ASX Large Caps: Telstra, TPG jump after Optus debacle; James Hardie surges 13pc on Q2 update

Telco stocks like Telstra and TPG jumped after Optus outage
Mining, oil stocks fell as iron ore and crude prices slumped overnight
James Hardie surged 13pc on Q2 update

The ASX rose by 0.2% on Wednesday, boosted by rallies in Tech and Comm Services stocks.

Headline news today ~~should have been~~ was all about ~~Glenn Maxwell~~ the nationwide outage of Optus, which is the second biggest network in the country.

While investigations are still ongoing, unlisted Optus (which is owned by Singpore’s SingTel), has ruled out cyberattack as the root cause.

“This is a very, very rare occurrence and when I have more information about the root cause I will be the first to let all our customers know,” said Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin.

At the time of writing, some Optus services for both fixed lines and mobile are gradually being restored.

Telstra (ASX:TLS) rose 2%, while TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG) rose 1.5% after the incident.

Tech stocks also rallied after Nasdaq notched its eighth straight day of gains overnight, with the Magnificent Seven stocks all advancing and pacing the session.

Main ASX gainers here were Wisetech (ASX:WTC) and Altium (ASX:ALU).

Iron ore and oil stocks meanwhile were down after iron ore prices slumped overnight on weak Chinese data, and crude prices tumbled by over -4%.

Main losers in this sector today were BHP (ASX:BHP), which was down almost 3% and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) which slipped 2%.

Elsewhere in the region, Asian stocks traded in mixed territories as analysts said oil demand outlook in China, the world’s biggest importer, is waning.

Looking ahead tonight, Fed Reserve Jerome Powell is scheduled to give a speech.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
JHX	James Hardie Indust	46.71	13.13	1,664,338	$18,075,640,481
RHC	Ramsay Health Care	53.31	4.01	482,289	$11,758,527,811
YAL	Yancoal Aust Ltd	4.72	3.28	2,026,596	$6,034,408,227
CWY	Cleanaway Waste Ltd	2.51	2.87	3,025,539	$5,437,380,139
SQ2	Block	79.21	3.02	122,628	$2,597,491,598
CEN	Contact Energy Ltd	7.41	4.37	3,396	$1,807,278,261
MP1	Megaport Limited	10.38	2.77	294,969	$1,606,538,461
MAD	Mader Group Limited	6.84	3.48	41,175	$1,322,000,000
ABC	Adbri Limited	2.04	3.30	207,212	$1,287,059,200
JDO	Judo Cap Holdings	0.93	2.76	105,980	$1,003,917,254
PNV	Polynovo Limited	1.37	3.58	699,744	$914,558,395

James Hardie (ASX:JHX) was the best performing large cap, up 13%, after reporting record Q2 global Adjusted EBITDA of US$285.5 million, with an EBITDA margin of 28.6%. The company also reported record first half operating cash flow of US$459.1 million, up 74% on pcp.

Magellan Financial (ASX:MFG) was up 0.4% after hosting its AGM. A report by the AFR said proxy votes on its remuneration report showed that 58% of shareholders voted against it.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
S32	South32 Limited	3.10	-4.62	17,736,516	$14,720,090,346
NEM	Newmont Corporation	56.02	-4.47	1,329,626	$20,042,718,709
CMM	Capricorn Metals	4.64	-4.13	551,597	$1,819,637,567
CIA	Champion Iron Ltd	7.60	-3.25	1,916,719	$4,060,771,520
AWC	Alumina Limited	0.75	-3.23	10,623,918	$2,248,803,098
CRN	Coronado Global Res	1.66	-3.21	3,714,888	$2,875,118,147
DEG	De Grey Mining	1.18	-3.09	2,346,181	$2,185,900,878
GOR	Gold Road Res Ltd	1.85	-2.89	1,847,188	$2,056,681,278
RRL	Regis Resources	1.78	-2.86	2,224,511	$1,386,046,713
MCY	Mercury NZ Limited	5.52	-2.82	3,258	$7,902,170,718
IGO	IGO Limited	9.35	-2.50	2,563,216	$7,262,198,327
KAR	Karoon Energy Ltd	2.34	-2.50	3,235,204	$1,359,648,022
BHP	BHP Group Limited	44.52	-2.28	5,587,330	$230,931,784,696
HLI	Helia Group Limited	3.76	-2.21	422,608	$1,180,836,833
RIO	Rio Tinto Limited	119.28	-2.08	882,830	$45,217,847,027
SIQ	Smartgrp Corporation	8.82	-2.00	208,938	$1,195,530,021
BGL	Bellevue Gold Ltd	1.39	-1.94	4,076,522	$1,625,842,876
MEZ	Meridian Energy	4.55	-1.94	28,296	$5,875,978,000