It’s time for our medicine here in ASX200 land. Here, you hold down the patient:

The ASX200 at lunch on Thursday:

Via MarketIndex

 

Yes. A chill has blown through Sydney and right across the benchmark local index which has fallen -0.6%, and has crumbled to a new low in about a year.

The cold winds arrived from Wall Street overnight as disappointing earnings reports and another feisty surge in US Treasury yields dominated proceedings.

At home, we’re all still a bit stung by Wednesday’s unpleasantness around inflation and what the new Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock might do about it.

The stronger-than-expected Aussie inflation data has suddenly ushered in a new paradigm of crapness. Basically in one foul swoop rejigging the math and boosting the odds of further RBA squeezing.

About 10 hours before the data dropped Bullock pledged that her central bank ‘would not hesitate’ to raise its 4.1% cash rate if there were a ‘material’ bump to the inflation outlook.

Technology stocks are just the worst. AND they’re leading the top 200 into another session of misery.

Sounding off a few: Megaport (-14%%), Zero (-3%) and Wisetech Global (-2%).

 

The ASX200 at 1230 on Thursday

Via MarketIndex

 

THE ASX SO FAR

The big banks, the heavyweight diggers, the Telcos, Industrials, Property stocks… anything consumer-related is down, down, prices are down.

Utilities, on the other hand, is killing it.

 

The ASX Sectors

Via MarketIndex

NOT THE ASX

In New York, the S&P 500 fell by -1.43%, the blue chips Dow Jones index was down by -0.32%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged by -2.43% – its worst one-day drop in 2023.

Nasdaq was dragged down by Google parent Alphabet, which fell -9.5% after its Q3 cloud division results missed estimates. Overall however, Alphabet beat analysts’ expectations on revenue and earnings per share.

Apple and Amazon were also down ahead of their results, while Microsoft rose 4% in after its Q1 net income jumped 27%.

Meta meanwhile jumped 3% in extended trading following beats on top and bottom lines as its revenue jumped by 23% in Q3.

 

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 25 October [intraday]:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

The saviour for optimists this morning has been the outrageous ongoing success of Azure Minerals (ASX:AZS) up sharply again before lunch.

According to this cracking piece of journalism from our Josh Chiat, AZS shareholders will net a 1430% if they take up a massive offer lobbed in by shareholder lithium monster, SQM.

The Chilean miner is offering $3.52 cash per share to take the 60% owner of the Andover lithium discovery in WA’s north off the market.

The project, 40% owned by legendary prospector Mark Creasy, has demonstrated its potential to become a tier-1 lithium discovery and Josh notes that SQM has given itself some protection against any Rinehart-like interference – nobody in lithium land would’ve missed the very public murder of Albemarle’s bid for WA’s next major lithium producer Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR).

Josh says SQM has acquired a blocking stake on market.

“Should the scheme fail, SQM will make a $3.50 per share off-market takeover offer, ensuring a raider would need to outbid SQM to get a slice of the pie.”

 

Up even higher than Azure on Thursday morning: ASX-listed Lachlan Star (ASX:LSA) , after DevEx Resources (ASX:DEV) informed the market operator that it’s now completed the sale of its portfolio of copper-gold exploration assets in the Lachlan Fold Belt to LSA.

In a great deal for DEV as well, the company gets 75,672,720 ordinary shares in LSA for a deemed value of $7.5 million (representing a holding of 36.46%) plus a 2% net smelter royalty.

DevEx’s Managing Director Brendan Bradley, and Executive Director Stacey Apostolou, will also join the board of LSA.

“The sale of our NSW copper-gold assets to Lachlan Star allows us to focus on the exciting emerging discoveries we have at the Nabarlek Uranium Project in the NT and Kennedy Ionic Clay-hosted REE Project in Queensland. The transaction will see the copper-gold portfolio become the key focus for Lachlan Star, with DevEx retaining exposure to the significant upside of these assets through our 36% shareholding,” Bradley said this morning.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 25 October [intraday]:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Wordpress Table Plugin