ASX Large Caps: Shares 1pc higher for the week; MinRes keeps mum on possible lithium spinoff

ASX was up 0.70% on Friday, and 1% for the week
MinRes up 13% on speculation of a lithium spinoff
China’s inflation softer than expected

Local shares ended Friday higher by 0.65%. For the week, the ASX 200 index lifted by almost 1%.

It was a mixed day for the local bourse as seven sectors rose and four fell as the Aussie parliament declared a 15-day rest in honour of QE2.

Mining was the best performer on the ASX, led by Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) which surged 13% following rumours that it would be spinning off and listing its lithium business.

The report, published by the AFR, said that JP Morgan has already been working on the plan and if executed, the standalone company would create the biggest lithium pureplay on the ASX.

The $13bn capped MinRes released a response to the ASX today which neither confirmed nor denied the rumours, saying:

“At this stage, any previously undisclosed potential strategic initiatives being considered by MinRes are not sufficiently advanced or certain to warrant disclosure.”

Meanwhile, the market breathed a sigh of relief after China’s inflation came in softer than expected.

According to data released today, China’s August inflation was 2.5% YoY – below market consensus of 2.8%. The POBC has inflation target of 3%.

More twist in the Twitter vs Elon Musk saga as it transpired that Twitter had paid its former top security executive, Peiter Zatko , a US$7m settlement after he was fired in June.

Musk is trying to back out of a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter and has used Zatko’s claims that Twitter had misrepresented its security practice as his defence.

“They’re paying the guy $7 million and making sure he’s quiet,” Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, said during a court hearing.

Back to the ASX, Consumer Staples was the worst performing sector today, with most retailers selling off on the last day of the week.

Bitcoin meanwhile, is back above US$20k, trading at US$20,557 at 3.45pm AEST,

Looking ahead next week, Australia’s unemployment rate is scheduled on Thursday, while the Eurozone CPI will be released on Friday.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.69	20.00%	21,591,412	$1,202,065,329
NVX	Novonix Limited	6.15	8.85%	3,641,639	$2,745,130,860
CXO	Core Lithium	1.365	7.91%	36,921,481	$2,169,553,705
CIA	Champion Iron Ltd	7.8	5.83%	1,665,105	$3,807,429,526
SYR	Syrah Resources	1.6225	5.02%	3,578,801	$1,033,808,201
TPG	TPG Telecom Limited	6.06	4.48%	1,300,410	$10,784,181,680
DBI	Dalrymple Bay	2.135	4.15%	366,338	$1,016,311,417
FMG	Fortescue Metals Grp	20.62	4.14%	9,936,423	$60,963,505,376
MIN	Mineral Resources.	52.56	4.06%	877,608	$9,538,824,158
FFX	Firefinch Ltd	1.035	4.02%	10,612,335	$1,172,245,519
ILU	Iluka Resources	11.325	3.80%	2,187,541	$4,625,101,851
VUL	Vulcan Energy	10.12	3.79%	490,808	$1,283,539,628
PPH	Pushpay Holdings Ltd	1.0525	3.69%	521,565	$1,157,950,224
TAH	TABCORP Holdings	5.38	3.26%	5,149,746	$11,596,270,573
ZIM	Zimplats Holding Ltd	28	3.09%	6,499	$2,923,438,547
LKE	Lake Resources	2	2.83%	13,662,671	$2,476,911,376

De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) has risen by another 12%, a day after reporting the completion of a pre-feasibility study (PFS) of its Mallina gold project in WA. The PFS shows an increase of almost 50% in production to 6.4 million ounces over an extended 13.6-year mine life.

Yancoal (ASX:YAN) was up 5% after reporting the termination of its takeover offer from Chinese company YanKuang.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AIZ	Air New Zealand	1.195	-7%	8,414,384	$1,437,240,611
HVN	Harvey Norman	5.35	-6%	3,316,171	$7,114,697,994
REH	Reece Limited	19.07	-5%	312,991	$12,926,143,462
XRO	Xero Ltd	102.69	-5%	509,672	$16,048,479,042
ABB	Aussie Broadband	5.33	-4%	781,012	$1,325,937,261
SDR	Siteminder	4.51	-4%	166,604	$1,280,148,360
SQ2	Block	186.46	-4%	180,811	$9,456,958,194
Z1P	Zip Co Ltd.	1.475	-4%	13,247,467	$1,027,000,659
PMV	Premier Investments	27.605	-4%	180,707	$4,559,920,272
JHX	James Hardie Indust	40.58	-4%	2,382,629	$18,749,190,079
IFT	Infratil Limited	7.49	-4%	26,104	$5,634,604,894
TLX	Telix Pharmaceutical	4.14	-3%	812,484	$1,339,532,766
NAN	Nanosonics Limited	3.93	-3%	487,425	$1,228,461,051