ASX Large Caps: Iron ore stocks lead ASX 1pc higher; more KFC workers sue Collins Foods

ASX200 jumps almost 1pc higher on Wednesday, led by iron ore stocks
Aussie dollar trades at 5-month high
Collin Foods sued by more KFC employees

The ASX had a strong start to the last week of the year, up nearly 1% at the close of Wednesday.

Overnight, US stocks in New York also had a strong session, with the S&P 500 climbing to just 1% shy of its January 2022 record high after posting eight consecutive weekly gains.

On the ASX today, all sectors rose led by Mining, Tech and Real Estate.

Iron ore miners in particular had a good day as the price of iron ore climbed to a 1.5 year high of $US140 a tonne.

The price of iron ore has risen nearly 40% this year, driven recently by China’s aggressive moves to stimulate its economy. China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects that it will conduct to boost the economy.

Lithium stocks were also top of of the winners’ list today, driven by giants Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN).

The Aussie dollar meanwhile is trading at a 5-month high at US68.23c, recovering from a level of US62.7 cents in October as the market reacts to recent dovish US Fed comments.

Across the region, shares in Asia mainly rose, reflecting the market’s confidence that the Fed would be cutting rates in 2024.

Looking ahead to tonight’s session on Wall Street, the third and final September quarter GDP estimate is anticipated, together with weekly new unemployment data.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
LTM	Arcadium Lithium PLC	10.72	6.14	132,474	$6,489,295,026
LTR	Liontown Resources	1.61	6.11	10,573,822	$3,669,306,904
ASK	Abacus Storage King	1.16	5.45	494,103	$1,445,513,258
GMD	Genesis Minerals	1.85	5.27	3,442,530	$1,930,258,796
RED	Red 5 Limited	0.32	5.00	3,344,260	$1,038,656,775
MCY	Mercury NZ Limited	6.13	4.79	33,074	$8,138,679,348
GQG	GQG Partners	1.72	4.56	1,441,195	$4,858,309,202
HLS	Healius	1.61	4.55	2,009,103	$1,118,143,246
NEU	Neuren Pharmaceut.	25.08	4.33	332,060	$3,059,466,851
360	Life360 Inc.	7.60	3.97	332,514	$1,482,123,436
MEZ	Meridian Energy	5.09	3.88	31,512	$6,203,765,388
HMC	HMC Capital Limited	6.11	3.56	96,040	$2,056,567,154
MAQ	Macquarie Technology	67.24	3.38	5,500	$1,583,351,191
TUA	Tuas Limited	3.31	3.12	165,401	$1,492,521,346
CNI	Centuria Capital	1.79	3.03	438,836	$1,396,801,185

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
MAD	Mader Group	6.79	-3.00	134,868	$1,400,000,000
BOE	Boss Energy Ltd	4.23	-2.76	2,002,397	$1,761,117,806
CEN	Contact Energy Ltd	7.35	-2.00	6,272	$1,909,274,123
TAH	TABCORP Holdings Ltd	0.83	-1.79	5,013,068	$1,917,225,231
SIG	Sigma Health Ltd	0.98	-1.75	3,027,234	$1,313,332,906
LFG	Liberty Fin Group	4.00	-1.72	1,378	$1,236,481,763
TPW	Temple & Webster Ltd	8.60	-1.60	77,835	$1,074,580,395
AX1	Accent Group Ltd	1.94	-1.53	888,293	$1,106,399,530
AZS	Azure Minerals	3.70	-1.20	498,496	$1,715,461,611
IFT	Infratil	9.31	-1.06	22,205	$7,834,461,408
LSF	L1 Long Short Fund	2.95	-1.01	218,097	$1,845,984,059
IAG	Insurance Australia	5.63	-0.97	4,117,249	$13,640,834,473
SUN	Suncorp Group Ltd	13.75	-0.83	1,393,868	$17,605,841,216
VUK	Virgin Money Uk PLC	3.12	-0.80	582,103	$2,086,717,364
SDR	Siteminder	5.08	-0.78	84,363	$1,418,578,463
MGH	Maas Group Holdings	3.88	-0.77	76,736	$1,291,133,377

Collins Foods (ASX:CKF), the owner of KFC and Taco Bell franchises in Australia, said law firm Gordon Legal had filed a class action in the Federal Court of Australia on behalf of certain KFC employees.

Like the claim filed by Shine Lawyers (announced on 18 December), this competing claim also alleged that those employees were not provided with paid 10-minute rest breaks.

The franchisor and 88 franchisee entities, five of which are part of the Collins Foods group, have been joined as respondents to the claim. This class action raises substantially the same claims as the Shine Lawyers class action.