The ASX was higher at time of writing mid Friday afternoon.
The S&P/ASX200 had gained 21.20 points or 0.29% to 7,306.60, despite crossing below its 50-day moving average. The index has lost 0.55% for the last five days but sits 4.17% below its 52-week high.
The top performing stocks in this index are Brambles (ASX:BXB) Ltd and Bega Cheese Ltd, up 7.87% and 6.63% respectively at around 2pm.
For the week, the best performing sectors have been Utilities, up over 5%, followed by Healthcare, which is just in the green and Financials, which is just in the red. The worst performing sectors include Consumer Discretionary down over 2% followed by Materials and Communication Services, both down over 1%.
The best performing stocks in the ASX top 100 included Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) up over 14% followed by Qube Holdings Ltd and WiseTech Global Ltd, both up over 7%. The worst performing stocks include Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd losing over 22%, Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN) Limited and the A2 Milk Company Ltd, both down over 8%.
Tesla shares rocket 113.8% in six weeks
City Index senior market analyst Matt Simpsons explains why Tesla’s recent share price surge might be temporary, although further gains are likely.
Where to from here?
Back in October, we made an outlandish call for Tesla to more than halve and fall from US$220 down to US$100.
Four months later, we are both delighted and somewhat saddened to see it came to fruition almost perfectly (although technically it only fell to US$101.81, leaving our bear call out of pocket by US$1.81 per share).
It was nothing personal against the company or Elon, but we simply looked at the data and hypothesised an idea based it. So where is Tesla to go from here?
Incidentally, the stock is almost right back where it was in October and trades at US$202.35, having more than doubled and rallied 113.8% in just six weeks.
Tesla (TSLA) weekly chart:
Tesla (TSLA) daily chart:
- The bias on the daily chart is bullish above US$187.60.
- We anticipated a move towards the US$220 - US$225 area (along the neckline, depending on how quickly it gets there), where we may then see a pullback from the broken neckline.
- Keep in mind the November high around US$237.4 which could also cap gains over the near-term.
- A break below US$187.60 assumes a deeper correction, where we’d then look for evidence of a swing low around a Fibonacci number or the ‘gap support’ zone’ (at which point reconsider longs, in line with weekly volume and momentum).
Canaccord Genuity (TSX:CF, LSE:CF) highlights heating REE market
An industry update from Canaccord Genuity (TSX:CF, LSE:CF) has outlined its bullish viewpoint on rare earth elements (REEs), citing improved investor interest, rising prices, new discoveries and their increasingly important role in bridging the global energy transition.
Despite some short-term macro headwinds on the horizon, Canaccord upgraded its long-term neodymium-praseodymium price to US$135/kilogram China EXW (from US$120) on updated SxD (Supply x Demand).
The key market drivers for Canaccord remain as follows:
- Strong long-term demand growth from EVs.
- Limited new supply (ex China) unable to meet growing demand.
- Geopolitical risk creating a 'rush' to secure ex-China rare earth oxide (REO) supply.
The company has therefore initiated coverage on the following rare earth companies:
- Iluka Resources (ILU-ASX): $10.50, market cap of $4.7 billion. Hold, target price of $11.00.
- Arafura Rare Earths (ARU-ASX): $0.68 market cap of $1.4 billion. Speculative Buy, target price of $0.75.
- Peak Rare Earths (PEK-ASX): $0.61 market cap of $127 million. Speculative Buy, target price of $0.90.
- Vital Metals (VML-ASX: $0.02 market cap of 122 million. Speculative buy, target price of $0.06.
Pilbara Minerals net profits up 989%
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) handed down a record half-year with net profits up a whopping 989% at AU$1.24 billion. eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert comments on the results.
Pilbara Minerals down a record half-year with net profits up a whopping 989% at AU$1.24 billion. Demand for lithium raw materials continued to grow in the first half of 2023, with prices remaining elevated, which played a big factor in this incredibly strong result. Additionally, a rise in the number of contracts with Chinese customers boosted Pilbara Minerals’ revenue by 647%.
The group, which listed on the ASX in 2007 will now introduce an inaugural dividend of AU$0.11, a 4.9% annualised yield, thanks to its AU$2.2 billion cash pile. This is an impressive feat for a company whose shares traded at AU$0.15 just three years ago with less than AU$42 million in revenue.
With the rise of the global electric vehicle market, Pilbara Minerals is in solid contention to position itself as a leading battery materials supplier. We have seen many countries worldwide mandate the ban on petrol and diesel cars by 2030-2035, proving EVs are the future.
Lithium prices have fallen around 30% since reaching record highs in November last year with signs of slower EV growth globally and worries over supply, leaving investors nervous about further price volatility. However, rising production for Pilbara Minerals should ensure sales growth continues in the second half of the year, with profitability looking to keep accelerating.
Small cap wins for the week
It’s been a difficult time for small caps recently, and the strain is beginning to show. The ASX Small Ordinaries fell 19.7 points or 0.68% over the last five days, meaning these small caps are bucking the market trend.
Volt Resources Ltd (ASX:VRC) gained 20%.
Volt Resources' CEO demonstrates confidence in company's strategy through on-market share purchases.
International Graphite Ltd (ASX:IG6) was 13.4% higher
International Graphite lauds “outstanding” initial concentrate test results, achieving 97.4% total graphitic carbon.
Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX:PDI, OTC:PDIYF) gained 12.9%
Predictive Discovery boosts indicated gold resources by 50%; extends underground gold mineralisation.
Altech Batteries Ltd, formerly Altech Chemicals Ltd (ASX:ATC), was 7.5% in the green.
Altech Batteries completes name change; retains ASX ticker.
Metalsgrove Mining Ltd rose by 7.4%
MetalsGrove Mining eyes strong pipeline of results from critical metals portfolio.