ASX standouts: Wednesday’s big movers and gainers
Blue chip and lithium stocks rally. Technology, uranium and coal stocks lag.
Mentioned
KEY POINTS
- US markets snapped a four-day Santa rally overnight
- Broad-based buying taking place across blue-chip stocks across most sectors
- Many lithium stocks pushing out of recent trading ranges or breaking out
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 have both rallied more than 1% since the ASX’s last trading session on 24 December.
Despite ASX SPI futures pointing to a flat open, the local sharemarket opened almost 1% higher.
ASX winners
All sectors are currently trading in positive territory. Although the tech sector is lagging behind, up just 0.02%. This might come as no surprise after the Nasdaq Composite closed -0.56% lower in overnight trade.
Household blue-chip stocks are leading today’s gains, with major banks including Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA), Westpac Bank (ASX: WBC), Australia and New Zealand Bank (ASX: ANZ) and Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) all up more than 1%.
There’s a lot of strength coming into lithium stocks with Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) jumping 6.1% to yet another all-time high.
Allkem (ASX: AKE) is trying to break above its 4-month trading range, up 4.8%. A close at today’s highs could put a breakout on the cards.
Other lithium names like AVZ Minerals (ASX: AVZ), Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR) and Lake Resources (ASX: LKE) are also posting outsized gains, up 8.5%, 5.2% and 4.2% respectively.
On the smaller end of town, Carnaby Resources (ASX: CNB) shares rallied almost 90% after confirming a major copper gold discovery at its Nil Desperandum Prospect within its Greater Duchess Project in Queensland.
ASX losers
Afterpay (ASX: APT) shares are weighing on the local tech sector after opening -2.3% lower. This mirrors the weak performance from Block (formerly Square), which fell 2.9% in overnight trade.
Uranium stocks opened lower after the Uranium ETF slumped 4% overnight. Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) is down 2.6%, Boss Energy (ASX: BOE) fell 5.6% and Deep Yellow (ASX: DYL) opened 2.6% lower.
Coal stocks are also retreating amid expectations that thermal coal prices are expected to trend lower in 2022, according to Reuters. New Hope Corporation (ASX: NHC) is trading 2.2% lower while Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) is down 2%.
