The ASX 200 tracked higher in a steady session of trade on Friday, after US stocks posted their best session since March overnight.

For the second straight day, it was resources and tech stocks that outperformed, with smaller gains for financials and energy stocks.

The ASX 200 Information Technology led the pack with a gain of around 1.4%, one day after ripping higher by 4%.

The iron ore majors also gained ground (except for Rio, because of this), as markets shrug off the two dominant fears of the past month — higher inflation, and an Evergrande-led shakeout in China’s industrial sector.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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$1bn market cap DRC lithium project developer AVZ Minerals (ASX:AVZ) was the day’s biggest large cap mover, climbing more than 10% on no news.

Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) also rose sharply for the second straight day, after flagging the sale of its stake in Adriatic Metals Plc — deal which will net it aggregate gross proceeds of $97m.

Among stocks with news, 4×4 accessories business ARB Corporation (ASX:ARB) led the way with a gain of more than 5% (the news: John Forsyth retired from the Board after a 34 year career with the company).

Other notable performers on Friday were large cap ecommerce stocks Kogan.com (ASX:KGN), up 4%, and Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW), up 4.5%.

Travel companies Webjet (ASX:WEB) and Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) also gained ground following the NSW government’s decision to free up its border control policies from November 1.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Pendal Group (ASX:PDL) led the laggards, after providing a quarterly update on its flow of funds under management (FUM).

The fund booked a “step-change” in total FUM stemming from its US acquisition of Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley LLC, although it recorded small outflows for its two other divisions — Australia and Europe, UK & Asia — in the September quarter.

Also among today’s laggards was Platinum Asset Management (ASX:PTM), which dipped after Judith Neilson — ex-wife of Platinum founder Kerr Neilson — took full control of a big stake in the company that had previously been subject to a March 2016 ‘Stability Deed’, and sold $292m of PTM shares in a block trade.