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ASX standouts: Wednesday’s big movers and gainers

Wed 29 Dec 21, 11:14am (AEDT)
santa

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%.

Written By

Kerry Sun

Content Strategist

Kerry holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University. He is an avid swing trader, focused on technical set ups and breakouts. Outside of writing and trading, Kerry is a big UFC fan, loves poker and training Muay Thai. Connect via LinkedIn or email.

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