ASX Lunch Wrap: China-driven mining rally offset by tech slump on Nvidia probe

The ASX200 slips despite mining rally
Mining stocks surge as China signals stimulus
Life360 drops after index miscalculation, drags tech sector down

The benchmark ASX200 index fell by around 0.6% at Tuesday lunchtime, despite a promising rally in the mining sector.

While hopes for new stimulus measures in China have provided some optimism, a sell-off in the Tech sector is putting a drag on the market.

The ASX Materials sector surged by almost 3% after China’s Politburo signalled plans for a “moderately loose” monetary policy in 2025.

This comes after Beijing’s top officials discussed adopting a “more proactive” fiscal policy to support economic growth.

However, tech stocks mostly dropped this morning, weighed down by Wall Street after China launched an antitrust investigation into Nvidia.

Beijing said Nvidia violated the country’s anti-monopoly laws in 2020, a move seen as retaliation against US restrictions on the Chinese chip sector. Nvidia’s shares fell 2.55%.

Here’s where the ASX stood at around 12:40pm AEDT:

Notable announcements in the large caps space came from Perpetual (ASX:PPT), which is facing a potentially huge tax bill after the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) raised concerns over its recent sale of assets to private equity giant KKR.

Perpetual’s wealth management and trust business sale to KKR now faces a tax liability of $493–529 million, up from the initial estimate of $106–227 million after further discussions with the ATO. Shares were down 6%.

Dual-listed Life360 (ASX:360) fell by 5% after the company revealed that a miscalculation of its stock’s weighting in the US Russell indexes had led to passive funds needing to adjust down their positions. This followed an 8% drop yesterday.

On a more positive note, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has approved a merger between Integral Diagnostics (ASX:IDX) and Capitol Health (ASX:CAJ), creating a $1 billion diagnostics imaging group.

And, at 2.30pm AEDT today, the RBA is expected to announce its last interest rate decision for 2024. The central bank is widely expected to keep the cash rate on hold at 4.35%.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for December 10 [intraday]:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.002	50%	4,951,989	$28,933,812
ERL	Empire Resources	0.003	50%	1,212,074	$2,967,826
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.003	50%	1,694,660	$3,133,999
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.003	50%	183,333	$6,350,111
TKL	Traka Resources	0.002	50%	200,000	$1,945,659
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.002	33%	354,986	$7,254,899
MQR	Marquee Resource Ltd	0.018	29%	1,658,441	$5,829,381
ERA	Energy Resources	0.003	25%	622,487	$810,792,482
SMX	Strata Minerals	0.022	22%	181,123	$3,434,673
BML	Boab Metals Ltd	0.158	21%	1,756,972	$30,341,364
AON	Apollo Minerals Ltd	0.015	15%	1,035,715	$9,052,458
SMM	Somerset Minerals	0.015	15%	2,115,192	$2,680,602
FFM	Firefly Metals Ltd	1.150	14%	1,740,117	$569,465,191
BRN	Brainchip Ltd	0.250	14%	16,050,860	$433,942,955
MTC	Metalstech Ltd	0.125	14%	254,892	$21,729,343
AM7	Arcadia Minerals	0.025	14%	40,000	$2,575,102
SPA	Spacetalk Ltd	0.175	13%	72,934	$9,885,336
1AI	Algorae Pharma	0.009	13%	2,238	$13,499,158
CMD	Cassius Mining Ltd	0.009	13%	500,000	$4,336,036
DOU	Douugh Limited	0.009	13%	22,000	$8,656,551
LRS	Latin Resources Ltd	0.163	12%	14,545,834	$406,205,822

88 Energy (ASX:88E) has received initial 2D seismic data from Monitor Exploration, confirming 10 significant structural leads in its PEL 93 licence area in Namibia’s Owambo Basin. The seismic data reveals large closures, some up to 100 km², with hydrocarbon charge potential.

88 Energy plans to independently validate these findings and, in partnership with the Joint Venture, integrate additional data for a prospective resource estimate, expected in the first half of 2025. The company holds a 20% interest in PEL 93, with the option to increase its stake to 45% by funding exploration costs.

Boab Metals (ASX:BML) has secured a US$30 million prepayment facility and a binding offtake agreement with global commodities trader Trafigura for lead-silver concentrate from its Sorby Hills project in WA.

The prepayment will support the project’s development and has a five-year term, with repayments starting after an 18-month interest-only period. If the financial close is achieved, Trafigura will purchase 75% of the concentrate produced, but this will drop to 25% if the prepayment conditions are not met.

Somerset Minerals (ASX:SMM) has agreed to acquire the high-grade Coppermine project in Nunavut, Canada, adjacent to White Cliff Minerals’ (ASX:WCN) Rae project. The acquisition will give Somerset control of a 1,208 km² land package, hosting multiple high-grade copper lodes, including rock chip results of up to 45.4% copper.

BrainChip Holdings (ASX:BRN) has secured a US$1.8 million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop radar signalling algorithms for neuromorphic hardware. The project will focus on micro-Doppler signature analysis, using BrainChip’s proprietary TENNs algorithm optimised for its Akida 2.0 hardware.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for December 10 [intraday]:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
VTI	Vision Tech Inc	0.062	-54%	315,745	$7,429,923
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.001	-50%	259,445	$1,406,723
LYN	Lycaonresources	0.095	-50%	6,540,687	$10,067,116
MTL	Mantle Minerals Ltd	0.001	-50%	177,452	$12,394,892
IBG	Ironbark Zinc Ltd	0.003	-38%	5,175	$7,334,591
LNU	Linius Tech Limited	0.001	-33%	34,500	$9,226,824
NES	Nelson Resources.	0.002	-33%	387,370	$6,515,783
ASR	Asra Minerals Ltd	0.003	-25%	3,500,000	$9,250,410
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.003	-25%	1,018,765	$7,200,115
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.005	-25%	7,987,663	$10,017,188
CCO	The Calmer Co Int	0.006	-21%	7,995,514	$15,465,705
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.002	-20%	282	$3,087,330
ARV	Artemis Resources	0.008	-20%	4,823,373	$19,168,824
BNL	Blue Star Helium Ltd	0.004	-20%	290,023	$13,474,426
CDT	Castle Minerals	0.002	-20%	8,517,866	$4,182,035
FGH	Foresta Group	0.008	-20%	2,375,956	$25,773,791
MPR	Mpower Group Limited	0.008	-20%	993,604	$3,437,033
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.002	-20%	110,000	$23,313,913
SVL	Silver Mines Limited	0.093	-20%	19,824,127	$173,424,170
VRX	VRX Silica Ltd	0.047	-18%	1,231,430	$35,810,573
AUG	Augustus Minerals	0.033	-18%	301,465	$4,767,657
EVG	Evion Group NL	0.024	-17%	1,219,351	$10,061,932
RAD	Radiopharm	0.034	-17%	26,309,494	$89,091,391