PEAK ASSET: ARVO WRAP 22 JANUARY: Bank rally lifts ASX | Liontown, Chalice crater | Aurum Resources hits the ground running at Boundiali gold project in Côte d’Ivoire |

How was your Monday?

It’s been a brutal one for LTR holder after the stock took a more than 20% loss after revealing the collapse of a $760m funding package for its Kathleen Valley lithium mine.

The company has now commenced discussions on a revised, smaller debt facility.

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Across Markets…

The Australian sharemarket extended gains on Monday, tracking a US rally that pushed the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to records last week, but warnings from local mining companies about falling commodity prices capped gains.

Tech and financial stocks jumped, extending Friday’s session gains as buy now, pay later play Zip leapt 16.5 per cent to 74¢ after flagging it would return to semi-annual profitability for the first time since the first half of 2021.

The big banks rallied with ANZ up 1.4 per cent to $26.50 and Commonwealth Bank 1.3 per cent higher at $114.80. National Australia Bank rose 1.1 per cent to $31.63 and Westpac also advanced 1.1 per cent to $23.45.

Morningstar analyst Nathan Zaia is forecasting Australian banks’ net interest income to grow 4 per cent per year to fiscal 2026 thanks to higher net interest margins and loan growth. “While bad debts are likely to rise, we anticipate cost containment to allow cash profits to grow broadly with revenue,” he said.

In the tech sector, Life360 rallied 4.8 per cent to $7.40. Block added 3.1 per cent to $101.06, and Tyro Payments lifted 1.9 per cent to $1.065. Investors also favoured consumer-related stocks such as The Star Entertainment up 5.1 per cent and The A2 Milk Company, 6.3 per cent higher.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 55.4 points up, or 0.8 per cent, to 7476.6, still well under a peak of 7632.7 touched on January 2. The index has shed 1.5 per cent so far this year. The All Ordinaries gained 0.7 per cent.

Materials and utilities were the only two sectors in the red.

Commodity stocks fell after a series of warnings from mining companies about falling metal prices – from copper to nickel and lithium – forcing them to review exploration plans. Former Fortescue chief executive Andrew Forrest had already set the tone early on Monday with the shutting-down of West Australian nickel mines Wyloo bowing to the supply glut that has crashed nickel prices.

Heavyweight mining giants Fortescue Metals and BHP Group notched up gains of up to 0.9 per cent, but lithium companies receded after Liontown Resources’s operations review due to weak spodumene prices spooked investors. Its shares collapsed more than 21 per cent to 94¢ and was the biggest index laggard.

Source: AFR