ASX Large Caps: ASX climbs again as IRESS jumps 16pc, Cettire down 10pc as big shareholder dumps stock

Shares climbed on Thursday, up over 3pc for the month
IRESS was best moving large cap today, Cettire worst
Investors are betting the Fed will no longer be raising rates

The ASX200 climbed by +0.3% higher on Thursday, boosted by gains in Tech, Banking and Industrial sectors. For the month, the benchmark ASX 200 index was up 3.5%.

Overnight, the unexpectedly high US GDP figure for October saw trading diverging markedly across major European, UK and US equities markets.

The Fed Reserve’s economic roundup report, known as the Fed Beige Book, however revealed a weaker economic outlook for the next 6-12 months.

Experts like Bill Ackman are among those influential investors now betting the Fed will start cutting rates as soon as the first quarter of 2024.

On the ASX, the biggest mover today was financial data provider IRESS (ASX:IRE), which jumped 15% following an updated guidance (see more details below).

Decliners include AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) and Origin Energy (ASX:ORG), which fell -2% after its board rejected a revised takeover bid from Canadian suitor Brookfield, calling the Brookfield’s offer “incomplete and complex”.

Across the region, Japan’s Nikkei is heading towards its best month since January, up 8% in November.

But sentiment in Asia was mostly negative today after a report showing that Chinese factory activities and services sector have contracted once again in November.

Looking ahead to tonight, October personal income and spending data in the US are due, along with October’s PCI price index.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap IRE IRESS Limited 7.10 16.01 2,300,248 $1,143,151,581 AD8 Audinate Group Ltd 15.41 4.26 289,826 $1,228,348,596 HVN Harvey Norman 3.92 4.26 2,779,991 $4,684,985,019 CDA Codan Limited 9.05 4.21 374,117 $1,573,823,861 SKC Skycity Ent Grp Ltd 1.75 3.87 352,182 $1,277,144,751 RWC Reliance Worldwide 3.82 3.39 4,039,513 $2,915,449,683 FBU Fletcher Building 4.30 3.37 503,720 $3,257,461,359 TLX Telix Pharmaceutical 9.99 3.31 759,141 $3,127,252,316 NWH NRW Holdings Limited 2.80 3.14 934,853 $1,224,225,362 VNT Ventiaservicesgroup 3.00 3.09 3,226,979 $2,489,459,735 BAP Bapcor Limited 5.39 2.96 1,327,466 $1,775,127,375 MCY Mercury NZ Limited 5.84 2.82 12,558 $7,902,170,718 CAR CAR Group Limited 28.28 2.69 2,187,765 $10,383,058,094

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Financial data provider IRESS (ASX:IRE) surged 15% after announcing progress against its transformation strategy, along with an updated guidance for FY23 and FY24 earnings.

The company said its transformation program has accelerated, with revenue growth in H2 of +2.6% vs H1. Cost base was more favourable in H2 vs H1, driven by lower staff costs, and customer sentiment has lifted.

IRESS has also upgraded its guidance, increasing its FY23 Underlying EBITDA estimate to $123m-$128m (previously $118m-$122m).

Cochlear (ASX:COH) rose almost 2% after conducting its planned market buyback operations. In February, the company announced a multi-year share buy-back aimed at reducing its cash balance to $200 million.

Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure (ASX:DBI) announced a Q3-23 distribution of 5.375 cents per stapled security (cps), taking total announced year-to-date distributions for FY-23 to 15.43 cps. This distribution is in line with the company’s previous guidance of total distributions for FY23/24 of 21.5 cps representing a yield of 7.9%.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap CTT Cettire 3.06 -11.45 7,861,308 $1,315,271,859 PDN Paladin Energy Ltd 0.96 -4.48 11,655,266 $2,998,292,411 RDX Redox Limited 2.35 -3.69 202,082 $1,281,198,684 BOE Boss Energy Ltd 4.13 -2.94 2,574,825 $1,499,967,647 AGL AGL Energy Limited. 9.44 -2.63 3,455,410 $6,518,920,688 DHG Domain Holdings Aus 3.38 -2.46 525,180 $2,185,533,749 ORG Origin Energy 8.20 -2.44 12,293,384 $14,471,080,436 GMG Goodman Group 22.77 -2.36 4,978,584 $44,288,925,896 CTD Corp Travel Limited 17.99 -2.33 648,739 $2,695,320,241 NHC New Hope Corporation 5.16 -2.09 889,014 $4,454,917,895 PWH Pwr Holdings Limited 9.95 -1.97 668,589 $1,019,913,930 REA REA Group 155.34 -1.96 143,608 $20,932,651,861 STX Strike Energy Ltd 0.40 -1.85 5,410,549 $1,028,415,441

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Cettire (ASX:CTT) tumbled by 13% after a selldown from one of its biggest shareholders, Cat Rock Capital Markets Fund. The fund reduced its stake in Cettire from 13.39% to 9.37% after dumping shares in the open market.

Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) fell -5% after announcing it has passed another key milestone in the development of its Honeymoon project, with production-grade uranium generated during the pre-flushing of the start-up wells.

BOE says this is significant because it shows the company is on track to fill the Pregnant Leach Solution (PLS) processing ponds by the end of this calendar year, in line with the overall development timetable.

Genesis Energy (ASX:GNE) fell 1% after saying that it will use its Kupe profits to deliver 95% renewable generation by 2035 under a strategy reset.

Genesis says Kupe profits will support a $1.1 billion programme to build new renewable generation and grid scale battery storage between now and 2030.

As part of the strategy reset, called Gen35, investments will also be made into solar, grid scale battery storage and wind that will help grow Genesis’ renewable portfolio to around 8,300 GWh..

“Genesis has a key role to play in achieving all of this and we have a long-term vision and strategy for growth and value creation for shareholders,” said Genesis’ CEO, Malcolm Johns.

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