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The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price was in reverse today despite the company not releasing any new announcements.

At market close, the cloud accounting platform provider’s shares finished down 5.16% to $99.03 apiece.

What’s happened to Xero shares?

An impressive growth story stretching back from 2012, Xero shares have tumbled since the beginning of 2022.

A loss of 30% in the space of a few months is enough to wane investor sentiment. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has largely remained unchanged over the same timeframe.

While it remains to be seen if the Xero share price has finally bottomed out, the company has been relatively quiet on the news front.

Its last financial update came back in November 2021 when Xero delivered its half-year results to the market.

Despite the company posting a net loss for the period, most key metrics lifted by double-digits.

Nonetheless, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has been pounded this year, which could give cause as to why Xero shares are down.

The tech sector is currently down 18% year to date.

Is the Xero share price a buy?

A number of brokers have recently weighed in the company’s shares price with varying price points.

The team at Citi lowered its 12-month price target for Xero shares by 17% to $132.60 earlier this month.

However, analysts at Macquarie adopted a more bearish tone, cutting Xero’s rating by 23% to $100.00 a share. It appears investors believe that the current Xero share is in line with Macquarie’s estimates.

As the 28th largest company on the ASX, Xero has a market capitalisation of roughly $14.87 billion.

The post Why did the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price sink 5% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 3 beaten-down technology ASX shares to buy right now: expert
• Analysts name 2 ASX growth shares to buy
• Is the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price on the way back up to its January highs?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) share price has started the week poorly.

In late trade, the retail giant’s shares are down 1.5% to $54.00.

Why is the JB Hi-Fi share price falling?

The catalyst for the weakness in the JB Hi-Fi share price on Monday appears to have been a broker note out of Goldman Sachs.

According to the note, the broker has downgraded the retailer’s shares to a sell rating and slashed its price target by 25% to $39.00.

This suggests there’s potential downside of almost 28% for the JB Hi-Fi share price over the next 12 months.

What did the broker say?

Goldman made the move on the belief that the tide is beginning to turn for JB Hi-Fi after a couple of very positive years.

This is due to rising competition from pureplay online retailers such as Amazon and Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN), the back-to-work trend, supply chain disruptions, and the softening housing market.

The broker explained:

“Over the last 2 years, JBH has enjoyed confluence of growth factors with COVID spurred work from home, positive housing cycle growth with low interest rates, high demand with low supply with benign competition leading to lower promotions and relatively stable COGS.

However, we see this reversing – global commodity inflation and supply chain disruptions out of China (due to COVID) providing further cost and supply pressure.

At the same time, Australia is increasingly seeing back-to-work trends (partially) and the higher interest rates are likely to put pressure on housing cycle. Intensifying competition from the likes of Amazon and Kogan (online pure-plays) will likely result in some price competition, in our opinion.”

All in all, Goldman believes this means the JB Hi-Fi share price is overvalued at the current level.

The post Sell rating: JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JHB) share price tipped to sink 28% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Many Aussies are feeling the sting of inflation through the increased cost of living. So, it may not be a surprise that ASX dividend shares have come back into the spotlight as investors attempt to add to their income.

Unlike the US market, the Australian share market’s dividend payers tend to be dominated by big mining companies and banks. Whereas, on Wall Street, it is the tech behemoths — such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) — that rock the passive payout stage.

Though, with the tech sector still being the worst performing of all sectors on the ASX so far this year, what kind of outlook is there for its dividend prospects?

How ASX tech shares stack up on dividends

This month Janus Henderson Group (ASX: JHG) released the 33rd edition of its Global Dividend Index report. In addition to revealing BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) as the world’s biggest dividend payer in 2021, the report provided sector-specific insights into the passive income component of shareholder returns.

Notably, global dividends reached a new record of US$1.47 trillion in 2021. This represented a staggering 14.7% increase on an underlying basis. While miners and banks constituted the lion’s share of the increase in global dividends, other sectors helped chip in towards the gain.

For instance, Janus Henderson highlighted the technology sector as one that has been easy to overlook despite its consistent increase in contributions over the years. On a global level, the tech sector made up 11% of dividends with an increase of 8% year on year.

However, these figures are largely skewed towards the payments made by the likes of Microsoft and Apple. So, what does the field look like for ASX dividend shares in the tech sector?

Of the 15 companies in the information technology sector, 8 of them currently provide a dividend — or 53%. Additionally, ~63% of these companies increased their dividend on a dividend per share basis compared to a year ago.

Furthermore, on average an ASX share in the tech sector has a dividend yield of 1.05%. Currently, the highest dividend yield offered by one of these companies is metal detector and communications equipment manufacturer Codan Limited (ASX: CDA) with a yield of 4.06%.

Looking beyond the yield

While the dividend yield of ASX tech shares trails that of its mining and banking counterparts, there might be another component to the equation.

Co-portfolio manager of First Sentier’s Equity Income Fund, Rudi Minbatiwala points out the growth potential within Australian technology players.

For instance, WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) currently holds a minuscule 0.17% dividend yield. However, the logistics software company has managed to push revenues 19% higher year on year and increase its dividends per share by 120%.

As Minbatiwala says:

I know this may sound counterintuitive to some, but thinking about dividend income on a ‘yield’ basis can deliver poor income on a ‘dollar’ basis over the long term.

The comment may prompt investors to look beyond the low dividend yield from ASX tech shares on average. Instead, the potential for future and consistent earnings growth that could translate into greater dividends could be more of a focus.

The post What is the outlook for ASX dividend shares in the tech sector? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Monday
• Ethereum price outpaces Bitcoin as crypto investors eye ‘The Merge’
• Why is the Renascor (ASX:RNU) share price losing charge on Monday?
• Why have investors been selling off CBA shares?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns Apple. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Apple, Microsoft, and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top ASX shares leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE)

According to a note out of UBS, its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted their price target on this lithium miner’s shares to $13.80. This follows positive revisions to the broker’s commodity forecasts to reflect rising prices since Russia invaded the Ukraine. Overall, UBS is very positive on lithium and particularly Allkem. The Allkem share price is trading at $11.20 on Monday afternoon.

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)

A note out of Goldman Sachs reveals that its analysts have retained their buy rating but trimmed their price target on this retail giant’s shares to $5.80. Goldman likes Harvey Norman due to its unique position within the electronics and appliances retail industry. Overall, it believes the retailer is a more defensive option that is undervalued in the home category. And while the broker’s price target doesn’t offer significant upside from the current Harvey Norman share price of $5.55, Goldman highlights that its 7.8% fully franked FY 2022 dividend yield estimate sweetens the deal.

Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV)

Analysts at Macquarie have retained their outperform rating and $35.00 price target on this retail giant’s shares. This follows the release of a half year result last week that was in line with the broker’s estimates. Overall, Macquarie was impressed with Premier’s performance in a challenging environment and appears optimistic that its solid form will continue. The Premier Investments share price is trading at $28.69 today.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Hoping to bag the Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) dividend? Here’s what you need to do this week
• Why Atlas Arteria, Core Lithium, Premier, and Telix shares are dropping
• The Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) dividend just jumped 35%. Here’s what you need to know
• Why Allkem, Firefinch, JB Hi-Fi, and Piedmont Lithium are charging higher
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Premier’s record dividend, BHP upgraded

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Orocobre Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Premier Investments Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has kicked off the week’s trading on a pleasing footing, as it stands so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up by a robust 0.27% at just over 7,420 points. 

But let’s delve deeper into these gains and check out the ASX 200 shares topping the share market’s trading volume charts, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Monday

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Telstra is our first cab off the rank today. This ASX 200 telco has experienced a notable 11.26 million of its shares trading on the markets thus far. There’s been no major news out of Telstra so far today, except for a routine share buyback notice. 

However, the Telstra share price is bucking the markets today, and not in a good way. The company is presently down by 0.65% at $3.88 a share. It’s probably this move that has sparked the high share volumes we are seeing. 

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

ASX 200 lithium producer Pilbara is next up. Pilbara has had a hefty 14.4 million shares find a new home on the ASX boards thus far. Again, this doesn’t seem to be a result of anything out of the company directly.

In saying that, Pilbara is another company that has had a notable market move this Monday. Although fortunately for investors, it’s the opposite of Telstra. The Pilbara share price is currently up a robust 1.1% at $3.24 a share. That puts this lithium share’s five-day gains at an impressive 10.75%. This is probably the reason why we are seeing Pilbara shares on this list today. 

AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ)

Our third and final ASX 200 share of the day today goes to another lithium share in AVZ. At this point in time, this Monday has had a whopping 25.92 million AVZ shares bought and sold. This is almost certainly the result of the dramatic moves we have seen on the share market surrounding this company.

The AVZ share price is currently up a pleasing 4.56% at $1.149 a share. However, the company went as high as $1.20 a share earlier today, a new all-time high for AVZ Minerals. The company is now up more than 25% over the past five trading days alone. No wonder we are seeing such high trading volumes today. 

The post These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How much is the next Telstra dividend?
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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• How much is the next BHP dividend?
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) price is up 5% since this time yesterday.

The world’s number 2 cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading for US$3,311 (AU$4,395).

The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is rallying too, also up 5% overnight to US$46,935.

But step back in time two weeks and the Ethereum price has gained an impressive 31%. That compares to a 24% gain for Bitcoin, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

So, why the outperformance?

Ethereum price rising ahead of software upgrade

What was formerly billed as Eth2 has now been rebranded ‘The Merge’.

According to the Ethereum website:

This upgrade represents the official switch to proof-of-stake consensus. This eliminates the need for energy-intensive mining, and instead secures the network using staked ether. Ethereum Mainnet continues to be secured by proof-of-work, even while the Beacon Chain runs in parallel using proof-of-stake. The Merge is when these two systems finally come together.

Crypto analysts are broadly bullish on the Ethereum price in relation to The Merge.

According to senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Jamie Douglas Coutts:

The Ethereum network’s next major, ambitious milestone will likely catalyse millions of new adopters. Negative perceptions over energy consumption have plagued proof-of-work chains, so the response from the market to the Merge may be overwhelmingly positive, as energy use is expected to decline 99%.

Solidly in the overwhelmingly positive camp is Kain Warwick, founder of derivatives trading system Synthetix.

On the back of The Merge, Warwick last week forecast the Ethereum price will more than triple in 2022, reaching US$10,000.

“New people wanting to swap dollars for Ethereum and build on top were finding the fees completely prohibitive,” Warwick said. “But there has been so much work done on scaling the Ethereum blockchain that there is a really credible case for new entrants where it is viable for them to transact.”

The post Ethereum price outpaces Bitcoin as crypto investors eye ‘The Merge’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Renascor Resources Ltd (ASX: RNU) share price has started the week in the red.

In afternoon trade, the graphite developer’s shares are down 5% to 28 cents.

What’s going on with the Renascor share price?

Investors have been selling down the Renascor share price despite the release of an update on the company’s Siviour Battery Anode Material (BAM) Project.

According to the release, work is progressing on an updated, optimised BAM Study, building on previous detailed feasibility work undertaken by Renascor for the planned vertically integrated mine and advanced manufacturing operation in South Australia.

The release explains that GR Engineering Services (ASX: GNG) is acting as study manager and engineering designer.

Management highlights that the optimised BAM Study will incorporate material improvements to the mineral processing parameters adopted in the earlier study. This includes increases in spherical graphite milling yields and improvements to both the Graphite Concentrate flotation and downstream purification circuits.

Furthermore, the optimised BAM Study is assessing an increase in Purified Spherical Graphite (PSG) production capacity, as well as additional staged expansions of PSG operations in order to meet projected demand. Management advised that studies to date have considered an initial Stage 1 production capacity of 28,000tpa of PSG.

This could be very lucrative given that Fastmarkets is currently reporting PSG prices of US$3,500 to US$3,800 per tonne. This is a 40% increase over the last six months and is being driven by demand for use in the production of anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

So why are its shares falling?

The weakness in the Renascor share price today may have been driven by the inclusion of a couple of risk factors in the company’s update.

Firstly, Renascor reminded investors that it is still seeking approval for its Siviour Graphite Mine. The release explains that the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining has completed its initial review of the company’s Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation and the two parties are in active discussions regarding a final approval.

In addition, the release highlights that Renascor recently became aware of an application seeking patent protection over certain previously known and published procedures for purifying graphite. Renascor has now opposed the pending patent application to protect and preserve its flexibility to use these processing procedures (or similar), should it wish to do so.

While these issues are likely to be surmountable, the uncertainty appears to be weighing on sentiment and the Renascor share price a touch today.

The post Why is the Renascor (ASX:RNU) share price losing charge on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why have investors been selling off CBA shares?
• ‘It’s where all the real value-add is’: Why has this ASX rare earths share soared 79% in a month?
• Why is the Cochlear (ASX:COH) share price sliding today?
• 3 ASX All Ords shares smashing 52-week highs today
• Why Evolution, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, St Barbara, and Zip shares are falling

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 Bruce Jackson.

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Looking at the recent Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price, you wouldn’t think investors have been in a selling mood. CBA shares are well in the green today, recording a gain of 0.73% at the time of writing at $106.69 a share. That puts CBA up just over 4% in 2022 so far, as well as an impressive 14.1% since the start of March. It also means CBA is now up just over 24.5% over the past 12 months. 

And yet, many investors have been cashing out of their Commonwealth Bank holdings. We know this because of Gemma Dale of NABtrade. Ms Dale joined Motley Fool Chief Investment Officer Scott Phillips on Ausbiz recently to discuss the share trading trends that she is seeing in NABtrade customer accounts.

Why are investors selling out of CBA shares?

Dale told Ausbiz that ASX banks like CBA still make up very large proportions (35-40%) of many investors’ share portfolios, helped more recently by “massive buying” during the COVID crash of 2020. However, she also said that NABtrade has noticed some strong retail selling in ASX banks of late, particularly with CBA and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB). Here’s some of what she said: 

So now with NAB above $31, the selling is unbelievable, 85%-plus sell on NAB… why wouldn’t [investors] take some profits at this point? Also, they’ve seen NAB above that level and fall back away before so they’ve taken the opportunity to lock that in… CBA at $107, that was a 90%-plus sell… It’s mostly trimming at this level. [Investors are] pretty keen to lock in those numbers.

So Ms Dale argues that many retail investors (nine in ten at one point) are selling out of CBA now that the share price is approaching the bank’s all-time high of just above $110 a share. That could explain why we’ve seen some volatility with the CBA share price over the past week. Indeed, CBA shares have touched close to $106 and gone as high as $107.50 in just the past few days. And remember, this is a company that is still up 14% over this month alone. That would be enough to give more than a few investors itchy fingers. 

We’ll have to wait and see what the CBA share price does next and whether it is on track to beat that all-time high of $120.19 that we saw back in August last year. 

In the meantime, the current Commonwealth Bank of Australia share price gives CBA a market capitalisation of $182 billion, with a dividend yield of 3.52%. 

The post Why have investors been selling off CBA shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Why are ASX 200 bank shares underperforming on Thursday?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns National Australia Bank Limited. 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 Bruce Jackson.

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It’s a good day for ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) shares, with both the All Ords and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in the green.

Right now, the All Ords is up 0.31% while the ASX 200 has gained 0.41%.

But some stocks are doing better than others. These 3 ASX All Ords shares are trading at their highest point in at least 12 months today.

Let’s take a look at what has helped drive them higher.

3 ASX All Ords shares launching to new 52-week highs

Arafura Resources Limited (ASX: ARU)

Alls Ords newbie Arafura Resources has hit a new 52-week high on Monday, surging to trade for 34.5 cents.

Its gains come despite no news from the company. However, it was recently added to the benchmark index. The ASX rare earths share will be celebrating the anniversary of its first week on the All Ords today.

That might have boosted trading of its shares lately, which could have helped support its record share price.

Additionally, the company’s been on a mostly green streak since it announced it had received $30 million of grant funding for the construction of its rare earths separation plant in the Northern Territory a fortnight ago.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)

The Whitehaven Coal share price also hit a new 52-week high on Monday, gaining 1.1% to reach $4.53 in intraday trade.

It comes after the company’s stock was one of the ASX 200’s best performers last week. It gained 12% amid positive results from its peer New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC).

Additionally, its share price may have been boosted by news last week the company was asked to supply at least 70,000 tonnes of coal to Ukraine.

The coal will be a donation from the Australian government. The federal government will buy the black rocks from Whitehaven and pay for their delivery to Ukraine.

In a statement, several Morrison Government ministers said the donation followed a request for assistance from the Ukrainian Government. The coal is needed to support the European country’s power grid.

However, the donation is not without controversy. According to The Guardian, it’s unclear whether Whitehaven ­– reportedly a Liberal Party donor – was the only major coalminer approached to fill the donation.

Firefinch Ltd (ASX: FFX)

Finally, ASX All Ords stock Firefinch is also seeing its share price moving upwards today.

In fact, it reached a new 52-week high of $1.015 in intraday trade.

The gain comes after the company announced final conditions for the joint venture between Firefinch and Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co have been met.

The joint venture company now holds the exploitation licence for the Goulamina Lithium Project in Mali in western Africa.

Now, the Firefinch can divest its holding in the joint venture to a spin-off company – Leo Lithium Limited.

A timeline for the demerger is expected to be released in the coming weeks. Firefinch shareholders will get to have their say on the plan after that.

The post 3 ASX All Ords shares smashing 52-week highs today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ‘It’s where all the real value-add is’: Why has this ASX rare earths share soared 79% in a month?
• Why APM, Firefinch, Rio Tinto, and Soul Patts shares are charging higher today
• Up 350% in a year, here’s why the Firefinch (ASX:FFX) share price is flying higher on Monday
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Why Allkem, Firefinch, JB Hi-Fi, and Piedmont Lithium are charging higher

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 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Arafura Resources Limited (ASX: ARU) share price has taken off in the past month.

This ASX rare earths share has rocketed 79% since market close on 28 February. In today’s trade alone, the company’s shares are soaring more than 15% higher at the time of writing.

Let’s take a look at why Arafura is having such a good month.

Rare earth deposit

The Arafura Resources share price has stormed ahead since receiving a $30 million grant from the federal government. The funding will go towards a $90.8 million rare earth separation plant at the company’s Nolans project near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Arafura’s shares have surged 65% since the announcement on March 16.

Arafura Resources believes it can provide 5% of the world’s rare earths, the ABC reported recently. Managing director Gavin Lockyer sees the separation plant as pivotal for the industry. He told the ABC:

It’s where all the real value-add is done to our product. If you don’t build a separation plant, then that product will have to go offshore – namely China – for downstream processing.

In announcing funding for the project, the federal government described the plant as “the first of its kind rare earth separation plant in Australia and only the second outside China”. In a statement signed off by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor, the government said:

The $90.8 million project, located in the Northern Territory, will leverage Australia’s mineral processing expertise to develop rare earth separation technology not currently available here now, creating 650 jobs at the peak of construction and new high-value export opportunities.

Electric vehicle demand

The Arafura share price may also be lifting amid growing consumer sentiment towards electric vehicles (EVs). Rare earths are critical in the manufacture of EVs. As my foolish colleague James noted recently, there is optimism higher oil prices will accelerate the shift to electric vehicles. The crude oil share price has surged 10.28% in a month, Trading Economics data reveals.

In other news, Arafura was added to the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) in March.

Arafura Resources share price snapshot

The Arafura Resources share price has surged 84% in the past year, while it has soared 62% year to date.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) index has returned about 9% over the past year.

The company has a market capitalisation of about $527 million based on the current share price.

The post ‘It’s where all the real value-add is’: Why has this ASX rare earths share soared 79% in a month? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Arafura, Block, Magellan, and Qantas shares are storming higher
• Cash to splash: Why the Arafura Resources (ASX:ARU) share price is leaping 23% today
• Why is the Arafura Resources (ASX:ARU) share price leaping 8% today?

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 Bruce Jackson.

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