ASX 200 finishes 0.086% lower after calling time on its record runLithium wakes up, resources keep the taps flowing and banks take a breatherOil, AI and beer: it was one of those Fridays
It’s International Beer Day today, which feels suspiciously well-timed for a Friday afternoon. Finally, one of these made-up calendar events has some practical value.
The ASX, for its part, spent most of the session deciding whether it fancied another round after two straight record closes.
Here’s what else was sloshing around today…
Lithium stocks suddenly came back to life – apparently all it takes is one whiff of stabilising prices to get the lithium bulls buying the next shout;Brent crude jumped 5% as US-Iran tensions flared again around the Strait of Hormuz. Guess a bit of peace and quiet was getting boring;Atlassian surged more than 27% after hours on strong cloud growth, giving battered software investors something to stop whingeing about;Firmus raised US$2 billion from Nvidia, Blackstone and others to build AI infrastructure – the picks-and-shovels trade is alive and well;Meta and Kmart’s AI-powered smart glasses landed on the Privacy Commissioner’s radar. Hmm, can’t imagine why;Bird flu cases kept climbing, forcing the Royal Adelaide Show to scale back its poultry competition for the first time since 1884. Chooks just can’t catch a break; andChina increasingly looks less like the world’s factory and more like the company supplying everyone else’s factory.
Movers and Shakeouts #
After two straight record closes, the ASX finally d for breath.
The benchmark slipped 0.08%, but it wasn’t exactly a market-wide retreat. Resources again did the hard yakka, climbing 1.2% as copper hovered near record highs and gold held comfortably above US$4,200 an ounce.
Energy also found buyers as oil prices stayed elevated on renewed Strait of Hormuz tensions (yawn), while the tech sector continued its recent revival, stretching an impressive winning run.
The flip side was financials, which gave back almost 1% after a stellar month, with the major banks leading the retreat. Healthcare also lost ground as investors took some money off the table following a strong, and much needed, run.
Seven of the 11 sectors finished lower, but the weakness was relatively orderly rather than runny bottomed. Resources simply had enough firepower to stop the broader market from falling too far.
ASX Leaders #
Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:
| Code | Name | Last | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WNX | Wellnex Life Ltd | 0.115 | 109% | 1115687 | $4,016,475 |
| AEI | Aeris Environmental | 0.035 | 52% | 86324 | $5,671,675 |
| FHS | Freehill Mining Ltd. | 0.0015 | 50% | 500000 | $4,066,520 |
| PRM | Prominence Energy | 0.0015 | 50% | 832059 | $2,675,467 |
| ALB | Albion Resources | 0.056 | 44% | 170471 | $5,662,150 |
| NFM | New Frontier | 0.007 | 40% | 3359170 | $8,691,482 |
| AT4 | Americantungsten | 0.064 | 28% | 30674784 | $91,004,742 |
| AQX | Alice Queen Ltd | 0.007 | 27% | 4074513 | $12,762,832 |
| FAL | Falconmetalsltd | 0.56 | 26% | 1170320 | $95,101,704 |
| IFG | Infocusgroup Hldltd | 0.005 | 25% | 77458 | $2,020,116 |
| M2R | Miramar | 0.0025 | 25% | 17370000 | $4,219,180 |
| ITM | Itech Minerals Ltd | 0.055 | 25% | 7806827 | $10,510,957 |
| RIE | Riedel Resources Ltd | 0.021 | 24% | 85583 | $8,036,153 |
| WC1 | Westcobarmetals | 0.016 | 23% | 879623 | $5,406,997 |
| CPM | Coopermetalslimited | 0.065 | 23% | 2544025 | $6,094,712 |
| XRA | Xenora Minerals Ltd | 0.22 | 22% | 157942 | $10,962,066 |
| AZI | Altamin Limited | 0.028 | 22% | 106246 | $18,289,755 |
| NOV | Novatti Group Ltd | 0.017 | 21% | 832615 | $8,724,022 |
| WEC | White Energy Company | 0.21 | 20% | 834480 | $77,255,632 |
| BPH | BPH Energy Ltd | 0.003 | 20% | 2066706 | $3,384,622 |
| H2G | H2G Limited | 0.012 | 20% | 2557632 | $7,993,401 |
| LPE | Locality Planning | 0.096 | 20% | 133191 | $14,609,955 |
| PL9 | Prairie Lithium Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 1366158 | $27,901,572 |
| PNT | Panthermetalsltd | 0.006 | 20% | 166666 | $2,041,864 |
| AVH | Avita Medical | 1.515 | 18% | 1410432 | $107,729,254 |
ASX Laggards #
Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AOK | Australian Oil. | 0.002 | -33% | 663501 | $5,840,329 |
| CCO | The Calmer Co Int | 0.001 | -33% | 1000000 | $5,281,694 |
| OVT | Ovanti Limited | 0.002 | -33% | 6052377 | $2,992,192 |
| WEL | Winchester Energy | 0.001 | -33% | 383 | $2,569,528 |
| BLU | Blue Energy Limited | 0.003 | -25% | 131969 | $12,047,894 |
| XEN | Xenitra Limited | 0.003 | -25% | 320014 | $17,118,102 |
| SCPDD | Scalare Partners | 2.6 | -23% | 4 | $5,100,393 |
| LML | Lincoln Minerals | 0.007 | -22% | 17199121 | $26,130,990 |
| OSX | Osteopore Limited | 0.004 | -20% | 1102924 | $3,467,965 |
| ICL | Iceni Gold | 0.021 | -16% | 250000 | $10,091,431 |
| RAS | Ragusa Minerals Ltd | 0.017 | -15% | 200000 | $3,963,976 |
| IS3 | I Synergy Group Ltd | 0.17 | -15% | 3486 | $13,936,373 |
| TKM | Trek Metals Ltd | 0.058 | -15% | 11780028 | $49,719,818 |
| AAU | Antilles Gold Ltd | 0.006 | -14% | 68865 | $22,953,653 |
| CMO | Cosmometalslimited | 0.006 | -14% | 1960000 | $4,858,889 |
| FCT | Firstwave Cloud Tech | 0.006 | -14% | 263042 | $14,888,166 |
| KTA | Krakatoa Resources | 0.006 | -14% | 3191937 | $11,285,827 |
| NES | Nelson Resources. | 0.003 | -14% | 13488241 | $9,746,413 |
| L1M | Lightning Minerals | 0.013 | -13% | 4537219 | $5,701,591 |
| MML | Mclaren Minerals | 0.013 | -13% | 500401 | $7,581,917 |
| IVG | Invert Graphite Ltd | 0.034 | -13% | 862274 | $14,078,621 |
| TMS | Tennant Minerals Ltd | 0.007 | -13% | 300000 | $11,973,277 |
| WHK | Whitehawk Limited | 0.0035 | -13% | 711615 | $4,595,981 |
| AV1 | Adveritas Ltd | 0.072 | -12% | 5000 | $75,986,009 |
| RMY | RMA Global | 0.022 | -12% | 11306 | $16,608,291 |
In Case You Missed It #
Challenger Gold (ASX:CEL) has sealed an $8.5 million capital raise and appointed seasoned mining executive Tony Marrone as chairman, strengthening the company’s leadership as it advances its Hualilan gold project in Argentina.
Micro-X (ASX:MX1) has appointed a new CEO, unveiled a strategic reset and secured an $8 million funding boost as it looks to accelerate commercialisation of its portable X-ray technology.
Trading Halts #
Austal (ASX:ASB)** – **market and trading update
One Last Thing #
Because it’s Friday of course (and the aforementioned International Beer Day)…
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