Markets were calm and collected on Thursday, as the ASX 200 climbed by more than 1% following a strong lead from Wall Street, and traded with little volatility throughout the session.
Investors are still comfortable with the US Fed’s plans to commence the wind-back of its post-COVID stimulus measures.
Shares in Evergrande were more than 10% higher on the Hang Seng exchange in Hong Kong, as fears subside that the property’s developer’s debt issues will become a contagion event.
In that environment, the ASX 200 Energy index chalked up an intraday gain of almost 3% Brent crude oil prices push back towards US$80/barrel.
The Information Technology index also moved higher as Afterpay (ASX:APT) climbed back above $130.
There were steady gains for the big banks, with more modest increases for the major miners after iron ore prices moved higher overnight.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVX | Novonix Limited | 6.62 | 9.8% | 7,070,536 | $2,439,746,346 |
| INR | Ioneer Ltd | 0.68 | 8.8% | 17,589,961 | $1,190,123,063 |
| LTR | Liontown Resources | 1.595 | 8.5% | 11,640,280 | $2,809,432,222 |
| NWS | News Corp | 32.56 | 8.4% | 450,583 | $1,070,149,981 |
| WHC | Whitehaven Coal | 3.11 | 7.2% | 13,859,855 | $2,994,668,273 |
| CTD | Corp Travel Limited | 23.71 | 6.6% | 795,943 | $3,045,074,970 |
| KGN | Kogan.Com Ltd | 10.65 | 6.4% | 1,347,478 | $1,069,950,972 |
| SOL | Soul Pattinson (W.H) | 37.74 | 6.0% | 878,430 | $8,527,261,298 |
| SZL | Sezzle Inc. | 6.15 | 5.7% | 734,289 | $1,151,984,342 |
| WEB | Webjet Limited | 6.25 | 5.6% | 4,410,545 | $2,243,738,128 |
| LOV | Lovisa Holdings Ltd | 19.82 | 5.5% | 223,706 | $2,018,092,152 |
| CRN | Coronado Global Res | 1.365 | 5.4% | 3,443,399 | $2,171,007,580 |
| IMU | Imugene Limited | 0.495 | 5.3% | 45,412,244 | $2,567,635,231 |
| AGL | AGL Energy Limited. | 5.98 | 5.3% | 9,666,435 | $3,538,831,933 |
| FLT | Flight Centre Travel | 19.98 | 5.2% | 3,411,891 | $3,789,024,187 |
| MSB | Mesoblast Limited | 1.72 | 5.2% | 2,113,024 | $1,060,618,074 |
| YAL | Yancoal Aust Ltd | 2.54 | 5.0% | 190,824 | $3,195,463,438 |
| Z1P | Zip Co Ltd. | 6.83 | 4.9% | 8,169,060 | $3,659,502,092 |
| AMP | AMP Limited | 0.965 | 4.9% | 24,765,578 | $3,004,817,385 |
| BAP | Bapcor Limited | 7.57 | 4.8% | 1,570,504 | $2,450,558,250 |
Among the large cap winners was media conglomerate News Corp (ASX:NWS), which also trades on the US Nasdaq, and overnight announced that its board had approved a US$1bn share buyback program.
Lithium battery producer Novonix (ASX:NVX) was recently admitted to the ASX 300 courtesy, having nearly tripled in value in FY22 to-date.
With a close above $6.50, shares in NVX have now risen by more than 3,000% since March last year.
Staying on the topic of lithium small caps that became large caps, WA-based explorer Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) also posted another day of strong gains, and has now risen by more than 2,000% since March 2020.
A travel thematic was also in play on today’s winner’s list, as both Webjet (ASX:WEB) and Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) rose by more than 5%.
And with coal prices recently hitting 12-year highs, $2.8bn Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) hit new 2021 highs today and has now almost tripled from its May lows.
BIG CAP LOSERS
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PMV | Premier Investments | 26.81 | -4.5% | 422,101 | $4,459,311,329 |
| VUL | Vulcan Energy | 13.51 | -4.2% | 1,891,444 | $1,742,847,124 |
| LNK | Link Admin Hldg | 4.27 | -3.4% | 3,426,362 | $2,370,119,680 |
| LTR | Liontown Resources | 1.47 | -3.3% | 10,554,352 | $2,904,991,141 |
| IAG | Insurance Australia | 4.87 | -3.0% | 11,914,113 | $12,374,803,034 |
| IPH | IPH Limited | 9.18 | -2.8% | 580,758 | $2,062,558,740 |
| AST | AusNet Services Ltd | 2.52 | -2.7% | 26,456,510 | $9,919,608,019 |
| LFG | Liberty Fin Group | 6.62 | -2.6% | 6,742 | $2,064,480,000 |
| TLX | Telix Pharmaceutical | 6.8 | -2.4% | 388,039 | $1,962,915,154 |
| LFS | Latitude Group | 2.15 | -2.3% | 239,872 | $2,200,000,000 |
| SUN | Suncorp Group Ltd | 12.17 | -2.1% | 4,829,924 | $15,947,275,770 |
| EVT | Event Hospitality | 14.65 | -2.1% | 126,093 | $2,411,484,994 |
| PME | Pro Medicus Limited | 57.92 | -2.1% | 205,412 | $6,173,406,551 |
| BFL | Bsp Financial Group | 5.29 | -2.0% | 246 | $2,523,006,484 |
| OCL | Objective Corp | 18.05 | -2.0% | 126,055 | $1,739,172,579 |
| WTC | Wisetech Global Ltd | 52.85 | -2.0% | 937,424 | $17,520,604,226 |
Leading the large cap laggards was biotech stock Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX), which announced US health regulators have extended the review period for TLX’s new drug application for Illuccix, its investigational imaging product for prostate cancer.