Tech leads the way as reporting season rolls on

It was an uneventful day to start the trading week with the ASX failing to make any significant movement in either direction. The ASX200 ended the day lower, falling by 12.10 points, or 0.16%, to 7,481.70. Ahead of Thursday, all eyes are on the US Federal Reserve as it's expected they will raise interest rates. 

Technology stocks were the big winners on the local market today after a strong Friday session on the NASDAQ as risk-on assets come back into vogue. Some of the big winners in the ASX tech sector today were Wisetech (+5.6%), Xero (+3.1%), NextDC (+3.7%), and Block (+4.1%).

Whilst the Tech sector (+2.32%) lead the way as one of the five sectors that rose on the day, Telco also had a positive day, rising by 1.08%. Consumer Staples was the worst performer (-0.74%) followed by the Healthcare sector (-0.71%) 

Champion Iron and Resmed, both of which saw their share prices fall by 7.10% and 6.81% respectively, were the worst-performing stocks in the ASX200 today.

Quick Singles

• Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME) share price was up 1.2% to $65.86 after announcing a new 8-year, $12 million deal with Samaritan Health Service, a US community-based integrated delivery network (IDN).

• Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) share price decreased by nearly 1.9% to $12.56 following an update on floods in New Zealand, with damages capped at NZ$50m.

• Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) shares fell by 1.2% to $7.26 after releasing their December quarterly activities report. Vulcan reported that it produced 6,350 MWh gross baseload energy from its geothermal wells and plant in Germany.

• G8 Education (ASX:GEM) today announced that it has completed its on-market share buy back. GEM spent $39.96m buying back 37,884,181 shares

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Top Story

OZL copper production up by over 20%

Oz Minerals (ASX: OZL) shares traded flat today following the release of the copper miners' quarterly activity report.

The report revealed that a strong fourth quarter resulted in a 21% increase in copper production quarter over quarter, resulting in the group's production and cost guidance (updated in the middle of the year) being reached and generating momentum into 2023. Eight years in a row, Prominent Hill has met its copper projections, reinforcing its reputation as a consistent, dependable business. The Pedra Branca mine achieved full production in advance of schedule.

Focus areas for 2023 include ensuring the successful execution of operational and growth objectives, continuing exploration efforts to develop their organic growth pipeline, putting their decarbonization roadmap into practice, fostering a positive corporate culture, and progressing toward achieving their strategic ambitions.

In summary, the presentation demonstrated a significant Q4 production increase as well as the achievement of annual production and cost targets.

Movers and Shakers

✅Biggest Winners 

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. (ASX: LYC) share price increased by 6.9% closing the day at  $9.71 following the release of the company's quarterly activities report. Lynas announced that its sales revenue increased by 42% from the previous quarter to a total of $232.7 million for the three months that ended on December 31.

Core Lithium Ltd. (ASX: CXO) share price increased by 8.9% to $1.23. after releasing their quarterly update this morning. Positively, management reported that additional night shifts were maintained throughout the quarter to make sure that the dense media separation (DMS) plant's construction stays on time for the production of the first spodumene concentrate in the first half of 2023.

❌ Biggest Losers 

Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) share price fell by 1.9%, reaching $4.12. This came after the announcement that Scott Marshall, the company's CEO of Food, has left his position. After more than 30 years of service at Metcash, Marshall has decided to depart in order to seek a new professional opportunity.

Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) share price fell by 3.7% to $4.89. IAG disclosed this morning that, as a result of the terrible floods, it had already received more than 5,000 claims in New Zealand. IAG may need to reevaluate its estimate for the cost of natural calamities for FY 2023 because the entire financial impact is still unclear.

Small-Cap of the Day

BluGlass shares spike 

Following the announcement that it has made its first suite of gallium nitride (GaN) laser products available for customer purchase at the leading industry conference in SPIE Photonics West in the United States, BluGlass (ASX:BLG) shares finished the trading day up 47.2%.

In the update, BluGlass said that it has received interest from customers wanting to deploy BluGlass lasers in its product development programs.

The lasers have a wide range of applications, some of which are very exciting, such as 3D printing, quantum sensing and computing, material sense, and flow cytometry.

Outlook

31st January 

• AU Retail Sales (est. -0.3%)

1st February 

• US Consumer Confidence (est. 109)

2nd February 

• US ADP Employment Report (est. 170k)

• US ISM Manufacturing (est. 48)

• US FOMC Rate Announcement (est. 4.63%)

• AU Building Approvals

3rd February 

• US Jobless Claims (est. 200k)

4th February 

• US Non-farm payrolls (est. 185k)

• US Unemployment rate (est. 3.6%)

That's it from the team at ASX-News today. We hope you enjoyed our EOD wrap-up. Good night and happy investing!