The ASX200 enjoyed a solid Wednesday session with the combination of strong earnings and aggressive chasing of some recovery stocks ultimately leading to a +0.4% advance – 12 shares rallied by 5%, and more, while only 4 names fell by the same degree. A couple of standout themes on the stock and sector level caught our attention yesterday with an underlying belief that Australia will be 70-80% vaccinated and trading basically as usual by Christmas shining through:
- The Travel & Tourism stocks enjoyed a strong day e.g. Flight Centre (FLT) +7.4%, Webjet (WEB) +6.5%, Qantas (QAN) +5.4% and Corportae Travel (CTD) +6.6%.
- A couple of stocks rallied / recovered strongly after investors digested recent reports e.g. HUB24 (HUB) and Monadelphous (MND) – both of which MM owns in our Growth Portfolio.
- The miners are recovering strongly from Fridays panic like low with OZ Minerals (OZL), IGO Ltd (IGO) and Nickel Mines (NIC) already bouncing over 10%.
The Tech Sector was by far the best on ground which is hardly surprising with Wisetech Global (WTC) soaring +28% following a very solid beat. The positive sentiment from WTC helped drag 86% of the sector higher with Afterpay (APT) one of the 2 stocks to struggle as the BNPL investors digested more large losses by APT & Z1P as they strive for quick growth and market share.
US stocks edged higher overnight ahead of Jackson Hole later in the week i.e. a Fed meeting which may deliver the much anticipated plan for ending stimulus & normalisation of interest rates. The SPI futures are calling the ASX to open slightly in the red but any action of note appears likely to remain under the hood.