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The ASX200 has closed the first day of Autumn at a new record high of 7745.6 points – up 0.61 per cent.
The market actually spiked to a record this morning, but dropped back before climbing back up again to close more than half a per cent in the green.
Materials stocks gained almost 2 per cent and IT wasn’t far behind. Both lithium and nickel companies were on the leader board today. German lithium company Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL), Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) and Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) all gained more than 12 per cent.
Meanwhile, uranium stocks lost ground on commodity weakness.
In the green
Location sharing software firm Life360 (ASX360) was the strongest performer, up more than 38 per cent on its FY23 results.
Its revenue for calendar year 2023 was up 33 per cent to US$305 million.
While it still made a net loss of US$28.2 million, it was a US$63.5 million improvement.
It reported a positive adjusted EBITDA of US$20.6 million.
360 closed at $11.30.
Graphite producer Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) has closed up 13 per cent after finalising an off-take agreement to supply natural graphite from its Balama operations in Mozambique to South Korean battery material maker Posco Future M.
The six-year deal starts with a monthly volume of up to 2kt in the first year and increasing to 5kt per month from the second year.
SYR closed at 69 cents.
And after gaining nearly 2.5 per cent, uranium play Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN) closed flat. It has secured a contract to supply uranium yellowcake from its Lance Projects in Wyoming, USA to European nuclear fuel firm Synatom.
The six-year contract starts in 2028 and requires Peninsula to sell 1.2 million pounds of uranium to Synatom.
The agreement is expected to generate gross revenue between US$88 and US$117 million over the term. The uranium price has tilted down today.
PEN finished the first day of autumn at 11 cents.
In the red
The healthcare sector had a rough run and shed about 1.5 per cent – and that saw healthcare giants Cochlear (ASX:COH), CSL (ASX:CSL), Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) and Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) all fall into the red.
Uranium stocks, as mentioned, also dropped today in line with the commodity price. That impacted companies including Bannerman Energy (ASX:BMN) and Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL), which both shed more than 7 per cent. Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) lost nearly 5 per cent.
Meanwhile gold explorer Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) was down nearly 2 per cent after raising A$30 million with 22 cent shares.
That price represents a 13.7 per cent discount to the last closing price at 25.5 cents.
Funds will be used to advance the company’s Sand King project towards Final Investment Decision.
OBM closed at 25 cents.
