Why ASX lithium stocks could run on China's BIG move

ASX lithium shares have broadly enjoyed a strong rebound over the past month.

And shareholders owe much of those welcome gains to the new fiscal and monetary stimulus measures announced by China's government and central bank in recent weeks.

To give you some idea, here's how these Aussie lithium miners have tracked over the past month, a period that's seen the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) gain 2.4%:

• Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares are up 17.0%
• IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) shares are up 3.3%
• Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are up 25.4%
• Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) shares are up 60.0%
• Lake Resources (ASX: LKE) shares are up 30.0%
• Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) shares are up 31.8%
• Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are up 0.4%

Now, the latest stimulus announcement out of China on Saturday looks to have underwhelmed investor expectations.

However, in potentially good news for ASX lithium shares, Chinese officials indicated more support measures may be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

And according to Janus Henderson's Darko Kuzmanovic, it won't be ASX iron ore or coal miners that benefit the most from any big boosts to Chinese stimulus measures, but rather those miners focused on battery and technology-related metals.

Why ASX lithium shares could be set for better days

"Markets are used to stimulus that drives demand for iron ore and coal through industrial activity and infrastructure development, but I doubt that will happen at the level it has in the past," Kuzmanovic said (courtesy of The Australian Financial Review).

Rather, the fund manager expects ASX lithium shares and copper miners could reap some of the bigger rewards.

Kuzmanovic explained:

China is undertaking a shift away from urbanisation spend to higher-value manufacturing, which you can see in its battery manufacturing for electric vehicles and building its own superconductor chips – so it's deploying more innovation technology to its next phase of economic growth.

The implications of that are bulk commodities like iron ore won't have the demand they've had in the past, but things like copper, nickel and other battery materials will have demand drivers going forward.

Commenting on ASX lithium shares, he said much of the pain has come amid the ongoing global oversupply of the battery-critical metal.

"Lithium stocks look oversold, and we're seeing a bottom as far as the commodity prices is concerned," he said.

Kuzmanovic added:

The issue isn't demand, that's actually pretty solid, it's really the short-term oversupply – there's just too much capacity coming up. We think the thesis for lithium and the EV transition is still there, it's just been delayed a little bit.

The post Why ASX lithium stocks could run on China's BIG move appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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