ASX Large Caps: Pilbara auction shows lithium price may have peaked, drags mining shares lower

• Lithium stocks dragged the ASX lower today
• Inflation expectations fall in Australia
• Aussie unemployment steady at 3.4%

Lithium miners dragged the mining sector lower today as the latest auction on BMX exchange suggests that spodumene prices may have peaked.

At the close of Thursday, the ASX Mining Index (XMJ) was down 1.5%, while the broad benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.5%.

Earlier today, Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) said that it accepted an auction price of US$7,552/t for 10k tonnes of spodumene concentrate, a 3% fall from November.

Shares in Pilbara plunged 11%, sparking a selloff in other lithium names.

An overreaction? Maybe.

11th BMX auction$PLS spodumene auction has closed with a highest bid of $7,505/t-SC5.5 basis,-3.8% from previous $7,805 on 16/11

Importantly PLS was making coin
@ US$1,000/DMT, selling spodumene@ $7,505 they are raining $AGY $BMM #BM8 $CHR $CRR $ESS #GT1 $PMT $RDT #WR1 https://t.co/CWfU2UN6Iy pic.twitter.com/4hNIXsTQIu

— RM (@RawMinerals) December 14, 2022

Meanwhile, the ABS said that Australia’s unemployment rate in November was 3.4%, the same as October.

The rate remains at near 50-year low as the economy faces labor shortages due to a significant reduction in migration.

The Melbourne Institute released its December inflation expectations report, putting it at 5.2%. This is a big decline from the 6% the previous month.

Elsewhere, data shows that China’s economic activity worsened in November.

Chinese industrial output growth slowed to 2.2% from 5% a month ago, while retail sales dropped 5.9% in November from a year ago.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has reportedly sold around $US3.58 billion worth of Tesla shares, according to a SEC filing seen by Bloomberg.

Musk sold at least 22 million shares. The Tesla share price slumped 2.5% overnight.

And ASIC has begun its legal proceedings against Finder for its crypto product, Finder Earn.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, “This is ASIC’s third recent action against a firm offering a crypto-asset related product that we consider to be a financial product.”

“Our message to industry is clear – just because an offer involves a crypto-asset related product does not guarantee it will fall outside the current regulatory regime.”

Looking ahead to tonight’s session, the BoE and ECB are expected to release their monetary policy statements.

Both are expected to increase their rates by around half a percent, in line with the Fed’s decision overnight.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Coal stocks like New Hope (ASX:NHC) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) were the best performing today.

APM Human Services (ASX:APM) rose 4% after announcing the expansion of its Allied Health service offering through the acquisition of Everyday Independence.

APM says the initial purchase price was $52.5 million, and the acquisition is EPS accretive in year 1.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Lithium stocks fell across the board including Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Liontown (ASX:LTR), Allkem (ASX:AKE) and IGO (ASX:IGO).