S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% in February with Large Cap S&P/ASX 50 underperforming Midcap and Small Ordinaries
Tech sector was the big winner up 19% in February as energy and materials sector slumped
Nyrada soars after preclinical study shows promise of drug candidate NYR-BI03 in preventing secondary brain injury
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.8% in February to close at 7968.7 points as January inflation fell to its lowest level since November 2021.
Large-cap S&P/ASX 50 underperformed Midcap 50 and Small Ordinaries, while the S&P/ASX 20 ended the month in negative territory, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI).
Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show Australia’s monthly consumer price index (CPI) rose at an annual pace of 3.4% in January, which was unchanged from December and under market forecasts of 3.6%.
Trimmed mean inflation – the preferred measurement of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) because it strips out more extreme price movements – rose an annual 3.8%, which was down from 4% in December.
While still above the RBA’s 2-3% inflation target, economists believe the latest CPI figures should be broadly reassuring to the central bank and reduce the risk of another rate rise in coming months.
In some further good news out of the US the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) Index, came in in-line with expectations.
The PCE, which is the Federals Reserve’s favourite inflation measure, rose by 0.3% in January, while the core PCE price index gained 0.4%.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
Tech sector leads winner as materials and energy slump
S&P DJI says the S&P/ASX 200 witnessed a large dispersion among sectors in February with Technology, with a relatively smaller index weight the winner up 19%.
Energy was the worst performer despite the strength in oil prices, dropping 6%, while Materials fell another 5% and is down almost 10% YTD.
Australia’s resources sector has felt the pinch of falling commodity prices. A slower than projected uptake of EVs has caused a supply glut for battery metals including lithium and nickel.
A deluge of cheap supply of “pig iron” nickel from Indonesia, the world’s largest producer, has further hurt Aussies nickel producers.
Meanwhile, prices for Australia’s most precious commodity iron ore slumped by 11.3%, reaching a four-month low of US$116.5/tonne, according to prices on the Singapore futures exchange.
The falls in iron ore come as pessimism grows about China’s steel production outlook.
Chinese steel sector production fell 6.9% to 77.2Mt in January. S&P Global Market Intelligence expects China’s full-year steel production to fall 0.7% in 2023 due to the slumping property market.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
Momentum best performing factor in February
The S&P/ASX 200 Momentum was the best-performing factor in February with a 5% gain. Enhanced value and high dividend factors both closed in the red in February, falling 2.76% and 0.93% respectively.
S&P DJI says equity volatility remained largely suppressed with S&P/ASX 200 VIX hovering at an 11 handle.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
Fixed income mixed performace
Fixed income had a mixed during February, as the RBA held the cash rate steady at 4.35%. Inflation-linked government bonds remained among the worst performers YTD.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
Here are the 50 best performing ASX stocks for February:
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CODE COMPANY LAST SHARE PRICE JANUARY RETURN % MARKET CAP NYR Nyrada Inc. 0.097 322% $15,132,844 BRN Brainchip Ltd 0.385 148% $695,238,654 APM APM Human Services 1.64 125% $1,504,178,391 ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.046 119% $29,482,750 PAA PharmAust Limited 0.35 119% $135,940,618 VMS Venture Minerals 0.017 113% $37,683,555 W2V Way2Vat Limited 0.019 111% $12,380,560 IRX Inhalerx Limited 0.041 105% $7,780,445 GHY Gold Hydrogen 1.56 103% $119,594,316 AUA Audeara 0.056 100% $8,098,033 BP8 BPH Global Ltd 0.002 100% $3,908,232 FTC Fintech Chain Ltd 0.02 100% $13,015,392 VPR Volt Power Group 0.002 100% $21,432,416 BRX Belararox 0.335 97% $23,766,247 ARR American Rare Earths 0.255 96% $125,822,941 EOS Electro Optic Systems 1.825 86% $312,505,711 WC8 Wildcat Resources 0.735 86% $878,941,020 BRE Brazilian Rare Earth 2.9 75% $176,808,232 WHK Whitehawk Limited 0.031 72% $10,480,192 APX Appen Limited 0.565 71% $123,871,657 CTN Catalina Resources 0.005 67% $6,192,434 PNX PNX Metals Limited 0.005 67% $26,903,124 SHG Singular Health 0.14 67% $27,349,428 BOC Bougainville Copper 0.595 65% $238,632,188 DRO Droneshield Limited 0.69 62% $422,385,992 VBC Verbrec Limited 0.115 62% $33,169,190 CCR Credit Clear 0.29 61% $121,033,201 AUZ Australian Mines Ltd 0.016 60% $18,080,631 RDM Red Metal Limited 0.155 60% $46,367,986 AYA Artrya Limited 0.365 59% $28,706,882 DEL Delorean Corporation 0.055 57% $11,864,650 DUB Dubber Corp Ltd 0.22 57% $86,077,262 BIO Biome Australia Ltd 0.39 56% $82,684,152 GTE Great Western Exploration 0.042 56% $14,616,446 PER Percheron 0.087 55% $78,434,412 BVS Bravura Solution Ltd 1.24 55% $555,958,962 4DS 4DS Memory Limited 0.105 54% $185,097,666 HIQ Hitiq Limited 0.026 53% $9,147,969 ADS Adslot Ltd 0.003 50% $9,673,487 ASP Aspermont Limited 0.009 50% $22,100,712 C7A Clara Resources 0.018 50% $3,402,703 INP Incentiapay Ltd 0.006 50% $7,463,580 RBR RBR Group Ltd 0.003 50% $4,855,214 TD1 Tali Digital Limited 0.0015 50% $4,942,733 88E 88 Energy Ltd 0.006 50% $150,744,375 MMI Metro Mining Ltd 0.03 50% $136,691,881 CUE CUE Energy Resource 0.1 49% $69,811,972 SLC Superloop Limited 1.035 49% $508,365,649 WR1 Winsome Resources 0.855 49% $163,121,219 STP Step One Limited 1.7 48% $315,078,495
Drug discovery and development company Nyrada (ASX:NYR) finished February more well known after seeing its share price jump 322%.
Most of rise came on February 28, the day NYR released positive results from its preclinical study evaluating the efficacy of its brain injury program drug candidate NYR-BI03 in preventing secondary brain injury.
CEO James Bonnar told Stockhead’s Christian Edwards the study results were powerful for three reasons.
“Firstly, the drug candidate is a first-in-class molecule which means it offers a new therapeutic approach to treating brain injury,” Bonnar says.
“Secondly, the pathology behind brain injury is common across both stroke and traumatic brain injuries, such as those caused by a car accident, sports injury or military wound.”
He says this means NYR’s drug candidate has potential for treating patients in two important markets – stroke and traumatic brain injury.
“Lastly, the target our drug candidate hits is novel, making Nyrada pioneers in an area that no other biotech is currently working in, to our knowledge,” he says.
Also on the winners list in February was neuromorphic microchips developer Brainchip (ASX:BRN) as the AI frenzy which gripped markets in 2023 continued into the new year.
The rise came despite BRN plummeting 35% on February 27 after releasing another full year loss – this time US$28.9 million – its sixth straight year of red ink after reporting annual losses since 2018.
READ: Brainchip’s potential in Edge AI is undeniable, but can sales catch up with its cash burn?
Biotech PharmAust (ASX:PAA) rose 119% after a series of positive announcements throughout February including that its lead drug monepantel may be the key to delivering significant improvements in life expectancy for sufferers of MND/ALS with preliminary Phase 1 data showing a 58% reduction in disease progression.
MND/ALS (motor neurone disease/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is an invariably fatal nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function – affecting more than 350,000 people globally.
Here are the 50 worst performing ASX stocks for February:
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CODE COMPANY LAST SHARE PRICE DECEMBER RETURN % MARKET CAP KNB Koonenberry Gold 0.015 -75% $1,796,236 TTA TTA Holdings Ltd 0.003 -73% $412,270 CMD Cassius Mining Ltd 0.01 -70% $5,420,045 ME1 Melodiol Global Health 0.007 -68% $2,750,973 T3D 333D Limited 0.007 -63% $836,115 NRZ Neurizer Ltd 0.004 -60% $5,855,643 ABE Australian Bond Exchange 0.021 -59% $2,366,030 HCL Highcom Ltd 0.145 -59% $14,888,987 EE1 Earths Energy Ltd 0.018 -56% $9,539,356 SSR SSR Mining Inc. 6.41 -56% $35,643,375 ICL Iceni Gold 0.019 -54% $4,684,660 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.011 -54% $21,364,918 MSG MCS Services Limited 0.008 -53% $1,584,797 WIN Widgie Nickel 0.04 -53% $11,917,802 MEG Megado Minerals Ltd 0.011 -52% $2,799,011 STX Strike Energy Ltd 0.215 -51% $615,378,560 AVW Avira Resources Ltd 0.001 -50% $2,133,790 CNJ Conico Ltd 0.002 -50% $3,140,190 DCX Discovex Res Ltd 0.001 -50% $3,302,568 NET Netlinkz Limited 0.003 -50% $11,635,345 RIL Redivium Limited 0.003 -50% $8,192,564 YAR Yari Minerals Ltd 0.005 -50% $2,411,789 SLB Stelar Metals 0.076 -49% $3,983,002 AUG Augustus Minerals 0.041 -49% $3,500,170 NYM Narryer Metals 0.027 -48% $1,295,827 JAY Jayride Group 0.013 -48% $3,072,019 PVW PVW Res Ltd 0.03 -47% $3,042,143 ECG Ecargo Holdings 0.025 -47% $15,381,250 KOR Korab Resources 0.008 -47% $2,936,400 SOC Soco Corporation 0.115 -47% $15,898,780 NXD Nexted Group Limited 0.375 -46% $83,068,790 IND Industrial Minerals 0.21 -46% $14,439,600 BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.022 -45% $24,146,060 IBX Imagion Biosys Ltd 0.091 -45% $2,970,836 VIT Vitura Health Ltd 0.14 -44% $80,622,330 HHR Hartshead Resources 0.012 -43% $33,704,186 VAR Variscan Mines Ltd 0.008 -43% $3,032,003 M24 Mamba Exploration 0.032 -42% $5,890,633 ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd 0.085 -41% $29,952,375 NME Nex Metals Explorations 0.013 -41% $4,582,923 DAF Discovery Alaska Ltd 0.016 -41% $3,747,755 OD6 OD6 Metals 0.089 -41% $4,896,379 APL Associate Global 0.095 -41% $5,366,780 A8G Australasian Metals 0.075 -40% $3,909,037 BUR Burley Minerals 0.06 -40% $6,197,805 PAT Patriot Lithium 0.078 -40% $5,430,136 ARC ARC Funds Limited 0.115 -39% $3,458,780 CYM Cyprium Metals Ltd 0.014 -39% $21,345,973 RBX Resource B 0.046 -39% $3,803,486 CVB Curvebeam AI Limited 0.2 -38% $43,715,878
Resources companies found themselves heavily featured among the 50 worst performing stocks for February on the back of falling commodity prices.
The ongoing dispute between Cassius Mining (ASX:CMD) and the Government of the Republic of Ghana took a toll on its share price in February.
The company provided an update to the market saying a three-person tribunal rejected Ghana’s request to halt arbitration and it signals its intention to proceed with the proceedings. CMD has filed a claim for US$275 million, citing Ghana’s alleged breaches of contract and statute as the basis.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. Although PharmAust is a Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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