AU Morning Wrap: ASX Rises, But Miners' Warnings Weigh; Liontown Tumbles 21%

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rose 1.2 per cent to 4839.81, breaking a streak of more than 500 trading sessions without a new record. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ gained 395 points, or 1.1 per cent, to close at 37863.80, also a record. The tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ climbed 1.7 per cent.

Tech jumped 1.6 per cent, extending Friday's session gains, dragging the benchmark $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ closer to a record peak set in 2021. $Zip Co Ltd (ZIP.AU)$ leapt 13.4 per cent, $Tyro Payments Ltd (TYR.AU)$ rose 2.9 per cent, and $Xero Ltd (XRO.AU)$ lifted2.4 per cent.

Commodity stocks fell after a raft of warnings from mining companies about falling prices amid challenging conditions. Former $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$ chief executive Andrew Forrest had already set the tone early Monday with the shutting down of West Australian nickel mines Wyloo bowing to the supply glut that has crashed nickel prices.

Heavyweights $BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$ was flat at $45.74, but $Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$ was down 0.3 per cent and $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$ 0.1 per cent lower. Lithium stocks, including $Sayona Mining Ltd (SYA.AU)$ and $IGO Ltd (IGO.AU)$ started on the backfoot.

The big banks rallied with $CommBank (CBA.AU)$ leading the pack, up 1 per cent.

$South32 Ltd (S32.AU)$: South32 declined 2.5 per cent after lowering its copper output guidance for fiscal 2024. It still expects operating unit costs to be in line or below for the first half of the year.

$Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (LYC.AU)$: Lynas Rare Earths fell 2.2 per cent after its December quarter output more than halved following a temporary shutdown in Malaysia to upgrade operations.

$Chalice Mining Ltd (CHN.AU)$: Chalice Mining dropped 3.7 per cent on plans to slash costs by 40 per cent this year due to weak market conditions. The company said the reduction will include executive salaries and it will focus on "high-priority" exploration activities such as the Gonneville project and in the West Yilgarn Province of Western Australia.

$Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR.AU)$: Liontown Resources tumbled 21 per cent on news it was reviewing the planned expansion of its WA lithium project Kathleen Valley due to weak spodumene prices.

$Appen Ltd (APX.AU)$: Appen collapsed 40 per cent to 28¢ after Google dumped a $125m contract.