by Peter Milios
On Monday, the share market closed 0.62 per cent higher at 7,328.60, led by the tech, financials, and real estate sectors, while Lynas (ASX:LYC) was the worst performer on the S&P/ASX 200 index due to concerns over Tesla’s decision to reduce the amount of rare earths in its electric vehicles.
Additionally, coal miners like New Hope (ASX:NHC) and Whitehaven (ASX:WHC) also saw a decline in their stocks as Newcastle coal prices fell by around 50 per cent in 2023.
Conversely, Block (ASX:SQ2), the owner of Afterpay, rose by 5.5 per cent, and Macquarie Bank (ASX:MQG) gained 2.4 per cent.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 6 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 5.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 33.25 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 48 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, up 1.95 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 1.14 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Xero (ASX:XRO), closing 3.77 per cent higher at $78.47. It was followed by shares in James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX) and Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG).
The worst-performing large cap was Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC), closing 4.49 per cent lower at $7.45. It was followed by shares in New Hope Corporation (ASX:NHC) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG).
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has gained 1.17 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.04 per cent.
China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 1.97 per cent.
Company news
Empire Energy (ASX:EEG) has provided an operations update and flow testing on their project, C-3H, in the Beetaloo Basin. In response, Managing Director Alex Underwood, stated “At this stage, the rates appear to exceed thresholds that others in the Beetaloo have proposed as being commercial. Empire has high earnings leverage due to the reduced capital costs we enjoy at shallower depths than other parts of the Beetaloo and high net revenue interest (working interest adjusted for royalties) in our Beetaloo properties.” Shares closed 5.6 per cent lower at 17 cents.
BrainChip (ASX:BRN) has announced the second generation of the Akida platform aims to power highly efficient and intelligent edge devices for the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) market. Sean Hehir, BrainChip CEO said, By inferring and learning from raw sensor data, we take a substantial step toward a cloudless Edge AI experience. With this launch, we have significantly extended our competitive advantage in neuromorphic AI.” Shares closed 16.7 per cent higher at 59.5 cents.
Poseidon Nickel (ASX:POS) announced an update on the progress being made on the restart of the Black Swan project, in which there is strong interest surrounding an offtake partner. In response, Managing Director and CEO, Peter Harold commented: “We are planning to finalise the preferred partner/s early in the second quarter of 2023 and we remain on track to announce the Final Investment Decision for the restart during the second quarter. Shares closed 2.8 per cent higher at 3.7 cents.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,860.20 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.2 per cent higher at US$127.45 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.8 per cent fall.
Light crude is trading $0.74 lower at US$78.94 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.59 US cents.
