ASX standouts: Thursday’s big movers and gainers

The ASX opened 0.1% higher after the US Federal Reserve intensified its battle against inflation by confirming its move to accelerate its bond taper and signalling more rate hikes in 2022. 

Overnight markets were unphased by the Fed’s hawkish pivot, with all three major US indexes closing at least 1% higher. 

ASX gainers 

Tech stocks have taken off after the Nasdaq surged 2.2% overnight. 

Xero (ASX: XRO) opened 5.2% higher after closing below its 200-day moving average on Wednesday. WiseTech Global is not far off a new all-time high after rallying 4.5%. 

Afterpay (ASX: APT) is finally getting some love after Block (formerly Square) closed 1.8% higher overnight. Afterpay shares are trading 2.8% higher, but still down 22% in the past month. 

Investment and superannuation portfolio services company Hub24 (ASX: HUB) rallied 6% after a sharp 7.3% selloff on Wednesday. The company is working through the acquisition of rival wealth accounting company, Class (ASX: CL1). 

The Supreme Court of New South Wales has today made orders for Class to convene a shareholder meeting to vote on the proposed takeover. 

MA Financial (ASX: MAF), a diversified financial services company, has rallied 6.5% after a successful $100m capital raising. The placement was held at an 8.3% discount to its last traded price on Monday, with proceeds used to acquire mortgage aggregator, Finsure. 

Beaten up PointsBet (ASX: PBH) shares are up 3.4% after announcing the launch of online and mobile sports betting operations in Virginia. This marks the eighth operational state for PointsBet, following successful launches in New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, and West Virginia.

ASX losers 

CSL (ASX: CSL) is making a huge dent on the healthcare sector after tumbling 8.2% at open. The biotech giant successfully completed its $6.3bn institutional placement, with proceeds used to fund its $16.4bn acquisition of Swiss-based Vifor Pharma. 

The placement was determined via a bookbuild process, where institutional investors submit bids for the number of shares and the price they would be willing to pay for them. New shares were priced at $273.00, an 8.2% discount to CSL’s last closing price on Monday. 

CSL’s CEO and Managing Director, Mr Paul Perreault said “We appreciate the support we received from the investment community, including existing and new shareholders, for what is the largest ever primary equity raise in Australia.”

Iron ore miners opened mostly weaker with BHP Group (ASX: BHP) down 1.2% and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) slightly lower, down 0.9%. On the smaller end of town, names like Champion Iron (ASX: CIA) slumped 3.8% and Mount Gibson Iron (ASX: MGX) is down 2.6%. 

Iron ore prices remained relatively stable overnight, down US$0.90 to US$111.00/t.