Today didn’t start well, after a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.

And the ASX 200 continued to lose ground into the close, finishing ~1.4% lower on the day.

The catalyst for capital flows at the big end of town appeared to be what’s now looming as a global energy shortage heading into the end of this year.

Brent crude prices climbed to new three-year highs above US$80/barrel in Asian trade, and ASX oil & gas majors have been perfectly positioned to benefit.

The ASX 200 Energy sector surged by almost 4% today, bringing its cumulative six-day rally to around 15%.

It stood out amid a sea of red in Tuesday trade, as mining stocks fell while the ASX 200 Financial index lost momentum in the afternoon to finish ~0.5% lower.

BIG CAP WINNERS

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

Wordpress Table Plugin

In line with the ASX 200 Energy theme, the top of today’s winner’s list was heavily populated by ASX oil & gas stocks.

Leading the pack was Beach Energy (ASX:BPT), which jumped by over 10% and has ripped higher by around 30% over the past week.

Today’s gains coincided with an investor presentation, where Beach targeted production of 28 million barrels by FY24, a figure which “excludes exploration upside and pre-FID projects outside of Enterprise”, the company said.

Other big energy gains were Oil Search (ASX:OSH) and Santos (ASX:STO), which both jumped by around 6%.

Power company Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) also rose sharply, after news broke that UK green power retailer Octopus Energy — in which Origin holds a 20% stake — received a £211 million capital injection Generation Investment Management, a group chaired by high-profile climate change advocate Al Gore.

Rounding out a mix of fossil fuel gains combined with clean energy wins, Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) continued its rally and at a close above $3.20. The stock has now almost tripled from its May lows just above $1.

BIG CAP LOSERS

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

Wordpress Table Plugin

Lithium developer Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) led the large cap laggards, although the stock is still up by almost 200% year-to-date.

Also falling today was Fortescue (ASX:FMG), which continues to trade with more volatility following the iron ore selloff.

And former tech market darling Appen (ASX:APX) continued its slide from above $40 late last year, with another 4.4% drop that saw it fall further below $10 to close at $9.12.