The Match Out: ASX is now up 6% from the low, IT stocks underpin buying

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• The ASX 200 finished up +116pts/ +1.74% at 6815.
• The IT sector was best on ground (+3.85%) while Consumer Discretionary (+2.72%) & Financials (+2.33%) were also strong.
• Consumer Staples (-0.04%) the weakest link and only sector to close down on the session.
• The market opened well and simply ground higher through the session even with US Futures pulling back 0.5% - the market is clearly caught short and we’re seeing the first move to cover.
• Lead Portfolio Manager James Gerrish was on Ausbiz this morning, discussing current market views & positioning – Watch Here
• We made some tweaks to MM Portfolios today to ensure we hold the right composition of stocks in each portfolio to reflect our views into Christmas – Read Here
• Some big moves playing out particularly in technology today – a few MM positions did particularly well with HUB24 (ASX: HUB) +9.71% & recent purchase REA Group (ASX: REA) +7.45%.
• Relative performance today of +0.94% highlights how a recent move towards technology is starting to work in our Flagship Growth Portfolio.
• We had a discussion about a number of stocks on the desk today – potentially switching from Lovisa (ASX: LOV) +5.84% to Premier Investments (ASX: PMV) -0.08% on relative value grounds, however, we continue to see more upside in the Lovisa model than in Premiers…
• We also pondered our exposure to Copper, and ultimately made a ‘tweak’ with respect to this for both our Flagship Growth & Emerging Companies Portfolios.
• Dye and Durham made a fresh proposal to buy some parts of Link (ASX: LNK) +6.69% but not the whole – the saga continues.
• Tesco (TSCO LN) reports results tonight in the UK – we own in our International Equities Portfolio and we are looking for a reason to cut the position – we think FY23 will continue to be challenging.
• Iron Ore was largely flat in Asia today- Fortescue (ASX: FMG) +2.38% & RIO (ASX: RIO) +1.96% edged higher – we’re more cautious on the Iron Ore trade relative to other commodities.
• Gold was up overnight to ~US$1726 before tracking down -US$6 in Asian trade today, settled $US1720 at our close.
• Asian stocks were mostly higher today, big moves in Hong Kong with the index +6% after resuming from a holiday break, Japan +0.74% while China was down -0.55%
• US Futures are all down, around -0.40% across the board. 

ASX200

Broker Moves

• Janus Henderson (ASX: JHG) GDRs Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse
• Viva Energy (ASX: VEA) Raised to Buy at CLSA; PT A$3.23
• Ampol (ASX: ALD) Raised to Buy at CLSA; PT A$33.99
• Transurban (ASX: TCL) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse; PT A$12.90
• Rural Funds (ASX: RFF) Raised to Buy at Bell Potter; PT A$2.75

Major Movers Today