Here are the top ASX large cap movers for Thursday

It was the last full trading session for the ASX in 2021, and the local benchmark index closed flattish, just 0.04% higher at 7,512.

The move followed S&P 500’s 70th record close overnight, with the Dow Jones also hovering at all time highs.

Major miners led the gains today, with stocks like BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) rising by 1% each.

COVID-19 fears continue to be top of mind for investors going into the New Year break, with cases seemingly spiralling out of control.

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PM Scott Morrison is currently speaking at a press conference in Canberra, where he conveyed the national cabinet’s decision to narrow the definition of close contacts to household contacts, or “someone who has spent more than 4 hours with a confirmed case in a house”.

Another decision made by the national cabinet today was that large testing clinics could now offer PCR rapid tests for COVID-19.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Bega Cheese (ASX:BGA) rose 3% after announcing that mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has invested a further $100m to increased his stake in Bega to 6.6%.

Forrest made his investment through his Tattarang AgriFood Investments company.

Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR)’s US$1.865 billion acquisition of the MATSA Mining Complex has been approved by Spanish regulators.

The MATSA Mining Complex comprises three underground mining operations, and a world-class 4.7Mtpa central processing facility with state-of-the-art infrastructure.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) has refuted speculations in the media regarding a a possible transaction between BOQ and Humm (ASX:HUM).

BOQ said it was not not pursuing the transaction as speculated in the media article.

The BOQ stock price was down nearly 0.75%, while Humm rose  by almost 4%.