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ASX down 0.07% at noon as Tech rallies

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2023-08-22

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At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.07 per cent lower at 7,110.50, due to losses by key stocks offset a rally in technology shares.

The technology sector mirrored Wall Street's strong performance, achieving a notable uptick of 5.6%. Altium demonstrated an impressive surge of 27% (ASX:ALU), reaching $46.93, while Megaport (ASX:MP1) also excelled with a 21.4% rally, reaching $12.63, both driven by favourable financial outcomes.

In contrast, Coles (ASX:COL), the Australian supermarket operator, experienced a substantial tumble of up to 6.7%, marking its most significant drop since March 2020. This decline was attributed to reported challenges in managing costs and profits that fell short of predictions.

Similarly, BHP (ASX:BHP), a major conglomerate, saw a decline of 1.4% down to $42.92 due to dividends and profits that were below anticipated levels.

The SPI futures are flat.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Information Technology, up 5.58 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Consumer Staples, down 2.61 per cent.

The best-performing large cap is Xero (ASX:XRO), trading 3.97 per cent higher at $119.54. It is followed by shares in Allkem (ASX:AKE) and NEXTDC (ASX:NXT).

The worst-performing large cap is Coles Group (ASX:COL), trading 6.04 per cent lower at $16.19. It is followed by shares in Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) and QBE Insurance Group (ASX:QBE).

Asian markets

Asia-Pacific markets largely rose even as yields of U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds hit levels not seen in over a decade.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield hit a high of 4.34%, reaching its highest level since November 2007. This is notable as higher bond yields generally mean lower stock prices.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.81%, while the Topix rose 0.71%. Overnight, SoftBank Group’s chip unit Arm filed for a Nasdaq listing that is expected to be the largest of the year.

South Korea’s Kospi also gained 0.7%, and the Kosdaq was 0.73% up.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rebounded from a seven-day losing streak and gained 0.86%, while on mainland China, the CSI 300 was up 0.64%.

Company news

Lake Resources (ASX:LKE; OTC:LLKKF) reports that deeper drilling at the Kachi lithium brine Project in Argentina indicates significantly larger horizontal and vertical extents of the lithium-bearing brine than previously understood. In response, Michael Gabora, Director of Geology and Hydrogeology of Lake Resources, commented, “the latest drilling intercept results indicate that this resource is much larger than initially anticipated as the known lithium brine extent continues to expand laterally and vertically,” Shares are trading 5.3 per cent higher at 24.8 cents.

BBX Minerals (ASX:BBX) has announced that they have recovered precious metals from hole TED 020. In response, Andre J Douchane, CEO, commented, “We will continue to evaluate and fine tune several alternative methods to recover the precious metals from the bioleach solids.” Shares are trading 2.7 per cent higher at 3.8 cents.

Nimy Resources (ASX:NIM) has secured a $2.5M cornerstone investment from Lind Global Fund to conduct nickel and lithium drill programs. Nimy Resources Executive Director Luke Hampson said, “the funds invested by Lind will further our ability to drill highly prospective targets and propel our project to the next level.” Shares are trading 20 per cent higher at 15 cents.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1924.10 an ounce.

Iron ore is 0.9 per cent higher at US$110.35 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.23 per cent rise.

One Australian dollar is buying 64.12 US cents. 

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