Market Close: ASX correction running out of steam; banks still a worry & NVIDIA looms

Good Afternoon and welcome to HotCopper’s Market Close for Wednesday, I’m Jon Davidson. It appears the ASX correction has run as hard as it’s going to, at least before we get NVIDIA earnings overnight, which could halt or intensify the ongoing local selloff – though the impact of a poor result could be subdued, looking at November so far. 

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There’s multiple theories for what’s going on: low prospects of an RBA cut, that the XJO is expensively priced well above collective earnings; or that stimulus plans from Japan, China and the US threaten to kick off another wave of global inflation. As ever, it’s probably all 3. 

You can tune into episode 32 of the HotCopper Wire podcast tomorrow to hear me discuss all of this and more, including the NVIDIA results, with Digital Editor Isaac McIntyre. For now, let’s turn to sectors. 

Materials led the gainers intraday as iron ore and gold prices recovered along with ongoing lithium strength; financials led the laggards as the banks continue to weigh on the market. IT for its part was actually green today; real estate and energy also bounced back somewhat. 

Let’s turn to companies in the green: 

Webjet Group jumped close to 20% intraday as the company announced it has received a non binding takeover offer from Helloworld Travel which is already a shareholder; the offer effectively values Webjet at $350M.

Horizon Minerals meanwhile had a strong day on no news but following a slight recovery in gold prices overnight as investors shrugged off current market malaise and kept their eyes on strong prices for the safe haven commodity. 

Finally, Astron Corporation popped over 10% heading into the final hour of trades based on no news and relatively low volumes as investors, or perhaps swing traders, appear to be targeting the smallcap.

And what about the reds? 

More pain for Droneshield holders as the stock slumped once again on Wednesday, this time after the company’s US CEO quit out of the blue. CEO proper Oleg Vornik recently sold all of his shares in the company, leaving many to wonder what the hell is going on behind closed doors. 

Vulcan Energy Resources meanwhile fell -6% despite strength in lithium prices, suggesting that investors are back to hunting for cheaply priced explorers in the race to eke fatter profits out of a market seemingly determined to limit opportunities of late. 

Finally, ANZ bank fell close to -2% intraday, along with the other big 3 banks, in a testament towards the current state of Australia’s overall market. CBA also continued to fall, now churning above $150/sh.

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