ASX standouts: Thursday’s movers and gainers
The ASX is down -0.16%, most sectors are down while mining stocks rally.
Source: iStock
Mentioned
KEY POINTS
- Mining stocks rally amid higher commodity prices including iron ore and gold
- The Nasdaq enters correction territory, breaching its 200-day moving average
- ASX tech stocks continue to weaken, down -15% year-to-date
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:
Towards the more speculative end of town:
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.
Silver stocks are on the rise as spot prices have rallied more than 5% in the last two trading sessions.
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%
