The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) pushed 0.7% higher on Wednesday, finally breaching the 7,000 point mark to finish at 7,023 points.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) and Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) shares are making headlines.
Consumer confidence on high
Consumer confidence followed Tuesday’s business confidence result, hitting an 11-year high according to the Westpac-MI survey. The result was 188.8 points up from a trough of just 75.6 in April 2020.
The strong recovery and economic support have clearly been key to confidence, the question is whether savings rates will be converted to retail spending in the second half of the year.
Zip taps the market
Buy now, pay later company Zip entered a trading halt late in the day, ultimately announcing a $400 million convertible note issue. The group is seeking to welcome new strategic institutional investors onto the balance sheet, with the founders selling down.
Convertible loans are quite popular in the US for tech companies as they allow management to retain control, without the servicing costs and restrictions associated with long-term debt.
Green hydrogen takes another step
Origin Energy added 0.6% after announcing a deal with the Port of Townsville to expand and develop a plant to support the export of green hydrogen.
Collaborating with Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the first export from the project is targeted from the mid-2020s.
Galaxy Resources continues to surge
Galaxy Resources released two announcements to the market on Wednesday, the first being a resource and reserve update for its Sal de Vida wholly-owned lithium project.
The company also gave a Sal de Vida development plan update, with front-end engineering design now complete. Galaxy confirmed the lowest quartile capital intensity and operating costs. The Galaxy share price finished 8.3% higher on the news.
BrainChip share price soars
BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) was another major gainer on Wednesday, soaring 19.8% after announcing it will commence volume manufacturing of its Akida Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices. The company also noted that after testing the Akida samples, it managed to improve the design in performance, efficiency, and scalability.
Looking ahead, the ASX 200 is tipped to open lower on Thursday. Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) shares will be on watch after just releasing its half-year HY21 results.
