The Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) share price was out of form last month despite some big news.

The lithium developer’s shares sank 25% to end the month at $1.06.

Will things be better for the Liontown share price in July?

One leading broker appears optimistic that July could be a better month for the Liontown share price.

According to a note out of Bell Potter, its analysts have named the lithium share as one of its top picks of FY 2023.

The broker currently has a speculative buy rating and $3.06 price target on the company’s shares. This implies potential upside of 200% for investors over the next 12 months if everything goes to plan.

This works out to be an average return of 9.5% per month when compounded. So the Liontown share price will need to get a wriggle on after its poor start to the month (5% decline on Friday).

What did the broker say?

Bell Potter highlights that rising rates have been weighing on battery materials stocks. However, it believes investors should look beyond this and focus on the positive outlook for the sector due to supply constraints and strong demand.

The broker explained:

The prospect of tightening monetary policy and recession across major global economies has weighed heavily on battery minerals exposed equities, despite decarbonisation being a prevailing theme over the medium to long term.

We think the global auto manufacturing sector is likely to continue its re-tooling to supply EVs, supported by corporate targets and government policy, leading to sustained strong battery mineral demand. But the battery minerals’ supply side’s response faces significant hurdles with respect to permitting, project development and ramp-up. On this basis, we remain positive on the sector.

In light of this, it sees Liontown’s shares as a great option for investors looking for exposure to the sector.

The post Will the Liontown share price bounce back in July? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Top broker names 3 of the best ASX 200 shares to buy in FY23
• Why have ASX lithium shares had such a lousy month in June?
• Top broker says the Liontown share price can rise 150%
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Another painful month has come to pass for crypto asset investors.

The same could be said for more traditional investments during June. For instance, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) parted ways with roughly 600 points to finish the month 8.5% lower.

However, such a loss would almost look positive to those investing in crypto after such a challenging month.

Here’s a closer look at the explosive month (and not in a good way) for crypto prices in June.

What went down?

If I were to take the above heading literally, I could almost say, “nearly everything”. There’s no skirting around the truth here, June was yet another steep leg down for the digital asset market.

It is no overstatement to say that 99% of the top 100 crypto assets by market cap — excluding stablecoins — finished in the red by the end of the month.

The important question to ask is: why? What exactly is nudging so many investors to part ways with their investment and apply more selling pressure?

In all likelihood, the biggest contributor to sustained selling pressure in June was the lingering effects of inflation. In the United States, the consumer price index increased by 8.6% year on year in May, above expectations and the highest on record since 1981.

As Tom Dunleavy of Messari.io states:

It’s hard to worry about putting money into the markets when you are concerned with putting food on the table or paying your mortgage.

Rising prices for goods and services, paired with the anticipation of rising interest rates, have only tempered enthusiasm for crypto during June.

In turn, crypto prices fell off a cliff in June as investors continued to go more risk-off under the current macroeconomic conditions. Specifically, falls across some of the biggest digital assets include:

• Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) down 38%
• Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) down 45%
• Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) down 25%
• Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) down 27%

Who is buying crypto at these prices?

The reality is, for every seller there is a buyer. So, while there are plenty of people unloading their positions, there’s an equal number of people on the opposite end of the transaction.

Possibly one of the most notable buyers, and self-proclaimed Bitcoin maximalists, is MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor. The famed original crypto-asset supporter took to Twitter on 29 June to let the public know MicroStrategy had purchased another 480 bitcoins for approximately US$10 million. This took the company’s Bitcoin holdings to 129,699 bitcoins.

MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 480 bitcoins for ~$10.0 million at an average price of ~$20,817 per #bitcoin. As of 6/28/22 @MicroStrategy holds ~129,699 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.98 billion at an average price of ~$30,664 per bitcoin. $MSTRhttps://t.co/leQYTXn817

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) June 29, 2022

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The overall crypto market cap now resides at US$868.8 billion. This marks an unceremonious tumble below the trillion banner. Although, as my colleague Bernd recently covered, some experts — including eToro’s Simon Peters — consider the pullback to be within historic ranges.

The post How did the price of crypto assets perform in June? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s what will impact the Bitcoin price in July: expert
• Ethereum price falls after hackers begin laundering $100 million bridge exploit
• What did the SEC just say about Bitcoin?
• How crypto miners are squeezing the Bitcoin price
• What one tech guru thinks of the current crypto market

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bounced back for most of Friday before plunging into the red, weighed down by energy shares. The index was 0.43% lower at 6,539.90 points as of the final close of the week.   

The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) fell more than 3.3% today, weighed down by oil prices.

Global oil prices fell between 1.2% and 3.7% on Thursday as the OPEC+ confirmed it would increase output in August as much as previously announced amid supply concerns. The fall saw oil prices recording their first monthly decline in 2022.

ASX 200 materials shares also underperformed on the back of lower base metal prices, after the price of copper recorded its worst quarter since 2011.

But it wasn’t all dire today. Real estate and industrials bolstered the market, with the sectors each gaining more than 1%.

All in all, eight of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors ended Friday’s session in the green.

But which ASX share bested the rest to take out the crown of today’s top performer? Read on to find out.

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

The best performing share of the 200 largest ASX shares by market capitalisation on Friday might surprise market watchers.

It was none other than Air New Zealand Limited (ASX: AIZ). The airline has taken off nearly 7% on Friday to trade at 53.5 cents. Find out what Air New Zealand has been up to, here.

Its performance was shadowed by that of Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS). Learn more about Latitude here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made by these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Air New Zealand Limited (ASX :AIZ)	$0.54	6.93%
Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS)	$1.25	5.04%
Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL)	$12.71	4.52%
QUBE Holdings Ltd (ASX: QUB)	$2.84	4.03%
IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)	$24.76	3.95%
Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB)	$11.10	3.64%
Virgin Money Uk Plc (ASX: VUK)	$2.29	3.62%
Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)	$11.43	3.53%
Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR)	$2.04	3.29%
APA Group (ASX: APA)	$11.62	3.11%

Data as at 3:59pm AEST

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Friday
• Brambles share price rises amid $1 billion investment decision
• Embattled ASX 200 retail shares primed for a comeback: experts
• Why is the Northern Star share price more green than gold on Friday?
• ASX 200 midday update: Regis Resources jumps, BHP and Rio Tinto drop

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Dicker Data Limited, Idp Education Pty Ltd, and Netwealth. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended APA Group, Dicker Data Limited, and Netwealth. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) slipped 9.6% over the month of June.

Negative sentiment about the economic outlook was a key factor weighing down the index.

Here are the five worst-performing ASX shares of the month, according to Capital IQ figures.

• BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX) down 51.5%
• MoneyMe Ltd (ASX: MME) down 51.3%
• Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) down 50%
• Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX: IHL) down 47.5%
• Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) down 47.4%

What worried ASX investors in June?

People are starting to notice an increase in the prices of groceries and other day-to-day essentials, particularly electricity, that they simply can’t avoid.

Inflation is no longer something people read or hear about in the news, it’s actually in their face and affecting their weekly budgets.

On top of that, home loan interest bills have increased by 0.75% after the Reserve Bank of Australia increased the official cash rate by 0.25% in May and 0.5% in June.

On a $1 million home loan, that’s an extra $7,500 in interest payments per year or $625 per month.

So, investors are likely worried about how the companies they are invested in might be affected by these things. Some might also be wondering if they want to have their spare cash invested at the moment.

Why these ASX shares tanked

These ASX shares had a rockier month than most.

The companies released the following news to the ASX in June:

• BWX Limited announced a capital raising at a significant share price discount
• MoneyMe shares drifted downwards all month despite the company releasing no price-sensitive news except a media response denying it had tested a capital raising proposal with investors. But its share price skyrocketed today on news about its funding platform
• Sezzle did not release any price-sensitive news in June, however, its share price likely fell due to concerns about increasing inflation and competition and the threat of more regulation in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space
• Incannex announced positive results in its phase 2 sleep apnoea trial in early June but the share price trundled lower for the rest of the month
• Humm shares fell due to the agreed termination of the company’s $250 million BNPL deal with Latitude and the resignation of the majority of the board.

The post 5 worst ASX All Ordinaries shares in June appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 best ASX All Ordinaries shares in June
• These 3 ASX All Ords shares are delivering double-digit gains on Friday
• What’s propelling the MoneyMe share price 28% higher today?
• June was a terrible month for ASX BNPL shares. Here’s why
• Why BWX, Sayona Mining, Tyro, and Woodside shares are sinking

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BWX Limited and Humm Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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