ASX Large Caps: Iron ore stocks lead ASX 1pc higher; more KFC workers sue Collins Foods

ASX200 jumps almost 1pc higher on Wednesday, led by iron ore stocks
Aussie dollar trades at 5-month high
Collin Foods sued by more KFC employees

The ASX had a strong start to the last week of the year, up nearly 1% at the close of Wednesday.

Overnight, US stocks in New York also had a strong session, with the S&P 500 climbing to just 1% shy of its January 2022 record high after posting eight consecutive weekly gains.

On the ASX today, all sectors rose led by Mining, Tech and Real Estate.

Iron ore miners in particular had a good day as the price of iron ore climbed to a 1.5 year high of $US140 a tonne.

The price of iron ore has risen nearly 40% this year, driven recently by China’s aggressive moves to stimulate its economy. China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects that it will conduct to boost the economy.

Lithium stocks were also top of of the winners’ list today, driven by giants Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN).

The Aussie dollar meanwhile is trading at a 5-month high at US68.23c, recovering from a level of US62.7 cents in October as the market reacts to recent dovish US Fed comments.

Across the region, shares in Asia mainly rose, reflecting the market’s confidence that the Fed would be cutting rates in 2024.

Looking ahead to tonight’s session on Wall Street, the third and final September quarter GDP estimate is anticipated, together with weekly new unemployment data.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap LTM Arcadium Lithium PLC 10.72 6.14 132,474 $6,489,295,026 LTR Liontown Resources 1.61 6.11 10,573,822 $3,669,306,904 ASK Abacus Storage King 1.16 5.45 494,103 $1,445,513,258 GMD Genesis Minerals 1.85 5.27 3,442,530 $1,930,258,796 RED Red 5 Limited 0.32 5.00 3,344,260 $1,038,656,775 MCY Mercury NZ Limited 6.13 4.79 33,074 $8,138,679,348 GQG GQG Partners 1.72 4.56 1,441,195 $4,858,309,202 HLS Healius 1.61 4.55 2,009,103 $1,118,143,246 NEU Neuren Pharmaceut. 25.08 4.33 332,060 $3,059,466,851 360 Life360 Inc. 7.60 3.97 332,514 $1,482,123,436 MEZ Meridian Energy 5.09 3.88 31,512 $6,203,765,388 HMC HMC Capital Limited 6.11 3.56 96,040 $2,056,567,154 MAQ Macquarie Technology 67.24 3.38 5,500 $1,583,351,191 TUA Tuas Limited 3.31 3.12 165,401 $1,492,521,346 CNI Centuria Capital 1.79 3.03 438,836 $1,396,801,185

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BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap MAD Mader Group 6.79 -3.00 134,868 $1,400,000,000 BOE Boss Energy Ltd 4.23 -2.76 2,002,397 $1,761,117,806 CEN Contact Energy Ltd 7.35 -2.00 6,272 $1,909,274,123 TAH TABCORP Holdings Ltd 0.83 -1.79 5,013,068 $1,917,225,231 SIG Sigma Health Ltd 0.98 -1.75 3,027,234 $1,313,332,906 LFG Liberty Fin Group 4.00 -1.72 1,378 $1,236,481,763 TPW Temple & Webster Ltd 8.60 -1.60 77,835 $1,074,580,395 AX1 Accent Group Ltd 1.94 -1.53 888,293 $1,106,399,530 AZS Azure Minerals 3.70 -1.20 498,496 $1,715,461,611 IFT Infratil 9.31 -1.06 22,205 $7,834,461,408 LSF L1 Long Short Fund 2.95 -1.01 218,097 $1,845,984,059 IAG Insurance Australia 5.63 -0.97 4,117,249 $13,640,834,473 SUN Suncorp Group Ltd 13.75 -0.83 1,393,868 $17,605,841,216 VUK Virgin Money Uk PLC 3.12 -0.80 582,103 $2,086,717,364 SDR Siteminder 5.08 -0.78 84,363 $1,418,578,463 MGH Maas Group Holdings 3.88 -0.77 76,736 $1,291,133,377

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Collins Foods (ASX:CKF), the owner of KFC and Taco Bell franchises in Australia, said law firm Gordon Legal had filed a class action in the Federal Court of Australia on behalf of certain KFC employees.

Like the claim filed by Shine Lawyers (announced on 18 December), this competing claim also alleged that those employees were not provided with paid 10-minute rest breaks.

The franchisor and 88 franchisee entities, five of which are part of the Collins Foods group, have been joined as respondents to the claim. This class action raises substantially the same claims as the Shine Lawyers class action.

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