- ASX rises 0.86% today despite falls on Wall Street
- Energy, Miners and Utilities lead the bourse
- Australian consumer confidence rises despite terrible sense of all-pervading doom
The ASX finished higher today choosing to ignore the last shift in overnight sentiment on Wall Street, which finished marginally lower.
The benchmark ASX 200 index ended 0.86% higher as Energy, Utilities and Mining stocks rose across the board.
Oil prices, which are already up by 50% this year, climbed another 2% today as the prospect of additional supply from Opec+ members looks improbable. The 13 member oil cartel will meet Thursday (European time) to discuss its output plans for August.
A Reuters story overnight quoting France’s President Emmanuel Macron overheard telling US President Biden at the G7 meeting that UAE and Saudi Arabia were maxed out on production capacity also added to market jitters.
“That is probably the last thing the world needs to hear right now, given that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are regarded as the world’s two available swing producers at the moment,” said OANDA market analyst, heroic legend of the modern world, Jeffrey Halley.
Meanwhile, NSW commuters are all at sea in an ocean of traffic today as train drivers strike, while hospitals across the state could be short-staffed as nurses also stopped working.
On the economics data front, the ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index jumped 3.7% to 84.7 points.
This latest survey came as RBA governor Philip Lowe warned of more rate hikes. Lowe also suggested that the ABS issue a monthly inflation report (as opposed to the current quarterly) in order for the central bank to get a better handle on rapidly moving prices.
Australia’s 2021 census shows that our population grew to over 25 million people, rising by more than 8% since the last census in 2016, and doubling in the last 50 years.
Looking ahead this week, all eyes will turn to the ECB forum in Portugal this Wednesday, with Fed’s Powell, ECB’s Lagarde, and BOE’s Bailey, all expected to speak.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYA | Sayona Mining Ltd | 0.1725 | 23% | 112,620,963 | $1,153,947,222 |
| CKF | Collins Foods Ltd | 9.95 | 11% | 1,502,900 | $1,045,802,997 |
| NHC | New Hope Corporation | 3.58 | 8% | 2,610,602 | $2,771,749,083 |
| BPT | Beach Energy Limited | 1.7575 | 7% | 6,274,539 | $3,764,200,532 |
| NST | Northern Star | 7.44 | 6% | 6,740,405 | $8,179,186,078 |
| SMR | Stanmore Resources | 2.035 | 6% | 1,938,557 | $1,735,159,769 |
| GQG | GQG Partners | 1.455 | 5% | 1,687,958 | $4,089,635,526 |
| WDS | Woodside Energy | 32.73 | 5% | 4,159,233 | $59,468,842,828 |
| GRR | Grange Resources. | 1.3075 | 4% | 3,220,484 | $1,452,460,066 |
| S32 | South32 Limited | 4.2 | 4% | 12,435,993 | $18,729,655,857 |
| AGL | AGL Energy Limited. | 8.51 | 4% | 2,364,321 | $5,516,527,311 |
| YAL | Yancoal Aust Ltd | 5.395 | 4% | 453,104 | $6,866,285,072 |
| JHX | James Hardie Indust | 30.91 | 4% | 1,449,059 | $13,238,229,262 |
Lithium miner Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) spiked 23% after announcing plans to commence spodumene (lithium) production at its North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Québec in Q1 of 2023.
Following the restart of NAL operations, the offtake agreement with Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) entitles it to purchase the greater of 113,000 metric tons per year of spodumene concentrate, or 50% of production from NAL.
Collins Foods (ASX:CKF), which owns popular brands KFC, Taco Bell and Sizzler, rose 12% after delivering a strong full-year earnings report. Revenue rose by 11.1% on pcp to $1.18 billion, while underlying net profit went up by 25% on pcp to $59.7 million .
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMU | Imugene Limited | 0.2125 | -11% | 38,313,900 | $1,407,767,987 |
| NVX | Novonix Limited | 2.36 | -5% | 2,896,019 | $1,210,018,909 |
| PNI | Pinnacle Investment | 7.61 | -4% | 424,816 | $1,586,504,361 |
| BRN | Brainchip Ltd | 0.8875 | -4% | 6,810,301 | $1,585,784,983 |
| JBH | JB Hi-Fi Limited | 38.97 | -4% | 474,067 | $4,437,866,289 |
| LKE | Lake Resources | 0.8325 | -4% | 17,894,957 | $1,202,084,364 |
| CEN | Contact Energy Ltd | 6.69 | -4% | 5,191 | $1,721,528,789 |
| SQ2 | Block | 100.15 | -4% | 93,930 | $4,292,927,732 |
| CMM | Capricorn Metals | 3.31 | -3% | 798,906 | $1,274,520,885 |
| PPH | Pushpay Holdings Ltd | 1.145 | -3% | 218,905 | $1,351,940,043 |
| SEK | Seek Limited | 21.55 | -3% | 711,111 | $7,885,429,824 |
| CTD | Corp Travel Limited | 18.88 | -3% | 216,025 | $2,826,861,702 |