ASX Large Caps: Miners lift after bullish reports from big guns; China stocks on watch as Jack Ma buys more of Alibaba

ASX limped to a +0.1% higher close
Mining sector led after quarterly production reports from big guns
Alibaba rose as founder Jack Ma bought more stocks in the company

Aussie shares seesawed between gains and losses on Wednesday, finally finishing the day 0.10% higher.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.29% and set a new record for the third consecutive day as US earnings season goes into full swing.

Netflix shares jumped 9% after the bell as it reported a 13 million subscriber surge in the last quarter and a 12.5% increase in year-over-year revenue.

To the ASX, the Mining sector led all the way as some of the biggest producers like Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) and Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) reported their quarterly activities (see more below).

The miners’ gains were offset by a selloff in the Tech sector as sector leaders Wisetech (ASX:WTC) dropped -2.5%, and Xero (ASX:XRO) by -1%.

The Westpac/Melbourne Institute published its December leading index, which showed a modestly positive number of +0.01%. Although subdued, it was the second positive reading after 15 consecutive months of contraction.

Another anticipated report today will be the Australian Government caucus meeting, which will address cost-of-living pressures.

Across the region, New Zealand has reported December quarter CPI inflation of 4.7%, the slowest rate in over two years.

Asian stock markets meanwhile were mixed. In Hong Kong, shares rose as Chinese securities regulators vowed to stabilise confidence.

Alibaba rose over 4% in HKSE after news that co-founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai have been dip buying shares in the tech giant as the stock plunged.

According to an SEC filing, Tsai purchased US$151 million in Alibaba stocks in Q4, while Ma bought US$50 million worth.

BIG CAP WINNERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap ILU Iluka Resources 7.24 9.20 4,839,152 $2,824,594,162 ERA Energy Resources 0.06 7.27 705,026 $1,218,156,455 KAR Karoon Energy Ltd 1.91 7.00 6,106,390 $1,430,202,826 PLS Pilbara Min Ltd 3.47 6.12 33,336,695 $9,840,960,180 NST Northern Star 12.78 5.75 2,588,392 $13,882,591,081 PRU Perseus Mining Ltd 1.87 5.07 4,035,273 $2,438,076,022 NIC Nickel Industries 0.59 4.91 5,824,938 $2,400,053,533 GMD Genesis Minerals 1.60 4.25 3,942,158 $1,682,789,720 RED Red 5 Limited 0.31 4.24 5,399,035 $1,021,821,162 LYC Lynas Rare Earths 6.04 4.23 3,483,382 $5,411,880,205 GOR Gold Road Res Ltd 1.73 4.23 2,073,910 $1,789,388,052 AWC Alumina Limited 1.11 3.99 5,967,369 $3,090,290,709 LTR Liontown Resources 0.95 3.85 16,073,086 $2,204,006,127 YAL Yancoal Aust Ltd 5.67 3.75 2,910,798 $7,209,599,326 IGO IGO Limited 7.47 3.54 2,650,784 $5,459,900,932 SLR Silver Lake Resource 1.18 3.07 2,650,152 $1,065,608,540 MIN Mineral Resources. 55.68 2.94 774,025 $10,557,633,891 RRL Regis Resources 2.11 2.68 3,083,507 $1,548,444,556

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Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) climbed after reporting its December 2023 quarterly activities.

NST said it recovered 423,762oz of gold during the quarter. It sold 411,613oz at $2925/oz for $1.204b revenue.

NST closed the quarter with $1.268B cash, bullion and investments at 31 December.

Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) also lifted after reporting its December 2023 quarterly activities.

PLS produced 176,000t of spodumene concentrate during the quarter, for a total of 320,400t for the half.

Revenue tallied $264m for the quarter, and $757m for the half, down 46% and 65% on pcp respectively due to drops in the average realised sales price.

Meanwhile, PLS’ sales volumes rose by 9% and 7% respectively, and the company holds $2.14b of cash at 31 December.

Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) also released its December quarter report.

PRU produced 128,773oz of gold during the quarter, pushing 2023 output to 528,486oz.

Average sales prices came in at $US1963/oz and $US1913/oz respectively. At end of quarter, PRU held US$642m cash and bullion.

Energy Resources of Australia (ASX:ERA) said it has continued the rehabilitation of the Ranger project throughout the December quarter.

As such, ERA reported that no mining, production and development expenditure was incurred for the quarter, and material expenditure during the quarter comprised of approximately $47 million in rehabilitation expenditure for the Ranger project area.

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap NAN Nanosonics Limited 2.92 -33.30 7,906,184 $1,323,364,334 BGL Bellevue Gold Ltd 1.34 -3.78 5,410,868 $1,599,790,035 AUB AUB Group Ltd 29.96 -3.57 161,438 $3,368,162,613 JHX James Hardie Indust 55.72 -3.01 984,306 $25,030,146,969 IEL Idp Education Ltd 20.17 -2.89 1,514,648 $5,781,043,102 TWE Treasury Wine Estate 10.24 -2.75 2,029,316 $8,544,320,466 CDA Codan Limited 7.92 -2.58 154,610 $1,474,099,999 MP1 Megaport Limited 9.58 -2.54 694,591 $1,564,196,882 BWP BWP Trust 3.39 -2.45 1,677,645 $2,229,071,796 BRG Breville Group Ltd 26.42 -2.33 67,882 $3,879,655,663 WTC Wisetech Global Ltd 74.65 -2.30 228,990 $25,474,088,292 NWL Netwealth Group 17.06 -2.24 351,470 $4,258,259,947 LFG Liberty Fin Group 4.40 -2.22 2,316 $1,367,117,429 SNZ Summerset Grp Hldgs 9.61 -2.14 17 $2,300,643,171 SVW Seven Group Holdings 35.05 -1.97 273,888 $12,998,184,735 CRN Coronado Global Res 1.65 -1.93 1,701,052 $2,816,442,266 IRE IRESS Limited 8.09 -1.82 192,962 $1,539,145,266

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Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) was the worst ASX stock today, crashing over 33% after providing a H1 FY24 update.

The company said total revenue for the half year is expected to be approximately $79.6 million, representing a decrease of 2.4% on the pcp, primarily related to lower than expected capital unit sales (in particular upgrade sales).

Operating expenses are expected to be approximately $60.8 million for the half, representing an increase of 12% compared to the pcp. NAN now expects to report profit before tax of approximately $4.9 million for the half, compared with $11.4 million in the pcp.

Based on these expected H1 results, NAN has issued an updated outlook for the remainder of FY24.

Total revenue and gross margins guidance are still being reviewed, however, increases in operating expenses are expected to be below the bottom of the range of the company’s previously communicated outlook of 17-22%.

Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) released its Q4 report.

WDS reported 187.2MMboe full year production for 2023 – which was a record – bolstered by 48.1MMboe for the December quarter.

December quarter revenue tallied $US3.355b, and full year revenue was $US14.028b, down 17% on pcp.

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