ASX Large Caps: Tech stocks surge again as key inflation number looms

The Aussie market was sluggish despite a strong session in overseas markets overnight, where S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted gains of around 2% and UK FTSE hit a two-year high.

The ASX 200 closed just 0.31% higher, with Tech the standout rising by over 2.5%.

Afterpay’s parent Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) was the main contributor in Tech, after jumping 10% on the back of a similar move of its US parent overnight. No particular news was announced by the company.

Other sectors were mainly in the red, with Mining and Financials down 0.5%.

Investors are nervously watching fresh inflation data due later today in the US. The data is expected to give the market additional clues as to how quickly and how much the Fed may raise rates this year.

Meanwhile, long-serving ASX Ltd (ASX:ASX) CEO Dominic Stevens announced his intention to retire from the market operator this year.

“He will leave ASX in a strong financial and operational position, and with the transformation of critical systems, platforms and infrastructure complete or nearing completion,” said ASX chairman Damian Roche, who will take over as interim CEO.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
BAP	Bapcor Limited	7.17	10.3%	8,831,834	$2,206,181,250
SQ2	Block	157.32	9.2%	242,402	$13,737,286,715
MP1	Megaport Limited	14.66	7.7%	1,830,642	$2,147,491,727
CTT	Cettire	2.89	7.0%	1,550,106	$1,029,343,194
PDN	Paladin Energy Ltd	0.79	6.8%	25,455,015	$1,982,416,330
AMP	AMP Limited	1.06	5.0%	116,460,508	$3,298,766,912
CXO	Core Lithium	0.86	4.9%	31,092,814	$1,389,349,984
NAN	Nanosonics Limited	4.73	4.9%	2,134,816	$1,361,022,402
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.645	4.9%	12,108,314	$1,261,087,265
HMC	Homeco Limited	6.59	4.6%	381,095	$1,828,678,037
AKE	Allkem Limited	9.91	4.4%	3,519,000	$6,050,117,811
LTR	Liontown Resources	1.575	4.3%	14,752,068	$3,310,260,049
NAB	National Aust. Bank	29.61	4.3%	8,564,259	$92,031,747,084
29M	29Metalslimited	2.71	4.2%	2,343,440	$1,249,183,000
VEA	Viva Energy Group	2.49	4.2%	5,111,839	$3,708,062,204
FMG	Fortescue Metals Grp	22.31	4.1%	6,708,839	$65,982,218,193
SFR	Sandfire Resources	7.44	4.1%	2,643,462	$2,931,370,535
IMD	Imdex Limited	2.86	4.0%	1,768,970	$1,090,244,100
APM	APM Human Services	2.89	4.0%	2,269,439	$2,549,765,810
APX	Appen Limited	9	3.9%	1,370,039	$1,065,828,773
SWM	Seven West Media Ltd	0.795	3.9%	10,892,566	$1,216,440,453

National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) beat market expectations after delivering quarterly cash earnings of $1.8 billion. The bank says the robust figure was driven by higher house prices and the improving asset quality of home and business loans, but CEO Ross McEwan warned that challenges still remain.

Embattled financial manager AMP (ASX:AMP) jumped 3% after it announced new enquiries from buyers for its AMP Capital business. AMP had earlier today declared a full year loss of $252m in FY21, from a profit of $177m in FY20.

After plunging 7% yesterday, Autobarn’s parent company BapCor (ASX:BAP) rebounded 10% today. Yesterday, Bapcor reported a sluggish EBITDA of $137.2m for the first half, a fall of 6% from last year’s corresponding half.

Megaport (ASX:MP1) is still rallying on the momentum of yesterday’s profit release, which saw the company posting a 70% year on year increase in profits to $30.9 million.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
CIM	Cimic Group Ltd	15.94	-6.8%	1,318,722	$5,326,279,453
DEG	De Grey Mining	1.165	-6.4%	9,683,120	$1,750,997,289
TPW	Temple & Webster Ltd	8.35	-5.4%	1,296,915	$1,063,599,354
ASX	ASX Limited	83.41	-3.8%	908,648	$16,786,636,497
PXA	Pexagroup	17.82	-3.7%	295,483	$3,280,527,078
ABC	Adbri Limited	2.91	-3.6%	1,751,467	$1,970,935,216
NCK	Nick Scali Limited	13.5	-3.6%	536,258	$1,134,000,000
HSN	Hansen Technologies	5.01	-3.3%	298,178	$1,039,479,587
AGL	AGL Energy Limited.	7.29	-3.2%	8,716,030	$4,957,595,030
FCL	Fineos Corp Hold PLC	3.68	-3.2%	35,741	$1,211,944,496
MGR	Mirvac Group	2.54	-2.7%	16,300,596	$10,290,364,166
ALX	Atlas Arteria	6.91	-2.7%	2,207,029	$6,809,029,405