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
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BPT | Beach Energy Limited | 1.36 | 10% | 30,790,803 | $2,817,447,065 |
| OSH | Oil Search Ltd | 4.40 | 7% | 28,748,257 | $8,539,966,229 |
| WHC | Whitehaven Coal | 3.26 | 6% | 16,020,497 | $3,170,217,792 |
| STO | Santos Ltd | 7.12 | 6% | 13,658,048 | $14,039,865,116 |
| ORG | Origin Energy | 4.76 | 6% | 11,787,377 | $7,943,061,930 |
| LFG | Liberty Fin Group | 7.00 | 5% | 180,394 | $2,018,940,000 |
| WPL | Woodside Petroleum | 24.04 | 5% | 6,502,672 | $22,185,176,179 |
| NHC | New Hope Corporation | 2.45 | 5% | 3,206,208 | $1,947,715,572 |
| AMP | AMP Limited | 1.03 | 5% | 71,595,145 | $3,217,114,265 |
| URW | Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield | 5.58 | 4% | 837,216 | $1,065,552,545 |
| ERA | Energy Resources | 0.375 | 4% | 618,325 | $1,328,897,951 |
| IPL | Incitec Pivot | 2.94 | 4% | 15,078,516 | $5,496,496,832 |
| AWC | Alumina Limited | 2.17 | 4% | 22,537,548 | $6,064,514,162 |
| CKF | Collins Foods Ltd | 12.00 | 3% | 528,328 | $1,354,841,837 |
| ZIM | Zimplats Holding Ltd | 21.84 | 3% | 5,381 | $2,276,536,276 |
| MMS | McMillan Shakespeare | 14.13 | 3% | 216,916 | $1,061,668,788 |
| CRN | Coronado Global Res | 1.385 | 3% | 3,962,214 | $2,254,830,267 |
| SYA | Sayona Mining Ltd | 0.18 | 3% | 11,739,542 | $1,071,566,163 |
| YAL | Yancoal Aust Ltd | 2.63 | 3% | 235,119 | $3,380,324,959 |
| AEF | Australian Ethical | 11.48 | 2% | 257,538 | $1,259,859,817 |
| IFT | Infratil Limited | 7.86 | 2% | 10,539 | $5,561,420,744 |
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
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| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LTR | Liontown Resources | 1.41 | -7.8% | 6,832,980 | $2,924,102,924 |
| PME | Pro Medicus Limited | 54.33 | -6.3% | 217,007 | $6,050,230,701 |
| EVN | Evolution Mining Ltd | 3.35 | -6.2% | 12,208,256 | $6,543,593,101 |
| CHC | Charter Hall Group | 17.51 | -6.1% | 1,251,096 | $8,686,743,493 |
| XRO | Xero Ltd | 140.86 | -6.1% | 368,258 | $22,281,803,456 |
| INR | Ioneer Ltd | 0.64 | -5.9% | 11,877,268 | $1,294,853,893 |
| FMG | Fortescue Metals Grp | 14.89 | -5.5% | 12,859,645 | $48,493,697,459 |
| UWL | Uniti Group Ltd | 3.96 | -5.3% | 2,498,882 | $2,872,794,076 |
| SNZ | Summerset Grp Hldgs | 14.11 | -5.0% | 203 | $3,421,000,339 |
| TNE | Technology One | 11.33 | -4.7% | 586,514 | $3,824,404,149 |
| MP1 | Megaport Limited | 16.42 | -4.6% | 546,947 | $2,702,562,867 |
| NXT | Nextdc Limited | 12.49 | -4.6% | 1,780,013 | $5,977,606,659 |
| HTA | Hutchison | 0.105 | -4.5% | 46,612 | $1,492,975,943 |
| GMG | Goodman Group | 21.53 | -4.3% | 2,904,649 | $42,016,326,476 |
| SHL | Sonic Healthcare | 39.42 | -4.3% | 743,977 | $19,743,874,956 |
| 360 | Life360 Inc. | 9.01 | -4.1% | 645,600 | $1,452,365,903 |
| APX | Appen Limited | 9.15 | -4.1% | 1,416,964 | $1,174,134,699 |
| NST | Northern Star | 8.28 | -4.1% | 5,918,607 | $10,047,495,623 |
| REH | Reece Limited | 18.64 | -3.9% | 179,152 | $12,525,633,270 |
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.