ASX moves higher as Palmer dumps Qantas and an RBA review is speculated

The ASX has trended up this morning and at time of writing the S&P/ASX200 had gained 5.20 points to 7,285.90. Volume was 40% below average.

Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.10% and is currently 4.54% off its 52-week high.

The top-performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 are the A2 Milk Company Ltd, which looks to have defied all odds, up 8.02% and GUD Holdings Limited (ASX:GUD) up 7.11%.

Other strong performers include the IT sector, which led the gains with Afterpay up 2.5% after a similar rise in its acquirer, Square inc (NYSE:SQ).

Bubs Australia was up 21% on a strong 1Q sales report +45%

Holding the market back from any significant gains were the Financials, Materials and Health Care sectors.

The Bank of Queensland was down 3.8% after its FY results and Westpac lost 0.9% after its writedowns announced Tuesday. Rio Tinto fell 1.6% and Fortescue lost 1.4% after iron ore prices retreated sharply.

Palmer dumps Qantas

Making news this morning was Clive Palmer’s dump of all his Qantas shares as a protest against mandatory vaccinations.

Palmer tweeted to his 81,000 followers that he had sold his “entire stake of Qantas shares, as a result of the airline’s stance on mandatory COVID vaccinations for all staff”.

Palmer said he believed Qantas shares would inevitably fall because of the policy.

So far, Qantas is up 1 cent at $5.48.

Frydenberg look into RBA review

Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has told Citi that while September growth was down, the end of lockdowns will mean Australia bounces back strongly.

The treasurer has also flagged a possible review into the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) operations.

A review was mooted after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said a review into the RBA’s monetary policy framework was warranted, noting underlying inflation has undershot its 2-3% target band since 2015.

“I think there is a case there for having a review. It has been a number of years since they have had a review into their operation,” Frydenberg told the Citi conference.

“That is something that I am certainly open to and I’ll continue to talk to the Treasury and the RBA about a timetable.”

The Labor party is not opposed either.

“I don’t think this is about beating up on the institution, but about making it better in the interest of all Australians,” shadow assistant minister for treasury Andrew Leigh said.

“(It) has a board which is largely made up of talented generalists rather than monetary policy experts.

“I think, given what we’ve seen in the inflation performance over recent years, it is appropriate to have a look at that.”

Spending surges as Freedom Day takes hold

The treasurer could be correct in his assumption that the economy will quickly recover.

Total spending in NSW was 20% higher on Monday, October 11, compared to spending data from the previous week.

So far, the beauty sector is the real winner, with spending increasing by 870% as people look to get haircuts and a whole range of beauty services taken care of after months in lockdown.

Spending at nail salons saw 2,300% week-on-week growth.

Dining and takeaway was lower, but should increase upon the full removal of restrictions.

On the small cap front

Mako Gold Ltd (ASX:MKG) is up 9.52% at time of writing. MKG returned the widest drill intercept to date from Gogbala Prospect at the southernmost drilled zone of the Napié Fault in Côte d’Ivoire with 35 metres at 1.72 g/t gold.

Red River Resources Limited (ASX:RVR) is up 7.89% on the back of record quarterly copper production at Thalanga Base Metal Operations in Queensland.

Marmota Ltd (ASX:MEU) is up 6.98% after moving a step closer to completing the acquisition of Tyranna Resources Ltd’s Jumbuck Gold Project, which is adjacent to the company’s ground in South Australia’s Gawler Craton. 

Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) is up 6.17% having identified priority targets from its geophysical survey, geological mapping and rock chip sampling programs for upcoming drilling at The Bull Project, 20 kilometres from the world-class Julimar nickel-copper-PGE deposit in Western Australia.

Poseidon Nickel is up 5% after entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pure Battery Technologies (PBT) as it moves on plans to build and operate a battery material refinery hub in Kalgoorlie, WA.

Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:PAR) is up 4.01% on positive top-line results of the actions of pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS) in the influenza model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). 

Black Earth Minerals NL is up 4%, making positive progress towards signing legally binding agreements for its proposed downstream processing graphite plant joint venture (JV) with Metachem Manufacturing Company Pvt Ltd.

Cipherpoint Ltd (ASX:CPT) is up 3.70% after entering into a binding term sheet to acquire 100% of cyber security services business Virtual Information Technology Pty Limited (VIT).

Medallion Metals Ltd (ASX:MM8) is up 2.50% on moving the flagship Ravensthorpe Gold Project (RGP) towards production with a metallurgical review underway to confirm historical high recoveries of gold and copper.

Story by ProactiveInvestors