Today’s plunge on the local bourse followed action in Wall Street on Friday, where US stock markets broadly fell across the board.
The three worst performing sectors on the ASX today were Mining, Energy, and Tech sectors, in that order.
The Materials index (which cover the biggest mining stocks) fell 3.75%.
BHP (ASX:BHP) and Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) were the biggest drags for the mining sector, dropping by almost 4% each.
ASX blue chip mining stocks have been falling since the recent plunge in the iron ore price.
The ferrous metal plummeted by another 5.5% overnight to US$100.80/t. October iron ore futures traded in Singapore hit a low of $US90/t in Asian h0urs today.
An announcement by China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment last Thursday didn’t help, after saying that it planned to involve 64 Chinese regions under key monitoring during a winter air pollution campaign.
In Energy, Santos (ASX:STO) fell by 4%, while Xero (ASX:XRO) dragged down the Tech sector after dropping between 3-4% – both on no news.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDV | Endeavour | 6.58 | 2 | 4133353 | $ 11,533,911,309.48 |
| AIA | Auckland Internation | 7.33 | 1 | 735908 | $ 10,675,995,743.25 |
| MCY | Mercury NZ Limited | 6.44 | 0 | 31994 | $ 8,732,348,980.53 |
| SPK | Spark New Zealand | 4.63 | 0 | 1042916 | $ 8,607,446,678.73 |
| AST | AusNet Services Ltd | 2.36 | 19 | 14346188 | $ 7,583,329,682.28 |
| HLS | Healius | 4.98 | 1 | 3498055 | $ 3,078,398,356.28 |
| NVX | Novonix Limited | 6.16 | 3 | 7052846 | $ 2,427,608,304.00 |
| HMC | Home Consortium | 7.87 | 1 | 897317 | $ 2,261,174,905.45 |
| TYR | Tyro Payments | 4.07 | 0 | 6856920 | $ 2,079,767,530.35 |
| AVN | Aventus Group | 3.29 | 1 | 2046980 | $ 1,865,510,134.92 |
| NUF | Nufarm Limited | 4.49 | 2 | 2056702 | $ 1,671,591,310.40 |
| ARF | Arena REIT. | 4.2 | 1 | 771776 | $ 1,425,517,617.78 |
| COF | Centuria Office REIT | 2.47 | 0 | 1363037 | $ 1,392,333,946.14 |
| CTT | Cettire | 3.73 | 3 | 1245067 | $ 1,383,894,738.60 |
| CQE | Charter Hall Soc In | 3.72 | 1 | 1221351 | $ 1,345,734,814.40 |
| GUD | G.U.D. Holdings | 10.17 | 0 | 294455 | $ 960,901,987.41 |
Energy network operator AusNet (ASX:AST) jumped 18% today after unveiling a takeover offer from Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield proposes paying $2.50 per share which values the company at well over $9 billion.
Another takeover target, ALE Property Group (ASX:ALE), also surged 20%. ALE is Australia’s largest listed freehold owner of pubs. The company received a scrip+cash offer from a consortium led by Charter Hall (ASX:CHC) that valued ALE at around $1.68bn.
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LYC | Lynas Rare Earths | 6.65 | -12 | 11071032 | $ 6,804,183,117.16 |
| PLS | Pilbara Min Ltd | 2.07 | -10 | 33145191 | $ 6,722,157,616.03 |
| ORE | Orocobre Limited | 8.54 | -9 | 5393907 | $ 5,955,522,648.90 |
| Z1P | Zip Co Ltd. | 6.38 | -7 | 9869076 | $ 3,845,006,806.32 |
| PDN | Paladin Energy Ltd | 0.86 | -17 | 51330150 | $ 2,758,325,733.47 |
| NIC | Nickel Mines Limited | 0.995 | -9 | 26339520 | $ 2,741,381,665.59 |
| CHN | Chalice Mining Ltd | 6.97 | -8 | 2097423 | $ 2,661,153,877.20 |
| CIA | Champion Iron Ltd | 4.48 | -12 | 4955971 | $ 2,588,173,486.36 |
| CRN | Coronado Global Res | 1.235 | -8 | 5270869 | $ 2,246,447,998.20 |
| ERA | Energy Resources | 0.415 | -14 | 2415869 | $ 1,790,320,851.03 |
| ASM | Ausstratmaterials | 10.53 | -7 | 488048 | $ 1,576,417,867.80 |
| INR | Ioneer Ltd | 0.61 | -8 | 24930917 | $ 1,256,769,954.66 |
| BET | Betmakers Tech Group | 1.17 | -7 | 6538051 | $ 1,075,206,956.81 |
Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) fell by 15% on no news. The uranium miner has been on a hot streak, almost doubling in one month after the recent rapid rise of uranium prices.
Other miners also fell across the board, as iron ore prices plummeted
Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Orocobre (ASX:ORE) fell by 8% each.