ASX breaks new record as miners defy the odds

The ASX has continued its strong run this week, up 0.50% today.  The S&P/ASX200 is up 0.52% to 7,602.10, another new 100-day high. In fact, this is the first time ever the ASX has reached this level. So far this morning, the top-performing stocks in the S&P/ASX200 index are Orocobre Limited (ASX:ORE) and IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED (ASX:IFL), up 5.95% and 5.61% respectively.  A stand-out performer on the small cap front this morning has been Lake Resources NL, which at the time of writing was up 8.70%, trading at $0.625. The increase is off the back of potential funding news, which, should it come to fruition, could be a game-changing moment for the company.   The rise in the ASX comes on the back of strong performances in the banking, mining and energy sectors.   Looking at CommBank specifically, we mentioned yesterday that despite raising interest rates, its share price increased. Notably, the bank has doubled its dividend to $2 and announced a $6 billion share buyback, with full-year profit up 20% to $8.65 billion. Shares in the nation’s biggest lender were up 1.5% to $108.17 after an hour of trade. Overall, the major banks were up with Westpac enjoying a 1% gain to $25.84 this morning, NAB rose 1.6% to $27.39, and ANZ gained 1.5% to $29.30. Macquarie Group was up 0.3% to $159.51. As for the miners, they seem to be defying the current slump in iron ore and metals prices. Iron ore fell to $US162.44 a tonne, continuing its slide, but this has had no effect on our major miners.  BHP Group Ltd (up 2.1% to $52.84), Rio Tinto Limited (up 1.8% to $129.80) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) Limited (up 2% to $22.94) have all led the local sharemarket higher. Market up, consumer confidence down Lockdowns are having a big impact on consumer confidence, with figures from the Westpac-Melbourne Institute measure of sentiment showing confidence dropped by 4.4% in August – a 12-month low. Confidence in Victoria was down 10.8% in August, after jumping 15% in July when the state came out of lockdown. In NSW, confidence fell 4.1% to be down 14.8% since May.   However, it is not all doom and gloom and certainly, the market is currently reflective of that.  "This is a significant further loss of confidence but better than might have been expected given virus developments," said Westpac chief economist Bill Evans. "The virus situation locally is clearly troubling, but consumers appear reasonably confident that it will come back under control, and that once it does, the economy will see a return to robust growth."  Australian Indices ASX 200: up 0.52% to 7,602.10 S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries: up 0.44% to 3,499.4 All Ordinaries: up 0.45% to 7,865.8 S&P/ASX 100: up 0.44% to 6,284.1