The Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price is down 1.95% to $7.31 at the time of writing.

In earlier trading, the rare earths stock hit a new 52-week low of $7.26 per share.

Meantime, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.53% to 7,565.6 points today.

What’s dragging the Lynas share price down?

Well, it certainly doesn’t help that Telsa Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is doing away with rare earths in its electric vehicles (EVs).

At a recent Investor Day, Tesla announced its next-generation powertrain, which is an internal car system, will use a permanent magnet motor that does not require any rare earths components.

On top of that, sentiment towards Lynas shares hasn’t been good since the company released its 1H FY23 results last Monday. Since then, the Lynas share price has fallen by almost 15%.

The biggest problem with the results was a 32% increase in costs due to inflationary pressures on inputs like chemicals, utility tariff rates, and employee costs.

While Lynas increased its production and top-line revenue, the cost increases were higher, which meant its profit slipped 4% year-over-year.

Lynas is also dealing with drama in Malaysia over its recently renewed operating licence.

The licence prohibits the importing and processing of lanthanide concentrate due to concerns over radioactive waste.

Adhering to the condition would mean Lynas having to close its cracking and leaching plant from 1 July. So, Lynas is appealing that condition in its licence.

What do the experts think?

Following the release of the half-year results, and prior to the news from Tesla, two brokers gave their views on Lynas shares.

As my Fool colleague Tristan reported last week, JPMorgan increased its rating to neutral with a 12-month price target of $8.60.

Coming off this new 52-week low, that’s a potential 18.5% upside for investors.

UBS has cut its rating to neutral and cut its price target to $9. That’s still a 24% potential upside.

Lynas share price snapshot

The Lynas share price is down 4.5% in the year to date while ASX All Ords shares are up a collective 6%.

Over the past 12 months, Lynas has tumbled 26% while All Ords stocks have risen by 3.3%.

The post Why did the Lynas share price just hit a 52-week low? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Why Brainchip, Lynas, Megaport, and Universal Store shares are dropping today
• Why Fortescue, Lynas, Myer, and New Hope shares are dropping today
• Why is the Lynas share price being thumped on Thursday?
• Are Lynas shares a buy following Monday’s 6% dive?

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 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had barely regained its early day losses by 2:30pm AEDT to trade just about flat.

Then the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its latest interest rate decision.

The RBA board announced another 0.25% increase in interest rates, bringing the official cash rate to 3.6%.

Atop today’s cash rate hike, the RBA board also increased the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances by another 0.25%, taking that to 3.5%.

The move was widely expected as inflation in Australia remains well above the central bank’s 2% to 3% target range.

Perhaps because investors were well prepared for another rate increase, the ASX 200 soared 0.6% immediately following the announcement.

March now marks the tenth consecutive interest rate hike from the central bank.

Rather amazingly, it was only on the morning of 3 May last year that Australia’s official rates were at the historic low of 0.1%. That afternoon saw the first rate hike from the RBA since November 2010.

Why did the RBA increase interest rates again?

Explaining why the board opted to raise interest rates yet again, RBA governor Philip Lowe noted that global inflation remains “very high”.

ASX 200 investors hoping that may turn around quickly will be disappointed by Lowe’s assessment. “It will be some time before inflation is back to target rates,” he said.

But the ASX 200 looks to be getting a boost from the report that inflation in Australia has at last peaked.

“The monthly CPI indicator suggests that inflation has peaked in Australia. Goods price inflation is expected to moderate over the months ahead due to both global developments and softer demand in Australia,” Lowe said.

Rents and services price inflation remain high.

The Aussie economy continues to grow but at a slower pace. GDP increased 0.5% in the December quarter and 2.7% over the year.

While employment dipped in January, the unemployment rate remains near 50-year lows. However, Lowe said, “As economic growth slows, unemployment is expected to increase.”

For now, wages are continuing to increase amid high inflation and a tight labour market. But in a potential signal of fewer rate hikes ahead, Lowe noted that “recent data suggest a lower risk of a cycle in which prices and wages chase one another”.

“The board, however, remains alert to the risk of a prices-wages spiral, given the limited spare capacity in the economy and the historically low rate of unemployment,” he added.

Judging by the big afternoon lift-off, ASX 200 investors don’t appear put out by all the uncertainty ahead either. Those uncertainties include the timing and extent of the slowdown in household spending, the full impact on house prices, and how the global economy holds up faced with rising rates around the world.

Lowe explained the RBA’s resolve to return inflation to within its 2% to 3% target range.

“If high inflation were to become entrenched in people’s expectations, it would be very costly to reduce later, involving even higher interest rates and a larger rise in unemployment,” he said.

What’s ahead for ASX 200 investors?

While inflation is expected to fall in 2023, the RBA forecasts inflation will remain above its target level throughout 2024. It expects inflation to be around 3% by the middle of 2025.

The central bank also expects GDP growth to be below trend for the next few years. However, Lowe said, “The outlook for business investment remains positive, with many businesses operating at a very high level of capacity utilisation.”

If you’re investing in ASX 200 shares, you should be prepared for at least one more interest rate increase. Perhaps more.

“The board expects that further tightening of monetary policy will be needed to ensure that inflation returns to target and that this period of high inflation is only temporary,” Lowe said.

The post ASX 200 lifts off as RBA raises interest rates yet again appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why did the Lynas share price just hit a 52-week low?
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• Morgans warns that these ASX shares could disappoint in FY23
• Owners of this ASX 200 share are soon going to receive a bigger dividend
• 5 ASX 200 shares trading ex-dividend today

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has shaken off some morning blues and is pushing higher this afternoon, perhaps thanks to the Reserve Bank’s latest interest rate hike. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a healthy 0.51%, putting the Index at just over 7,365 points.

But enough on interest rates. Let’s instead delve a bit deeper into the stocks that are presently topping the ASX 200’s share trading volume charts, according to investing.com. 

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Tuesday

Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)

First up today is the ASX 200 blue chip Telstra. As it currently stands, a sizeable 21.5 million Telstra shares have changed hands this session. There’s been no news from Telstra itself for almost a week.

So it looks as though this volume is being caused by the movements of the Telstra share price itself. Telstra has had a bumpy, yet overall positive day so far. The telco is currently up a decent 0.61% at $4.10 a share after trading as high as $4.13 and as low as $4.08 earlier today.

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)

Next, we have ASX 200 rare earths producer Lynas. So far this Tuesday, a hefty 23.35 million Lynas shares have been bought and sold on the share market. Again, there’s been nothing fresh out of Lynas itself. But this company has been under a bit of a cloud lately.

As we touched on earlier today, investors still seem a bit shaken by recent comments by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who just came out with some insights about the future of using rare earths in electric vehicles (or lack thereof).

Lynas shares are down another 1.34% today to $7.35 a share so far and have lost more than 10% in the past week. This selling pressure probably explains the high volumes of Lynas shares trading today.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)

Finally this Tuesday, we have ASX 200 lithium stock Sayona. A whopping 62.7 million Sayona shares have been traded on the share market so far this session. This isn’t a hard one to work out. Sayona has just returned from a trading halt with new plans for a capital raise.

As we went through this morning, Sayona was able to place almost 175,000 new shares at a decent premium to where the shares were halted at. This seems to have given investors confidence, with the Sayona share price up a pleasing 7.23% at 25 cents a pop right now. No wonder so many shares are zooming around.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why did the Lynas share price just hit a 52-week low?
• Owners of this ASX 200 share are soon going to receive a bigger dividend
• Why Brainchip, Lynas, Megaport, and Universal Store shares are dropping today
• Why InvoCare, Pentanet, Sayona Mining, and Weebit Nano shares are storming higher
• Megaport share price tumbles 10% on CEO resignation

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Telstra Group. 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 positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. 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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With earnings season now behind, it’s time to focus on the second half of FY 2023.

And while the next few months are likely to be very successful for many companies, this may not be the case for all.

According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts believe that some ASX shares are expecting too much from the half. So much so, it suspects that they could fall short of guidance and is warning investors to be careful.

Which ASX shares could disappoint in the second half?

Morgans has warned that there are six ASX shares in particular that could be destined to disappoint in FY 2023.

These are energy company AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL), packaging giant Amcor (ASX: AMC), health and safety products company Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN), baby products retailer Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN), property listings company Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG), and telco Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC).

The broker highlights that with their guidance for the full year maintained after a soft first half, they will need a significant improvement in their performance in the second half. This is something that is far from guaranteed in the current environment. It commented:

Notable companies (DHG, AGL, AMC, BBN, ANN, SLC) missed forecasts in February. Still, they maintained their full-year guidance, setting the scene for potential earnings disappointment if operating conditions don’t recover as planned.

Consensus industrial estimates suggest a second half earnings skew (49%:51%) which is curious given the economic backdrop and is at odds with the typical pre-COVID first half skew (56%:44%). More specifically, 49% of companies are expected to be skewed to 2H, well above the 25% in pre-COVID times. So if post-reporting earnings trends hold, small caps could be again vulnerable at the upcoming May ‘confession’ season.

The post Morgans warns that these ASX shares could disappoint in FY23 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• The AGL share price sank 10% in February. What’s next?
• Don’t be deceived by ASX dividends
• 6 ASX 200 directors buying up their company shares in the past week
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 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 positions in and has recommended Baby Bunting Group and Superloop. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Amcor Plc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell and Baby Bunting Group. 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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