The ASX 200 seesawed in afternoon trade but mostly traded sideways as it closed the day slightly up by 0.26%, maintaining its level above 7,000 at 7,096.
The Tech sector also managed to stand its ground, up 0.6%, despite the biggest one day stock plunge in US stock market history as Meta (Facebook) plummeted 26% and wiped out US$230bn of market cap.
Other ASX sectors to rise today include Energy and Industrials, while most other sectors found themselves in the red by less than 0.5%.
The Materials sector meanwhile lost ground 0.25% as heavyweight Boral (ASX:BLD) adjusted down its valuation by 40% after trading ex-dividend, along with a massive cash distribution to shareholders.
On the economics front, a quarterly note released by the RBA today predicted that unemployment rate could fall to 3% if Australia could move on quickly from the Omicron outbreak.
The note also revealed that the central bank expects CPI to peak to 3.75% in June, which is much higher than its previous forecast of 2.75%.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRN | Brainchip Ltd | 1.73 | 9% | 39,304,195 | $2,725,835,809 |
| LTR | Liontown Resources | 1.455 | 6% | 13,214,927 | $3,003,557,776 |
| NWS | News Corp | 33.38 | 6% | 286,509 | $1,391,587,195 |
| AVZ | AVZ Minerals Ltd | 0.765 | 6% | 19,381,528 | $2,502,745,733 |
| PBH | Pointsbet Holdings | 5.12 | 5% | 2,310,336 | $1,288,999,746 |
| QAN | Qantas Airways | 5.17 | 4% | 7,075,501 | $9,335,921,255 |
| CXO | Core Lithium | 0.78 | 4% | 16,372,407 | $1,269,671,437 |
| VUK | Virgin Money Uk PLC | 3.81 | 4% | 2,868,471 | $3,189,427,973 |
| AX1 | Accent Group Ltd | 2.07 | 4% | 611,970 | $1,083,733,430 |
| S32 | South32 Limited | 4.11 | 3% | 14,926,732 | $18,506,724,397 |
| EBO | Ebos Group Ltd | 37.46 | 3% | 14,864 | $6,848,898,362 |
| PTM | Platinum Asset | 2.63 | 3% | 2,159,505 | $1,496,031,195 |
| INR | Ioneer Ltd | 0.66 | 3% | 5,498,055 | $1,312,350,975 |
| Z1P | Zip Co Ltd. | 3 | 3% | 6,192,026 | $1,713,509,512 |
Market darling Brainchip (ASX:BRN) was again leading the pack after rising by almost 7% on no news. On Tuesday, the US-based company announced it’s received an additional patent from the US patent office, bringing BRN’s total US patent suite to eight, along with one in China.
News Corporation (ASX:NWS)’s rose 5% as Q2 revenues increased by 13% to $2.72 billion, compared to $2.41 billion in the prior year. Revenues in the first half rose 15% year- over-year.
Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) jumped after it reported after hours yesterday on the successful completion of its $12.9m share purchase plan (SPP).
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLD | Boral Limited | 3.81 | -2% | 9,204,443 | $4,280,122,055 |
| NUF | Nufarm Limited | 5.48 | -2% | 3,024,388 | $2,123,962,509 |
| KAR | Karoon Energy Ltd | 1.995 | -2% | 1,477,565 | $1,134,992,536 |
| ILU | Iluka Resources | 10.21 | -3% | 2,383,252 | $4,435,160,544 |
| SDR | Siteminder | 5.79 | -3% | 76,752 | $1,616,988,416 |
| DEG | De Grey Mining | 1.175 | -3% | 3,863,829 | $1,701,772,465 |
| ABC | Adbri Limited | 2.89 | -3% | 1,513,662 | $1,951,356,389 |
| ARB | ARB Corporation. | 44.33 | -4% | 418,703 | $3,756,258,545 |
| SEK | Seek Limited | 28.11 | -5% | 1,039,324 | $10,419,410,394 |
| TLX | Telix Pharmaceutical | 6.845 | -5% | 1,263,891 | $2,211,929,170 |
Boral Ltd fell 40% after announcing trading ex-dividend and capital return.
Boral’s shareholders will receive a total cash distribution of $2.72 per share which totals $2.93bn, as well as unfranked dividends of 7c a share which totals $77m.