardie Indust	36.79	8.24	2,757,238	$15,025,493,501
CEN	Contact Energy Ltd	7.47	4.33	4,048	$1,804,514,287
SLR	Silver Lake Resource	1.13	2.97	6,041,050	$1,018,070,045
TLX	Telix Pharmaceutical	11.38	2.76	976,208	$3,524,226,259
NAN	Nanosonics Limited	5.24	2.75	419,750	$1,541,782,540
STX	Strike Energy Ltd	0.44	2.33	1,347,583	$1,079,666,239
KAR	Karoon Energy Ltd	2.08	2.22	1,701,786	$1,142,481,156
CRN	Coronado Global Res	1.53	1.83	1,352,992	$2,514,680,595
FBU	Fletcher Building	4.58	1.55	1,075,760	$3,531,839,012
SFR	Sandfire Resources	6.18	1.48	2,700,565	$2,782,471,842

Family focused mobile app platform Life360 (ASX:360) surged 13% today after reporting a 34% increase in Q1 revenue to $68.1m.

The company made a bottom line net loss of $14.1 million; with positive Adjusted EBITDA of $0.5 million achieved one quarter ahead of expectations.

IGO (ASX:IGO) and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) lifted around 1.5%.

Fibre cement and gypsum provider James Hardie (ASX:JHX) was up over 8% despite reporting a 9% drop in its Australasian business over the past 12 months. The company’s net net profit rose 12% to $US512 million for the year.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
WBT	Weebit Nano Ltd	6.14	-17.47	1,887,833	$1,386,292,321
HUB	HUB24 Ltd	26.61	-4.76	114,047	$2,237,392,228
APE	Eagers Automotive	13.55	-4.44	421,112	$3,621,545,044
NWL	Netwealth Group	13.04	-4.12	565,410	$3,316,918,865
DBI	Dalrymple Bay	2.52	-3.82	796,939	$1,298,895,568
AX1	Accent Group Ltd	2.42	-3.78	919,414	$1,386,674,495
GUD	G.U.D. Holdings	8.84	-3.70	184,466	$1,293,413,309
ELD	Elders Limited	6.94	-3.61	4,028,065	$1,126,631,333
ARB	ARB Corporation.	30.95	-3.40	242,450	$2,630,461,540
LTR	Liontown Resources	2.84	-3.24	2,966,674	$6,447,407,748
DEG	De Grey Mining	1.45	-3.02	1,518,133	$2,326,138,703
SNZ	Summerset Grp Hldgs	7.41	-3.01	761	$1,779,912,765
LLC	Lendlease Group	7.95	-2.99	1,145,851	$5,645,547,712