ASX Large Caps: Coal stocks gain; Novonix in hot water over disclosure

The ASX closed lower on Friday, extending its loss to over 1% for the week
Coal and energy stocks gained, while insurance stocks fell
Novonix in hot water with the ASX

Local shares fell close to 1% on Friday, ending what has been a volatile week 1% lower.

The Energy sector once again led from the front, up almost 2% as other sectors languished in the red.

Coal plays were the main winners today, with the likes of Yancoal (ASX:YAN) and New Hope (ASX:NHC) surging by around 8%.

Coal prices are at all time highs right now, driven to record levels by a combination of shortages, the war in Ukraine, substitution due to surging gas and oil prices and rising demand as economies and businesses open up post-Covid.

Investors have also been adding to their energy stock positions amid a looming supply shortage going into the northern hemisphere winter.

Overnight, benchmark Brent crude climbed further (trading at US$92.40 now) after President Biden confirmed the release of the final 15 million barrels from the SPR, as part of the 180 million previously agreed, and warned more could follow

“This allows us to move quickly to prevent oil price spikes and respond to international events,” the President said.

Biden also called for “responsibly increasing American oil production without delaying or deferring our transition to clean energy.”

On the ASX, Medibank Private (ASX:MPL)‘s trading halt has been extended indefinitely.

Yesterday, Medibank released a statement saying it has been contacted by a criminal claiming to have stolen 200GB of data. The group has apparently provided a sample of records for 100 policies which is believed to have come from the company’s ahm and international student systems.

Lithium battery play Novonix (ASX:NOV) was in hot water this morning after the ASX enquired why the company had only released an announcement about a US$150m grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) yesterday, instead of when the day it was granted (14th Oct).

Novonix responded, saying that at the time it received the grant (14th Oct), it considered the information to be an incomplete proposal or negotiation.

“The correspondence from the DOE also stated that NVX was prohibited from disclosing its selection for negotiation of a financial award prior to the DOE making a public announcement about the matter.”

The NVX share price was down 3%.

Financial stocks also came under pressure today with most insurance stocks tumbling.

Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG), QBE Insurance (ASX:QBE) and Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) all slumped by around 2%.

Looking ahead to tonight’s session on Wal Street, not much action on the economics calendar but the EU is scheduled to release its consumer confidence index.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
TLX	Telix Pharmaceutical	6.725	12%	1,796,059	$1,878,647,640
NHC	New Hope Corporation	7.425	8%	7,863,215	$6,033,178,403
360	Life360 Inc.	6.27	7%	3,355,981	$1,100,037,932
PRU	Perseus Mining Ltd	1.7275	6%	3,393,994	$2,218,434,078
YAL	Yancoal Aust Ltd	5.95	6%	4,810,667	$7,420,869,636
CRN	Coronado Global Res	2.06	5%	3,138,674	$3,277,467,042
SYR	Syrah Resources	2.185	5%	7,453,002	$1,394,787,077
SMR	Stanmore Resources	2.75	5%	2,583,999	$2,361,620,049
WHC	Whitehaven Coal	10.525	5%	9,314,202	$9,324,876,547
EVT	Event Hospitality	14.2	4%	81,268	$2,198,706,906
BFL	Bsp Financial Group	4.9	4%	2,300	$2,209,950,501
ZIM	Zimplats Holding Ltd	24.95	3%	1,451	$2,597,296,470
CXO	Core Lithium	1.375	3%	25,805,791	$2,439,912,532
MIN	Mineral Resources.	74.31	3%	884,238	$13,643,305,767
CIA	Champion Iron Ltd	4.92	3%	1,231,113	$2,461,839,280

Telix Pharma (ASX:TLX) raced away 11% higher on no specific news.

Gold miner Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) rallied 7% after announcing that it will emerge as a strategic shareholder with a 2.94% equity holding in Mako Gold (ASX:MKG).

Mako has just completed the acquisition of an additional 39% interest in the flagship Napié Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, increasing Mako’s total ownership to 90%.

Life 360 (ASX:360) was up 5% after revealing changes to pricing for some of its US based premium offerings. Pricing for annual subscriptions remains unchanged.

The company said it will provide a more comprehensive update of the pricing and product rollouts as part of its Q3 earnings release on 15 November.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
HMC	Homeco Limited	4.185	-5%	1,257,904	$1,323,419,438
ORG	Origin Energy	5.29	-4%	3,987,428	$9,509,567,144
NVX	Novonix Limited	2.195	-4%	5,500,238	$1,109,630,181
RWC	Reliance Worldwide	3.36	-4%	1,569,239	$2,757,430,730
NIC	Nickel Industries	0.71	-3%	6,530,181	$2,007,486,020
GMG	Goodman Group	16.005	-3%	2,368,935	$31,065,349,334
NWL	Netwealth Group	11.52	-3%	351,615	$2,899,795,016
ARB	ARB Corporation.	25.71	-3%	120,559	$2,169,996,966
QBE	QBE Insurance Group	11.805	-3%	2,151,194	$18,054,041,133
MFG	Magellan Fin Grp Ltd	10	-3%	1,401,298	$1,889,872,799
CCP	Credit Corp Group	16.455	-3%	122,396	$1,149,078,806
WOR	Worley Limited	13.34	-3%	737,422	$7,209,013,333
QAN	Qantas Airways	5.85	-3%	8,840,728	$11,353,989,082
PPT	Perpetual Limited	24.22	-3%	185,879	$1,426,399,430