The Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) share price plunged by a considerable amount today.

Shares in the zero-carbon lithium explorer were down 7.21%, trading at $8.11 at the close of trade on Wednesday.

It seems that even the euphoria of booming lithium demand can’t match the moves made by the broader US market overnight. The prospect of interest rates rising next week and inflation numbers coming in higher than expected appears to be on everyone’s mind.

The sell-off rippled through to ASX shares, with the vast majority of the market seeing red in afternoon trade.

All ASX indices were down at the close today, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) experiencing a 2.58% contraction in its value.

Zooming in on today’s performance of ASX lithium shares, we can see that damage was inflicted on the sector, with Vulcan emerging as the biggest loser of its peer group this afternoon.

The Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price closed 3.18% lower. Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) followed close behind, posting 3.16% and 3.06% losses, respectively.

No announcements from Vulcan explain why the company took a bigger hit than its lithium peers today. But there have been some developments in the recent past. Let’s cover the highlights.

What’s going on with the Vulcan share price?

Some positive developments emerged for lithium and spodumene concentrate on Tuesday. Bell Potter analysts gave guidance estimates for the materials and stated that a widening supply and demand imbalance was tipped in favour of lithium producers.

Vulcan posted a market update the same day claiming that construction has started for its Sorption-Demo Plant in Landau, Germany.

Vulcan Energy managing director and CEO, Dr Francis Wedin, commented:

We are excited to begin onsite construction of our Sorption-Demo Plant, which is the logical next step for us to continue upscaling towards commercial production of lithium hydroxide with a net zero carbon footprint.

We are also encouraged with continuing receipt of environmental approvals from the authorities, and mobilisation of teams for commencement of “on the ground” seismic survey activities, toward our goal of developing a much larger geothermal renewable energy and Zero Carbon Lithium business.

In August, Alster Research gave Vulcan shares a price target of $20 each, which it’s expected to reach in the next 12 months. That’s a 140% upside at the time of writing.

These factors culminate in Vulcan’s lithium production potentially trading at a ‘green premium’ in the future.

Vulcan share price snapshot

The Vulcan share price is down 25.18% year to date. At the same time, the ASX 200 is down 10.03% over this period.

The company’s market capitalisation is $1.16 billion based on its closing share price today.

The post The Vulcan share price sank 7% today in ASX sea of red appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• How are ASX lithium shares faring amid Wednesday’s carnage?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• Inflation fears crash Pilbara Minerals share price party
• Expert predicts stock market will crash 20% lower in the next four weeks as US inflation rages out of control
• Why are ASX 200 shares tumbling like dominos on Wednesday?

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley 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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The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price is down 5.29% in today’s trade after the broad ASX market sell-off. But it’s still up 31.6% in the past three weeks.

At market close on Wednesday, Paladin shares finished trading at 89.5 cents per share.

Despite the fall in the market sentiment, there appears to be optimism in the Paladin share price. Here’s why.

United States inflation data spooks investors

It was all roses for Paladin shares in the last three weeks until today. Overnight, inflation data came in at higher than original forecasts, causing a wave of pessimism across Wall Street.

This is why the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 2.58% today.

Economists expected a 0.1% fall in the US consumer price index, mainly due to a decline in oil prices. However, it was the other way around as consumer prices in the US jumped 0.1% in August.

The worst-performing sectors today included real estate and technology, which fell by 4.17% and 3.15% respectively. However, the energy sector fared better, dropping 2.24% today.

Macquarie bullish on Paladin shares

As covered by my colleague Zach Bristow, investment bank Macquarie raised its estimates on the Paladin share price.

Further, Macquarie reinitiated its buy call. This is supported by bullish forecasts of uranium prices rising another 17% to 21% on top of initial forecasts.

The analysts’ forecast is premised on recent news that Japan ordered the development of new nuclear reactors.

Paladin share price snapshot

In the last year, the Paladin share price has dipped 5.8%, but has clawed its way back with a 20% jump in the past month.

The ASX 200 is down 8% in the past year and continues to record falls with a 3% decline in the last month.

The market capitalisation of Paladin is around $2.81 billion.

The post Even with today’s falls, the Paladin Energy share price is still up 31% in 3 weeks. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• ASX uranium shares have had a stellar month. Are they just getting started?
• Why Macquarie is tipping 15% upside for the Paladin Energy share price
• Why has the Paladin Energy share price rocketed 20% in a month?
• What’s the outlook for ASX uranium shares in September?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Raymond Jang 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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Commodities trading continues to extend its legs this week with added fuel from US inflation data overnight.

The impact on US markets carried over to the ASX session today, leading all sectors to finish in the red.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished 2.58% lower on Wednesday.

Despite this, there were pockets of green scattered throughout the indices today, and these two ASX mining shares were standouts.

Australian Pacific Coal Ltd (ASX: AQC) 

Shares of the coal player launched to new highs today, gaining 55% at one stage during the session.

The spike followed the company releasing updated details of its 5.83 for 1 renounceable entitlement offer.

This was announced earlier in the month, with the company seeking to raise $100 million to ensure it can meet its debt obligations when they fall due, and for working capital.

We covered the full details on the company’s capital raising earlier today here.

It seems investors were galvanised by the news and reacted swiftly. Australian Pacific shares closed 33.33% higher at 60 cents each.

This brings the share’s gains to 300% for the year to date.

Itech Minerals Ltd (ASX: ITM)

Little-known ASX mining share Itech Minerals finished the day with a 14.7% gain after the company released an update on its Campoona Graphite deposit.

The company advised that, following its metallurgical program at the site, it has confirmed a high yield of 47% graphite of 99.99% purity after caustic baking and leach methods.

Speaking on the announcement, managing director Mike Schwarz said:

These results demonstrate that Campoona has the potential to produce a high value spherical graphite, from an Australian project in a State with significant production of renewable energy and excellent infrastructure. The use of non-HF methods such as caustic baking to purify the concentrate add further weight to the projects green credentials which we believe will help us produce a premium product for the renewable energy markets.

Shares of Itech have pushed 95% higher since listing in October 2021.

The post Here are 2 ASX mining shares that went absolutely gangbusters today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Australian Pacific Coal share price surges 28% on takeover news
• Why has this ASX energy share surged 196% since the start of the week
• Guess which little-known ASX coal share just rocketed 100%

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow 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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Well, what a shocking day it was for the ASX share market this Wednesday. After two days of healthy gains, ASX investors were probably not quite prepared for what lay in store for this trading session.

The ASX 200 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended up closing at 6,828.6 points, down a painful 2.58% from yesterday. This wiped around $60 billion from the value of the share market. Remember, yesterday saw the ASX 200 cross back over 7,000 points for the first time this month. It wasn’t to last.

It wasn’t much better for the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) either. The ASX’s oldest index closed the day at 7,071.8 points, down by 2.51%.

It was the worst day for ASX shares in at least three months, wiping around $60 billion from the value of the share market. The ASX 200 opened at 7,008.2 points this morning but quickly plunged. The index hit a low of 6,808.6 points before closing at just above that figure at 6,828.6 points.

We saw massive falls from the ASX banks, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA). CBA shares dropped a nasty 3.55%.

Miners like BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) also fell, but regained at least some of their value in late trading. BHP was down 2.24% at one stage but recovered to end the day down ‘only’ 1.78%. As the largest share on the ASX 200, this saved the index from an even more brutal drop overall.

So what on earth happened to induce such a bloodbath on the share market?

Well, in one word? Inflation.

Inflation fears wipe $60 billion from ASX 200 shares

Last night (our time), the latest inflation numbers came out from the United States. As our chief investment officer Scott Phillips discussed this morning, most commentators were expecting a mild fall in American inflation, given the falling oil prices we’ve seen in recent months.

But the US economy had a surprise in store. Despite lower fuel costs, US inflation actually rose by 0.1% to an annualised rate of 8.3%. As Bruce Jackson described it this morning, “inflation is raging out of control”. For investors, this only means one thing: higher interest rates. Both the US Federal Reserve and our own Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have been aggressively hiking rates for most of the year so far.

But investors seemed to be hoping that the US Fed might consider easing off the pedal if the inflation figures showed inflation slowing, as they were expected to. But alas, it was not to be, and many commentators are now expecting the Fed to keep hiking.

Unsurprisingly, US markets were also hammered overnight, which was always going to make things difficult for ASX shares.

Higher interest rates are bad news for shares and for most assets such as housing. Higher rates encourage investors to avoid ‘risky’ investments like shares in favour of safer investments like cash. Further, they also force many investors to change the valuation models used to determine what a company is worth. And not in a good way.

Adding to all of this are concerns that the aggressive path inflation might now force the Fed onto could tip the US (and thus, most of the world) into another recession.

So this hurricane of bad news was almost certainly behind the horrible day ASX shares and the ASX 200 Index had this Wednesday. No doubt, investors will be hoping for a brighter end to the week.

The post ASX 200 shares dump $60 billion in horror session. Here’s how Wednesday unfolded appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• ASX 200 mining shares stage significant rebound in afternoon trading
• Macquarie shares bear the brunt of bank sell-off amid inflation bomb
• Rio Tinto share price slides despite new $3bn iron ore project
• The BHP share price is tumbling today, but here’s why Macquarie is bullish
• Expert predicts stock market will crash 20% lower in the next four weeks as US inflation rages out of control

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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