Key takeaways:

• Tech and gold featured among the top performers, while recent troubles for coal stocks continued

The ASX hit a two-month low on Wednesday following red-hot inflation data and local rate hike concerns, but a fresh Nasdaq high soon lifted investors' spirits.

Which shares excelled?

Shares in Weebit Nano (ASX: WBT) rebounded strongly this week, which follows a period where the company share price pulled back on two separate occasions. Nonetheless, with no announcement behind the rally this week, the next logical conclusion is that investors backed the stock amid the frenzy and excitement regarding the AI boom. 

Semiconductor stocks have been one of the hot trades as investors look to next-gen chips to play a central role in leveraging AI across a broader series of applications. As a semiconductor IP company, it may be the case that Weebit shares rallied in line with US peers.

On another note, Leo Lithium (ASX: LLL) had big news to announce, and its shareholders liked what they heard. The lithium company announced it has entered into a strategic placement and cooperation agreement with Ganfeng Lithium, the largest lithium producer in China.

As part of the agreement, Leo Lithium will seek to increase capacity at its Goulamina project in Mali to one million tonnes per annum. The two parties are also set to work together when it comes to a downstream conversion facility. Meanwhile, the $106.1 million placement, designed to fund stage one of the development of Goulamina, was conducted at a premium to the last closing price before the news.

Luxury fashion retailer Cettire (ASX: CTT) was one of the victims of last week retail sell-off, with a number of consumer stocks brutally sold off as concerns about the sector growth outlook began to filter through the industry. 

Nonetheless, Cettire pared some of those losses over recent trading sessions. The stock rose more than 11% on Wednesday as the company presented at the NWR Conference, where management laid out plans to target emerging markets as the next part of Cettire growth strategy.

Gold stocks like Capricorn Metals (ASX: CMM), De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG), Ramelius Resources (ASX: RMS), Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST), and Regis Resources (ASX: RRL) all surged higher after a couple weeks where investors took profits and cashed in. The move higher seems to be driven by an increase in the price of gold this week, with the precious metal up about 1.5%.For the second week running, Qantas (ASX: QAN) features among the top performers. The airline held its first investor day since the pandemic, with a number of business items leaving investors feeling optimistic. 

The company sees its international business back at pre-COVID levels by early 2024, with its new A350 aircraft and ultra-long-haul routes touted as the key to increase profit growth. International margins are also tipped to rise from pre-pandemic levels of 5% to 8%, while freight margins are forecast to more than double. Management set an annual savings target of $300 million, with the key being schedule and workforce planning, and new technology.

Elsewhere, Tuas (ASX: TUA), Mader Group (ASX: MAD), and Jumbo Interactive (ASX: JIN) are among the positive stories across the local market.

Which shares dragged on the market?

One of the worst performing stocks this week was IDP Education (ASX: IEL). The company, which is the co-owner of the English language IELTS' test performed by millions across the globe every year, was left reeling after a change in immigration requirements in Canada. 

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has changed its policy for Canadian student visas, now allowing prospective students to choose from another four English tests. This effectively poses a direct competitive threat to IDP Education monopoly. Investors appear to be concerned about a revenue slowdown from this source, as well as potentially higher marketing costs.

Entering the new trading week in a trading halt, Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) shareholders would have likely known the lithium and graphite explorer share price would come under pressure. 

That because the company completed a $200 million placement at 18 cents per share, representing a 14.2% discount compared with the last trading price before the stock went into a halt. As so often happens when a company conducts a capital raise, the share price quickly retreated towards the issue price when trading resumed.

It may have been one of the best trades in 2022, but the story has been very different over recent months for coal stocks like Yancoal (ASX: YAL) and Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC). 

The pair were under further pressure over recent days as coal prices continued to decline in response to demand concerns. At one stage, Newcastle coal futures fell sharply by a double-digit percentage to around US$140 per tonne, almost two-thirds off the price at the end of last year.

Uranium producer Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) was in the news as the company shares traded in a volatile fashion. Earlier in the week the stock was forced into a trading halt amid reports that the Namibian government is considering taking a minority stake in key mining projects being undertaken across the African nation. In response, Paladin management sought to placate investors' concerns, with management indicating the company is not aware of any imminent proposed Namibian legislative changes that would affect the ownership of the Langer Heinrich mine, of which the uranium company holds a 75% stake.

We'll be back next week with another Weekly ASX Trading Wrap Up - until then, have a great week!

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