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ASX June Winners: Who rode this lithium junior to seven-bagger status in June?
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- The S&P ASX 200 was up 1.76% in June, with large caps performing the best and small caps lagging blue chips
- The S&P/ASX 200 Materials was the best performing sector in June, up 4.8% coming back from April drop
- An ASX favourite lithium play Solis Minerals rises 693% in June after purchase of Jaguar project in late May
Australian large caps advanced 1.8% in the last trading month of FY23, ending with a gain of 4.5% YTD. Mid caps 50 roughly matched their blue-chip peers in H1 CY23, up 1.07% in June.
However, small caps lagged significantly, with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries flat for June and up just 1.3% YTD.
It was better news for S&P ASX Emerging Companies index – a benchmark for Australia’s micro-cap companies – which rose 2.55% in June but still has some catch-up to do halfway through 2023, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Overall for the 12-month period and FY23 the Indexes were all in positive territory, despite continued macroeconomic and geopolitical obstacles playing on global markets.
CPI falls in June but pays to look under microscope
A drop in inflation seemed to boost Aussie investor confidence in June. Australia’s CPI inflation rate has decreased to its lowest level in 13 months.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to 5.6% over the 12 months to May, which was down from 6.8% in April 2023 and below the market expectation of 6.1%.
Lower fuel prices, along with holiday travel and accommodation costs helped ease inflation. But it wasn’t all good news when putting the latest CPI figures under the microscope.
But ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquard warned investors against becoming too excited.
“It can be helpful to exclude items with volatile price changes from the headline CPI indicator to provide a view of underlying inflation,” Marquard said.
“When excluding these volatile items, the decline in inflation is more modest.
“The annual increase for the monthly CPI indicator was 6.4% in May, slightly lower than the rise of 6.5% recorded in April and down from a peak of 7.3% in December 2022.”
All eyes will now be on Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe and his board mates on Tuesday to see if they’ll hit the pause button for July rather than raise the official rate again.
The RBA raised rates by 25 basis points in June bringing the official cash rate to 4.10%.
Materials and tech sector rally in June
The S&P ASX 200 Materials Index was the best performer in June, up 4.8% after falling 4.43% in April, while technology rose 3.52% and is on top YTD, up an impressive 30.9%.
Eight of the 11 sectors finished in the black in June. Healthcare led the laggards, looking in need of a hospital admission, down nearly 7% for June.
Communication services fell 0.99% for the month while real estate was just in the red, down 0.03%.
Equity factor indices in black but fear creeps up in June
All S&P reported Australian equity factor indices closed in the black for June, with Dividend Opportunities performing best, up 4%. Quality is in the lead year-to-date, up 7.9%.
Bonds sold off in June in both Australia but all S&P reported fixed income indices continue to still hold on to YTD gains.
Australian equity implied volatility slipped in June, with the S&P/ASX 200 VIX Index (known as the fear index) closing June at 10.78, nearly two points below its level at the previous month end.
Here are the 50 best performing ASX stocks for June:
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.
| CODE | COMPANY | LAST SHARE PRICE | MAY RETURN % | MARKET CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLM | Solis Minerals | 1.11 | 693% | $66,322,240 |
| GRE | Green Tech Metals | 0.555 | 363% | $23,259,821 |
| TNC | True North Copper | 0.245 | 362% | $63,661,155 |
| LME | Limeade Inc. | 0.395 | 243% | $102,554,179 |
| AZS | Azure Minerals | 1.505 | 220% | $587,305,288 |
| AHI | Advanced Health | 0.21 | 176% | $45,612,833 |
| TNT | Tesserent Limited | 0.12 | 155% | $162,501,854 |
| G88 | Golden Mile Res Ltd | 0.053 | 152% | $17,457,644 |
| RDN | Raiden Resources Ltd | 0.01 | 150% | $20,552,689 |
| AW1 | American West Metals | 0.16 | 150% | $42,585,859 |
| ALV | Alvomin | 0.315 | 125% | $20,460,659 |
| GMN | Gold Mountain Ltd | 0.0075 | 114% | $14,774,495 |
| EMC | Everest Metals Corp | 0.19 | 111% | $24,592,291 |
| AHN | Athena Resources | 0.006 | 100% | $6,422,805 |
| CMD | Cassius Mining Ltd | 0.034 | 100% | $16,888,759 |
| REZ | Resourc & En Grp Ltd | 0.024 | 100% | $11,995,339 |
| ERD | Eroad Limited | 1.15 | 98% | $129,856,947 |
| REC | Recharge Metals | 0.37 | 90% | $39,066,255 |
| ERW | Errawarra Resources | 0.185 | 89% | $11,193,240 |
| MM1 | Midas Minerals | 0.33 | 83% | $25,707,294 |
| IIQ | Inoviq Ltd | 0.85 | 81% | $78,215,897 |
| WCG | Webcentral Ltd | 0.125 | 79% | $42,786,410 |
| IMB | Intelligent Monitor | 0.16 | 78% | $30,108,983 |
| HXL | Hexima | 0.021 | 75% | $3,173,753 |
| MQR | Marquee Resource Ltd | 0.045 | 73% | $14,881,838 |
| LRS | Latin Resources Ltd | 0.32 | 73% | $824,878,292 |
| RR1 | Reach Resources Ltd | 0.011 | 69% | $30,305,557 |
| LVE | Love Group Global | 0.135 | 69% | $5,472,113 |
| BM8 | Battery Age Minerals | 0.53 | 68% | $39,335,626 |
| MI6 | Minerals260 Limited | 0.79 | 66% | $184,860,000 |
| EPX | Ept Global Limited | 0.033 | 65% | $14,715,152 |
| M3M | M3 Mining | 0.155 | 63% | $6,355,221 |
| AUE | Aurum Resources | 0.15 | 63% | $3,750,000 |
| ADD | Adavale Resource Ltd | 0.026 | 63% | $13,508,118 |
| WYX | Western Yilgarn NL | 0.13 | 63% | $6,455,476 |
| XAM | Xanadu Mines Ltd | 0.081 | 62% | $132,663,759 |
| ZLD | Zelira Therapeutics | 1.51 | 61% | $17,134,204 |
| CTT | Cettire | 3.11 | 60% | $1,185,650,864 |
| OAU | Ora Gold Limited | 0.004 | 60% | $15,747,701 |
| SGC | Sacgasco Ltd | 0.008 | 60% | $4,925,791 |
| HAW | Hawthorn Resources | 0.145 | 58% | $46,902,186 |
| ENR | Encounter Resources | 0.455 | 57% | $179,964,230 |
| NWM | Norwest Minerals | 0.048 | 55% | $13,326,456 |
| VIT | Vitura Health Ltd | 0.515 | 54% | $286,614,017 |
| RAG | Ragnar Metals Ltd | 0.026 | 53% | $9,858,807 |
| AVH | Avita Medical | 5.19 | 52% | $344,582,706 |
| BOT | Botanix Pharma Ltd | 0.13 | 51% | $170,619,849 |
| 1TT | Thrive Tribe Tech | 0.039 | 50% | $8,968,239 |
| CAZ | Cazaly Resources | 0.039 | 50% | $14,501,050 |
| CCE | Carnegie Cln Energy | 0.0015 | 50% | $23,463,861 |
| CCO | The Calmer Co Int | 0.003 | 50% | $1,334,333 |
As mentioned, the ASX materials was the best performing sector in June and there was no shortage of resources stocks topping the winners list for the month.
Described by Stockhead’s Reuben Adams as lithium’s ‘flavour of the month’, Solis Minerals (ASX:SLM) (TSX.V: SLMN) rose a very impressive 693% in June (you read that right) after announcing the purchase of the Jaguar lithium project in Brazil in late May.
Located in Bahia state, SLM said at Jaguar there are rock chips grading up to 4.95% Li2O along a 1km long, 50m wide spodumene-rich pegmatite body.
“The Jaguar pegmatite hosts confirm LCT-bearing pegmatites with some of the coarsest and most abundant spodumene occurrences I have seen,” former Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) boss and current SLM exec director Matt Boyes said.
Coming in second was another lithium play, Greentech Metals (ASX:GRE). Last week it announced it had expanded its exploration focus for lithium bearing pegmatites at its Lithium West project in the Pilbara.
GRE has entered into a corporate services agreement with lithium exploration and development specialists Obsidian Metals Group (OMG) which will provide “assistance and guidance from the exploration phase through to development as well as developing and implementing GreenTech’s lithium strategy.”
Here are the 50 worst performing ASX stocks for June:
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.
| CODE | COMPANY | LAST SHARE PRICE | MARCH RETURN % | MARKET CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEB | Pacific Edge | 0.077 | -80% | $62,398,122 |
| GCR | Golden Cross | 0.002 | -67% | $2,194,512 |
| MBX | My Foodie Box | 0.005 | -67% | $185,640 |
| NYR | Nyrada Inc. | 0.028 | -67% | $4,368,244 |
| WFL | Wellfully Limited | 0.003 | -67% | $1,478,832 |
| C7A | Clara Resources | 0.042 | -58% | $6,461,065 |
| ELE | Elmore Ltd | 0.007 | -53% | $9,795,687 |
| AJY | Asaplus Resources | 0.01 | -50% | $1,360,000 |
| DXN | DXN Limited | 0.001 | -50% | $3,442,630 |
| ENV | Enova Mining Limited | 0.005 | -50% | $1,954,647 |
| IXC | Invex Ther | 0.2 | -50% | $15,030,770 |
| MCT | Metalicity Limited | 0.001 | -50% | $3,736,086 |
| MTB | Mount Burgess Mining | 0.0015 | -50% | $1,324,757 |
| PUA | Peak Minerals Ltd | 0.002 | -50% | $2,082,753 |
| SIH | Sihayo Gold Limited | 0.001 | -50% | $6,102,128 |
| TSN | The Sust Nutri Grp | 0.006 | -50% | $844,577 |
| XTC | Xantippe Res Ltd | 0.002 | -50% | $22,960,199 |
| ERG | Eneco Refresh Ltd | 0.01 | -47% | $2,723,583 |
| QXR | Qx Resources Limited | 0.019 | -47% | $17,040,384 |
| INP | Incentiapay Ltd | 0.007 | -46% | $7,590,382 |
| WNR | Wingara Ag Ltd | 0.025 | -44% | $4,388,563 |
| H2G | Greenhy2 Limited | 0.014 | -44% | $5,862,582 |
| MDI | Middle Island Res | 0.023 | -44% | $2,815,619 |
| MKL | Mighty Kingdom Ltd | 0.017 | -43% | $5,545,733 |
| WMG | Western Mines | 0.465 | -43% | $24,033,678 |
| CDR | Codrus Minerals Ltd | 0.08 | -43% | $6,034,400 |
| HAL | Halo Technologies | 0.1 | -43% | $12,949,521 |
| IVX | Invion Ltd | 0.004 | -43% | $25,686,529 |
| LKE | Lake Resources | 0.3 | -43% | $433,845,636 |
| OPN | Oppen Negotiation | 0.009 | -43% | $2,182,770 |
| CEL | Challenger Gold Ltd | 0.1 | -41% | $119,017,779 |
| XPN | Xpon Technologies | 0.051 | -40% | $8,084,904 |
| CPM | Cooper Metals | 0.16 | -40% | $6,602,504 |
| XGL | Xamble Group Limited | 0.035 | -39% | $9,905,408 |
| AAJ | Aruma Resources Ltd | 0.043 | -39% | $8,436,680 |
| IGN | Ignite Ltd | 0.045 | -38% | $4,031,198 |
| CHK | Cohiba Min Ltd | 0.0025 | -38% | $5,283,110 |
| IEC | Intra Energy Corp | 0.005 | -38% | $3,528,908 |
| TAR | Taruga Minerals | 0.01 | -38% | $7,060,268 |
| SVY | Stavely Minerals Ltd | 0.11 | -37% | $35,890,109 |
| GLL | Galilee Energy Ltd | 0.095 | -37% | $32,161,062 |
| CCZ | Castillo Copper Ltd | 0.007 | -36% | $9,096,537 |
| RGS | Regeneus Ltd | 0.007 | -36% | $2,145,058 |
| SNG | Siren Gold | 0.07 | -36% | $9,398,117 |
| BRX | Belararox | 0.265 | -36% | $12,855,155 |
| AUA | Audeara | 0.032 | -36% | $4,585,600 |
| ECG | Ecargo Hldg | 0.016 | -36% | $9,844,000 |
| SHG | Singular Health | 0.036 | -36% | $4,825,351 |
| WSR | Westar Resources | 0.054 | -36% | $10,009,306 |
| MDX | Mindax Limited | 0.062 | -35% | $126,824,644 |
Leading the losers table in June was cancer diagnostics company Pacific Edge (ASX:PEB) which dropped 80% for the month after announcing the Medicare coverage of Cxbladder tests in the US market is expected to cease from July 17, 2023.
The decision came as US regulators determined that Cxbladder, and tests provided by other companies, as ‘not considered medically reasonable and necessary’.
This means Cxbladder has failed to satisfy the minimum threshold required for coverage under the US Social Security Act. A number of other companies are also affected by the decision.
PEB’s revenue is expected to reduce substantially from current levels until Cxbladder tests regain coverage.
