• The ASX is up 0.5% on Friday, 1% for the week
  • Gold stocks rally on flight to safety as China stokes regional tensions
  • RBA says unemployment rate will go up to 4% until 2024

Aussie blue chips rose 0.50% on Friday, taking the gain in the ASX 200 benchmark index to 1% for the week.

Gold stocks dominated the bourse on flight to safety as China ramped up its threats by firing missiles over Taiwan.

Multiple Chinese ships and aircraft were reported to have crossed the median line in Taiwan Strait earlier today.

At the time of writing, spot gold is trading at US$1,793.66 an ounce, and has rallied by around 2% for the week.

“Gold’s technical picture suggests it will continue grinding towards the $1900 region in the coming weeks,” said legendary analyst at OANDA Jeff Halley, who’s decided to hang up his boots today.

“The first test of that will come in the form of the US on-farm payrolls this evening.

“A soft US payroll number, though, will likely support gold’s upward momentum, as it is likely to result in another bout of US Dollar weakness as yields fall,” Halley said, like the bloody legend he is despite being a total Kiwi all this time.

Collecting our Friday beer money together, Stockhead journo’s hired a full-on professional writer to dedicate this iambic penta-sentence to Our Man in Jakarta:

“Mr Halley, like the Heavenly Body that is his namesake

Hath for so long now shot across the night skies of our lives,

Into our very hearts.

May his days be rich with idleness and Welsh beer;

His nights rich with idleness and Welsh beer.”

Fly well, Jeffers!

 

Meanwhile in Sydney…

The  Statement on Monetary Policy released today by the RBA showed that the Bank expected unemployment rate to rise up to 4% until the end of 2024.

Other ASX sectors to rise today include Consumer Discretionary, Staples and Healthcare.

The Energy sector fell by another 2% today, down for the last five days, taking its weekly loss to almost 4%.

The Brent crude oil price has retreated by 9% over the past week, and is now trading at US$94.63 a barrel.

While it brings relief to households, energy traders are concerned about falling demand as a the US inventory report yesterday showed that summer gasoline consumption has fallen to below pandemic levels.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
NVX Novonix Limited 3.03 12% 6822241 $1,318,208,791
LFG Liberty Fin Group 4.3 6% 17123 $1,226,544,000
LTR Liontown Resources 1.5 6% 12178046 $3,091,037,529
CXO Core Lithium 1.285 6% 16825777 $2,097,418,961
SLR Silver Lake Resource 1.5325 6% 6015747 $1,347,252,371
CTD Corp Travel Limited 20.85 6% 487809 $2,862,350,368
MEZ Meridian Energy 4.69 6% 34966 $5,602,757,812
LFS Latitude Group 1.6 5% 29949 $1,578,461,538
CMM Capricorn Metals 4.23 5% 1299749 $1,495,139,244
CIA Champion Iron Ltd 4.78 5% 1582261 $2,353,228,723
PNV Polynovo Limited 1.9 5% 2614188 $1,197,655,360
INR Ioneer Ltd 0.645 5% 6194381 $1,290,352,457
CRN Coronado Global Res 1.4675 5% 4646301 $2,347,035,222
IGO IGO Limited 11.6 4% 2712305 $8,428,390,759
RRL Regis Resources 1.855 4% 3267588 $1,343,859,751
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Battery tech stock Novonix (ASX:NVX) surged by 13%. The company appears to have picked up a boost from proposed changes to US plans for tax credits on EVs, which would see American-made vehicles and components favoured heavily over their Chinese counterparts.

Novonix has said that it will begin producing synthetic graphite in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to become the first US supplier of the key ingredient for the battery market.

Silver Lake (ASX:SLR) and Northern Star (ASX:NST) were two of the best performing gold stocks today.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
MP1 Megaport Limited 8.51 -7% 1,158,078 $1,442,302,766
SQ2 Block 118.6 -6% 231,320 $4,800,786,488
KAR Karoon Energy Ltd 1.695 -6% 2,198,465 $1,001,763,207
NHC New Hope Corporation 4.055 -5% 4,044,712 $3,562,488,311
VEA Viva Energy Group 2.54 -4% 4,135,716 $4,111,449,724
NEC Nine Entertainment 2.04 -4% 3,229,996 $3,615,433,696
REA REA Group 124.46 -4% 172,868 $17,088,040,847
ASB Austal Limited 2.63 -4% 428,704 $987,872,760
WHC Whitehaven Coal 6.005 -3% 9,056,929 $5,948,009,675
YAL Yancoal Aust Ltd 4.71 -3% 1,203,218 $6,430,540,058
LSF L1 Long Short Fund 2.535 -3% 574,924 $1,595,133,961
BPT Beach Energy Limited 1.73 -3% 3,917,367 $4,060,773,908
ALD Ampol Limited 32.3 -3% 605,934 $7,914,012,708
HUB HUB24 Ltd 24.7 -3% 89,618 $2,031,876,558
XRO Xero Ltd 95.125 -2% 244,343 $14,630,248,720
AMC Amcor PLC 17.85 -2% 2,850,182 $12,956,206,743
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Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) fell 6% after the fintech company after reporting that its Q2 payments volume ($US52.5 billion) has missed estimates ($US53.47 billion). Gross profit for the quarter was was $US1.47 billion, in line with estimate. Block’s Afterpay business reported a loss rate improvement to 1%.

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