Evening Wrap: ASX 200 surges on gold and silver stocks, NEM soars 6%, DTR spikes 18% in critical minerals
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 41.6 points higher, up 0.48%.
Precious metals stocks are on fire, with gold and silver prices soaring overnight and into Asian trade today. This is a significant trend, and it's not just the prices that are up - stocks in the sector are also performing strongly.
Across the board, Aussie stocks had a great day, with all but the Utilities sector finishing in the black. The best performers were Gold (+2.7%), Consumer Discretionary (+2.1%), and Consumer Staples (+1.1%). In contrast, Real Estate (+0.02%) and Resources (+0.03%) lagged behind.
Resources was an interesting sector. The iron ore majors lost ground despite a stronger iron ore price in Singapore, and this cost most of the sector's points. However, there were many strong performances from critical minerals and base metals stocks.
The major sector and stock-specific moves, broker responses, and key economic data are all detailed in tonight's Evening Wrap. Additionally, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P/ASX 200 have been analyzed in today's ChartWatch.
Today's Highlights:
- Major Indices: ASX 200 8,759.4 (+0.48%), All Ords 9,092.7 (+0.52%), Small Ords 3,912.9 (+0.95%), All Tech 3,405.7 (+0.42%), Emerging Companies 3,314.1 (+1.52%)
- Currency: AUD/USD 0.6705 (+0.26%)
- US Futures: S&P 500 6,966.25 (-0.55%), Dow Jones 49,489.0 (-0.48%), Nasdaq 25,729.0 (-0.81%)
Today's Best Blue Chip Gainers:
- Light & Wonder (LNW) - $182.50 (+$27.8, +18.0%)
- Ramelius Resources (RMS) - $4.39 (+$0.26, +6.3%)
- Newmont Corp. (NEM) - $166.59 (+$9.19, +5.8%)
- Whitehaven Coal (WHC) - $8.23 (+$0.4, +5.1%)
- Lynas Rare Earths (LYC) - $14.78 (+$0.68, +4.8%)
Today's Worst Blue Chip Losers:
- Insurance Australia Group (IAG) - $7.73 (-$0.29, -3.6%)
- BHP Group (BHP) - $46.51 (-$1.21, -2.5%)
- APA Group (APA) - $8.58 (-$0.2, -2.3%)
- Life360 (360) - $31.64 (-$0.71, -2.2%)
- Suncorp Group (SUN) - $17.08 (-$0.38, -2.2%)
ChartWatch Analysis: Nasdaq Composite Index
The short-term trend ribbon has done its job, and the long-term uptrend has prevailed. The buy-the-dip activity from Thursday's candle has flowed through to Friday, with the buying stopping at the 23666-705 zone of supply. If a powerful candle with a long white body and/or a long downward-pointing shadow closes at or very near its high, it could smash the latent supply in 23666-705 and do two important things: give greater confidence to those on the supply side that higher prices are imminent, and spark fear and terror among those with cash, making that cash look like a deadly burden in a rising market.
Economy Highlights:
- AUS December ANZ Job Advertisements m/m: -0.5% m/m vs -1.5% m/m in November
- AUS December Household Spending: +1.0% m/m vs +0.6 forecast and +1.4% m/m in November
Upcoming Economic Data:
- Tuesday: AUS January Westpac Consumer Sentiment
- Tuesday: CHN December M2 Money Supply
- Tuesday: CHN December New Loans
- Wednesday: 00:30 USA December Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Wednesday: 00:30 USA December Retail Sales
- Thursday: 11:00 AUS MI Inflation Expectations
- Friday: 00:30 January Empire State Manufacturing Index
- Saturday: 01:15 USA December Industrial Production m/m
Interesting Movers:
- Trading higher: Manuka Resources (MKR), Dateline Resources (DTR), Light & Wonder (LNW), Maronan Metals (MMA), EQ Resources (EQR), European Lithium (EUR), Nova Minerals (NVA), Felix Gold (FXG), Northern Minerals (NTU), Unico Silver (USL), American Tungsten & Antimony (AT4), Investigator Resources (IVR), Argent Minerals (ARD), Power Holdings (PWH), Sun Silver (SS1), Andean Silver (ASL), Pmet Resources (PMT), Arafura Rare Earths (ARU), West Coast Silver (WCE)
- Trading lower: Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), Sunrise Energy Metals (SRL), Lumos Diagnostics Holdings (LDX), Mesoblast (MSB), 4DMEDICAL (4DX), Nyrada (NYR), Super Retail Group (SUL)
Broker Moves:
- 29Metals (29M) downgraded to underperform from hold at Jefferies; Price Target: $0.45
- AMP (AMP) upgraded to buy from neutral at Citi; Price Target: $2.10
- Brambles (BXB) upgraded to buy from neutral at Citi; Price Target: $26.75
- Capricorn Metals (CMM) downgraded to neutral from overweight at Jarden; Price Target: $11.00
- Elevra Lithium (ELV) retained at buy at Canaccord Genuity; Price Target: $12.50
- Fortescue (FMG) downgraded to underperform from hold at Jefferies; Price Target: $19.50
- National Australia Bank (NAB) upgraded to neutral from underperform at Bank of America; Price Target: $42.00
- Ramelius Resources (RMS) upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $5.35
- Sandfire Resources (SFR) retained at outperform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $18.00
- Super Retail Group (SUL) retained at sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $18.20
- Vault Minerals (VAU) downgraded to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $6.30
Scans:
- Top Gainers: CDR Codrus Minerals Ltd, ITM Itech Minerals Ltd, LNQ LINQ Minerals Ltd, NC1 Nico Resources Ltd, EMS Eastern Metals Ltd
- Top Fallers: BGE Bridge Saas Ltd, GAS State GAS Ltd, FOS FOS Capital Ltd, ETM Energy Transition Minerals Ltd, KNB Koonenberry Gold Ltd
- 52 Week Highs: LNQ LINQ Minerals Ltd, NC1 Nico Resources Ltd, EMS Eastern Metals Ltd, MKR Manuka Resources Ltd, GRX Greenx Metals Ltd
- 52 Week Lows: FOS FOS Capital Ltd, VGL Vista Group International Ltd, ODA Orcoda Ltd, IMC Immuron Ltd, NME NEX Metals Exploration Ltd
- Near Highs: WVOL iShares MSCI World Ex Aust Minimum Volatility ETF, IAGPF Insurance Australia Group Ltd, GCI Gryphon Capital Income Trust, VVLU Vanguard Global Value Equity Active ETF, IHD iShares S&P/ASX DIV Opportunities Esg Screened ETF
- RSI Oversold: SGP Stockland, EPI Epiminder Ltd, APA APA Group, SLD Saluda Medical, Inc, OSM Osmond Resources Ltd
