ASX standouts: Thursday’s movers and gainers

The ASX is down -0.19% after major US indices staged a sharp U-turn from a positive open to a -1% close. 

Most ASX sectors have opened in negative territory, as valuations continue to falter ahead of looming interest rate hikes.

11 ASX Sectors at 10:47 am AEDT

ASX winners 

Gold prices surged overnight after benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield failed to push above 1.9%. 

“That was the all-clear signal for many traders to pile back into risk assets such as commodities,” said OANDA senior market analyst, Ed Moya, adding that “gold wasn’t supposed to break above the US$1,840 level before next week, so it should be interesting to see if this rally sticks.” 

Local gold names are rallying alongside the overnight gains, including: 

• Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) 10.2%

• Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) 8.2% 

• Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM) 4.1% 

• Kirkland Lake Gold (ASX: KLA) 3.4%

Towards the more speculative end of town:

• De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG) 8.4% 

• West African Resources (ASX: WAF) 7.1%

• Perseus Mining (ASX: PRU) 6.4% 

Iron ore prices rose 2.3% to US$130 a tonne.

According to FastMarkets, transactions were mostly taken up by trading houses in anticipation of higher demand after the Lunar New Year holiday, a week long holiday commencing Tuesday, 1 February. 

• BHP (ASX: BHP) 1.8%

• Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) 1.6%

• Fortescue Metals (ASX: FMG) 1.1%

Silver stocks are on the rise as spot prices have rallied more than 5% in the last two trading sessions.

• Silver Mines (ASX: SVL) 9.1%

• Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR) 6.4%

ASX losers 

The Nasdaq paved the way for weakness across the local tech sector. Large cap losers include: 

• ASX (ASX: ASX) -1.9% 

• Seek (ASX: SEK) -1.8% 

• Xero (ASX: XRO) -1.2%