ASX Large Caps: Health stocks surge on Budget funding, as focus now shifts to US CPI tonight

The ASX fell modestly on Wednesday after banks traded ex-dividends
Healthcare stocks rallied after the Budget
Focus now shifts to the US inflation report tonight

The ASX fell 0.25% on Wednesday, dragged down by ex-dividend banking stocks.

Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) slid as much as 5% before paring losses to just -1% as it trades ex-dividend.

National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) also had similar moves as it traded ex-dividend today.

Uranium producer Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) was one of the best performing stocks, up 7% on no specific news.

Healthcare was the best performing sector after the Budget announcement that included a $3.5bn funding for healthcare and$12.4 billion investment into the aged care sector.

Sector leader CSL (ASX:CSL) jumped by 1.5%.

Crucial CPI report awaits

Shares in Asia mainly dropped ahead of the US CPI report tonight, with traders preferring to keep themselves firmly in wait-and-see mode.

The April US inflation report is expected to remind everyone that inflation is staying sticky. According to consensus, the CPI index will climb 0.4% in April after gaining 0.1% in March.

“The Fed won’t be raising rates on a hot report, but it will justify calls that rates will stay higher for longer,” said Oanda analyst, Edward Moya.

Beyond the inflation data, US default risks and banking wobbles loom as the next likely focus.

President Biden will meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy along with congressional leaders today at the White House to discuss the debt ceiling.

The US economy is inching toward a default if a deadlock over raising the US$31.4tn US debt limit could not be broken.

“No one is expecting any meaningful progress with this meeting” said Moya.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
PDN	Paladin Energy Ltd	0.71	8.40	20,049,939	$1,951,983,425
WBT	Weebit Nano Ltd	7.46	6.88	967,909	$1,296,460,740
DDR	Dicker Data Limited	8.88	6.60	414,791	$1,500,269,677
MND	Monadelphous Group	13.30	3.46	172,455	$1,237,991,102
LYC	Lynas Rare Earths	7.58	3.34	3,983,055	$6,844,867,446
360	Life360 Inc.	5.70	3.26	2,310,237	$1,097,858,961
TLX	Telix Pharmaceutical	10.95	3.25	457,606	$3,374,597,863
SKC	Skycity Ent Grp Ltd	2.16	2.86	208,024	$1,596,430,939

Green metals stocks like Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) and Lynas (ASX:LYC) had gains of around 2% on no specific news.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
BOQ	Bank of Queensland.	5.65	-4.40	3,576,912	$3,856,186,409
NAB	National Aust. Bank	26.30	-3.87	4,952,402	$85,874,365,238
LFG	Liberty Fin Group	3.80	-3.31	17,432	$1,193,949,221
CSR	CSR Limited	5.33	-2.65	3,078,492	$2,611,288,221
PLS	Pilbara Min Ltd	4.58	-2.35	14,209,985	$14,061,474,504
BSL	BlueScope Steel Ltd	19.75	-2.32	773,945	$9,318,909,768
TWE	Treasury Wine Estate	13.15	-2.05	1,262,405	$9,687,202,522
GQG	GQG Partners	1.40	-1.75	478,195	$4,207,747,743
BPT	Beach Energy Limited	1.42	-1.74	1,690,305	$3,285,120,465
UMG	United Malt Group	4.32	-1.71	412,757	$1,313,396,403
DHG	Domain Holdings Aus	3.19	-1.70	476,439	$2,046,569,176
PTM	Platinum Asset	1.78	-1.66	176,687	$1,061,888,809

Building products company CSR (ASX:CSR) fell 3% after delivering a 17% increase in net profit after tax of $225 million for the full year. The company declared a final dividend of 20 cents per share fully franked.

Looking ahead, CSR says activity in the apartment market is improving as more projects have commenced this year, while non-residential activity remains strong, supported by a large pipeline of approvals.