At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 1.42 per cent or 99.50 points higher at 7,123.80. The news comes after stocks rose overnight on Wall Street, after the US markets were able to shake off the surprising move from the Bank of Japan that sent global bond yields up.
In sector news, all sectors are in the green at noon, led by Utilities, and followed by Real Estate and Materials, which are all up by over 2 per cent.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 104 points.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Utilities, up 3.83 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Health Care, down 0.29 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is Evolution Mining
(ASX:EVN), trading 7.22 per cent higher at $3.045. It is followed by shares in Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) and Newcrest Mining
(ASX:NCM).
The worst-performing large cap is TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPG), trading 3.67 per cent lower at $4.595. It is followed by shares in Medibank Private
(ASX:MPL) and OZ Minerals
(ASX:OZL).
Asian newsMarkets in the Asia-Pacific traded mixed after Wall Street ended its four-day losing streak as global bonds rose after the Bank of Japan adjusted its yield curve control tolerance.
Japan continued its second day of losses, as the Nikkei 225 fell 0.98 per cent and the Topix lost 0.65 per cent. The Japanese yen stood at 131.62 against the US dollar. The Kospi in South Korea erased earlier gains and was flat.
Company newsMagnetite Mines
(ASX:MGT) is pleased to announce the completion of a peer review of the Razorback Iron Ore Project’s process plant, with outcomes confirming the feasibility of the Hatch-engineered flowsheet and plant design. With the overall objective of producing high-grade magnetite concentrate with iron grades above 67.5 per cent Fe, the Razorback process flowsheet has been designed to process iron ores for minimum operating cost. An accompanying metallurgical testwork suite has been undertaken to de-risk the flowsheet at every stage of processing. Shares are trading 3.17 per cent higher at 65 cents.
NOVONIX (NASDAQ: NVX, ASX:NVX, OTCQX: NVNXF), a leading battery materials and technology company, today announced an update on its plans to scale its U.S. production of high-performance synthetic graphite anode materials following the recent announcement that KORE Power, Inc. closed its initial US$75 million of an anticipated total US$150 million in funding. “I am excited to begin delivery of our high-performance synthetic graphite from our Riverside facility to KORE in 2024, our first significant volume offtake,” said Chris Burns, Co-Founder and CEO of NOVONIX. “We are pleased with the progress at our Riverside facility as we start to bring production online to support mass production qualification with KORE and other customers.” Shares are trading 2.94 per cent lower at $1.65.
Matrix Composites & Engineering
(ASX:MCE) announced it has received a purchase order for approximately $44 million from multi-national oilfield services company Saipem to supply SURF products. Matrix Chief Executive Officer Aaron Begley said, “Our ability to methodically capitalise on the resurgence of activity in our traditional offshore buoyancy markets in 2022 has culminated in this very substantial purchase order.” Shares are trading 17.4 per cent higher at 27 cents.
DroneShield
(ASX:DRO) announced that iit has received an all-time record purchase order for approximately A$11 million for a Government agency customer. DroneShield CEO, Oleg Vornik, commented: “With this transformational next step in DroneShield’s growth, and as the counterdrone industry continues to rapidly grow, we look forward to rapidly fulfilling this contract.” Shares are trading 24.3 per cent higher at $21.8.
MedAdvisor
(ASX:MDR) has announced that it expects the first half of FY23 revenue to be up 50-60 per cent on the same period in FY22. Commenting on the 1H FY23 revenue update, CEO & Managing Director Rick Ratliff, said: “MedAdvisor is seeing an increase in the use of inMotion thanks to the number of community pharmacies enabling digital access to 60 million individuals combined with MedAdvisor’s ability to service this growth at scale through our technology platform. Shares are trading 11.1 per cent higher at 25 cents.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1782.70 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.2 per cent higher at US$110.50 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.24 per cent gain.
One Australian dollar is buying 0.6677 US dollars.
