ASX Large Caps: Shares slump over 1pc as Qantas sells down some more; Albo's off to China

Local shares slumped by more than 1.1pc today
All 11 sectors were down, led by BHP and Allkem
Phil Lowe made his final speech as RBA governor

The ASX slipped further on Thursday, down by -1.2% as the index tracked its worst day in three weeks.

All 11 sectors finished in the red, with Mining down by around 3%.

Traders parsed through RBA boss Phil Lowe’s comments in his final speech as governor, titled ‘Some Closing Remarks’.

Lowe said Australian living standards would stagnate without urgent action by governments. He also took aim at the government over the “the lack of co-ordination with RBA’s efforts”.

“We are likely to get better outcomes if monetary policy and fiscal policy are well aligned,” Lowe says, as he makes way for incoming governor Michelle Bullock on September 18th.

To economics data, Australia’s trade surplus came in at $8 billion in July, down from $11.3 billion in June. This figure is short of expectations, with analysts predicting a surplus of $10 billion. The decline was mainly attributed to a 2% drop in exports, while imports increased by 2.5%.

Elsewhere, PM Albanese is set to make a diplomatic visit to China, becoming the first PM to do so in seven years. Albanese has confirmed today that he will visit Beijing before Christmas.

“I look forward to visiting China later this year to mark the 50th anniversary of Prime Minister Whitlam’s historic visit,” said the PM Office official statement.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
LTR	Liontown Resources	3.00	8.30	93,859,596	$6,100,247,973
CHN	Chalice Mining Ltd	3.12	7.59	9,396,747	$1,127,993,582
TLX	Telix Pharmaceutical	11.38	2.99	1,188,131	$3,530,680,519
SDR	Siteminder	4.80	2.13	301,292	$1,292,810,698
PXA	Pexagroup	11.25	1.90	978,667	$1,957,950,326
BPT	Beach Energy Limited	1.64	1.70	11,681,574	$3,684,353,854
VSL	Vulcan Steel	8.12	1.50	147,619	$1,051,268,576
JDO	Judo Cap Holdings	1.07	1.43	3,130,573	$1,160,795,866
VEA	Viva Energy Group	3.11	1.30	2,014,441	$4,740,590,378
LSF	L1 Long Short Fund	2.87	1.06	217,781	$1,751,195,938
AMP	AMP Limited	1.26	1.00	6,161,617	$3,482,503,105
EVN	Evolution Mining Ltd	3.58	0.99	2,364,268	$6,502,039,252
BFL	Bsp Financial Group	5.35	0.94	165	$2,476,265,889
WAM	WAM Capital Limited	1.68	0.90	626,301	$1,827,002,263

Liontown (ASX:LTR), Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) and Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) were top of the winners’ list.

Bendigo Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) says it plans to redeem all of its $275 million subordinated notes maturing in November 2028.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
SUL	Super Ret Rep Ltd	11.90	-7.03	531,478	$2,890,579,200
MMS	McMillan Shakespeare	17.04	-5.91	318,629	$1,261,235,165
CRN	Coronado Global Res	1.58	-5.39	1,383,105	$2,799,677,729
BHP	BHP Group Limited	43.79	-5.02	7,201,966	$233,668,904,181
APE	Eagers Automotive	14.75	-4.72	263,417	$3,976,818,347
CIA	Champion Iron Ltd	5.89	-4.69	793,708	$3,196,887,642
AX1	Accent Group Ltd	1.94	-4.68	1,409,858	$1,121,493,715
PDN	Paladin Energy Ltd	0.88	-4.59	16,441,290	$2,757,544,276
AKE	Allkem Limited	13.51	-4.25	1,535,840	$9,020,823,444
MND	Monadelphous Group	13.79	-4.24	88,945	$1,389,669,120
SGR	The Star Ent Grp	0.93	-4.15	6,033,714	$1,562,027,046
NEU	Neuren Pharmaceut.	11.09	-4.07	262,721	$1,463,099,215
PPT	Perpetual Limited	20.81	-4.06	333,652	$2,440,506,570
RWC	Reliance Worldwide	3.88	-3.72	841,835	$3,184,081,903

Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL), BHP (ASX:BHP), Allkem (ASX:AKE) led today’s selloff.

Qantas (ASX:QAN) extended its loss by almost 2.5%, three days after CEO Alan Joyce said he would bring forward his retirement by two months to help the airline “accelerate its renewal”.