ASX standouts: Tuesday's big movers and gainers

The ASX is up 0.18% led by technology stocks. 

US markets were closed overnight in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day. 

Other noteworthy markets such as Pan-Europe’s Stoxx 600 and German DAX (both blue-chip indexes) rose 0.5% and 0.3% respectively. 

ASX winners 

The S&P/ASX Technology Index is on a two-day winning streak but remains -8.8% year-to-date. Large cap names are pulling the index higher, including:

• REA Group (ASX: REA) up 2%

• Seek (ASX: SEK) rose 1.9%

• Xero (ASX: XRO) trading 1.6% higher

Lithium stocks are running hot after Allkem’s (ASX: AKE) quarterly report signaled continued positive pricing momentum for lithium. 

• Allkem is up 3.1% 

• Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) rose 1.8% 

Towards the more speculative end of town:

• Charger Resources (ASX: CHR) jumped 21% 

• Arizona Lithium (ASX: AZL) surged 19% 

There’s a number of quarterly updates coming through today, ahead of the February reporting season. Quarterly winners include: 

#1 - JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH) is trading 7.3% after reporting heightened customer demand in both consumer electronics and home appliance products. The company reported $287.9m in net profit, down 9.4% on last year, but up 68.8% over a two-year period.

#2 - Data#3 (ASX: DTL) shares are up 11.9% after expecting first half earnings growth of approximately 30%. The company said that it expects net profits to be slightly ahead of the top end of its $15m to $18m million guidance provided in October 2021. 

ASX losers 

Iron ore miners are trading slightly lower, ahead of China’s week-long Lunar New Year holiday. 

At the open:

• Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) tumbled -2.6% 

• Fortescue (ASX: FMG) down -0.8% 

• Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) down -1% 

 Other notable mentions include: 

#1 - Redbubble (ASX: RBL) plunged 24.8% after flagging its margins (as a percentage of revenue) will be negative low single digits. In October 2021, the company reaffirmed its margins will be in the “mid single digit range for FY22”.  

The weak result might be the catalyst behind the -4.1% decline from Kogan.com (ASX: KGN).