PEAK ASSET: ARVO WRAP 8 November: ASX rises; mining stocks sink; James Hardie rallies | Rinehart-backed Brazilian rare earths play heads to $315m IPO | WA1 Resources confirms continuity of niobium blanket at West Arunta |

It’s pouring rain in Melb as we type this and not too long ago it was 30 degrees and clear skies…classic!

On another note…

Have you been following the graphite space?

Take a look at pic below for a high-level summary on market dynamics.

Across Markets…

The Australian sharemarket edged up on Wednesday as strong gains from technology stocks offset a sell-off in the mining giants.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 per cent, or 18.3 points, to 6995.4 at the closing bell, tracking gains on Wall Street which was buoyed by a rally in so-called Magnificent Seven technology stocks. Nine out of the 11 sectors were in the green. The All Ordinaries rose 0.3 per cent.

In local trading, the information technology sector was the best performer, up 1.9 per cent. WiseTech gained 2.3 per cent to $63.64, Xero added 1.5 per cent to $114.72 and Altium was up 2.4 per cent to $42.23. 

Weaker than expected Chinese trade data dragged the commodities sector lower amid renewed concerns about China’s economy. Singapore iron ore futures fell 0.4 per cent to $US122.55 a tonne in late afternoon trading on the December contract.

BHP Group, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the index, dropped 1.9 per cent to $44.70. Fortescue Metals lost 1.1 per cent to $23.10 and Rio Tinto declined 2 per cent to $119.37.

Atlas Funds Management chief investment officer Hugh Dive told The Australian Financial Review that Wednesday was a “relatively quiet day with low volumes.”

“BHP and others in the materials sector was off after some confusing data from China, which dragged iron ore and coal prices down,” Mr Dive said.

Oil prices fell the most in three months. Brent crude was near $US81 a barrel. Sector heavyweight Woodside Energy fell 0.6 per cent to $33.35. 

Overnight on Wall Street, Amazon led the mega techs higher, Uber also climbed 3.7 per cent after reporting 25 per cent growth in overall trips for the three months through September, and income from operations of $US394 million ($614 million).

In company news, building materials company James Hardie surged 13.8 per cent to $46.97 after reporting positive results. It managed to increase the prices of building materials sold in Australia by 15 per cent.

Source: AFR