• -2.3% weekly loss for the benchmark ASX 200 Index — the worst fall since September last year
  • Aussie mining stocks continue to struggle, hitting their lowest point since November 2022
  • Weekly Winners: TASK Group, Narryer Metals, and Reach Resources
  • Weekly Loser: Osteopore, for raising $3m at a ludicrous 94.42% discount to last closing price

 

Your Macros

Aussie mining stocks continue to struggle, hitting their lowest point since November 2022.

 

That’s mostly thanks to weakening iron prices and flaccid Chinese construction.

 

(Sounds dire, but fancy new home prices actually falling. How good.)

Even soaring oil prices – which hit four-month highs on Thursday — couldn’t stop Energy Co’s recording a weekly fall.

The bad news continued with financials, with the sub index including the ‘Big Four’ banks posting its first weekly decline since November last year.

The culminated in a -2.3% weekly loss for the benchmark ASX 200 Index, despite a strong late Friday rally. That’s the worst weekly fall since September last year.

 

IPO Watch

Listing this week has uranium/ copper/ critical minerals-focused minnow Litchfield Minerals (ASX:LMS), which has a bunch of early stage ground in the Northern Territory.

It started trading late morning Friday, and rode day one volatility to a small 5% loss.

 

ASX Small Cap Winners This Week

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On Monday, US based PARTech said it would buy fellow restaurant tech company TASK Group (ASX:TSK), with TSK shareholders able to choose between cash and PAR shares.

The cash deal is worth 81c per TSK share – a 107% premium to the 30-day average price.

Narryer Metals (ASX:NYM) stonked ~80% after announcing plans to buy 70% of two lithium projects, Big Hill and Fran, in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

Big Hill shares a boundary with $200m capped Li-FT Power (TSXV:LIFT) which is drilling into thick, high grade lithium across multiple pegmatites you can see from space.

Meanwhile, aspiring WA lithium major Delta (ASX:DLI) will pay up to ~$13m over the next several years to earn into neighbouring ground owned by minnow Reach Resources (ASX:RR1).

“To receive $3.2M cash up front, and a further $10M cash/script if a successful JORC mineral resource delineation of equal to or greater than 7.5Mt at 0.8% Li2O (at a 0.5% cut off grade) is achieved, is a great result during these difficult market conditions,” RR1 CEO Jeremy Bower says.

 

ASX Small Cap Laggards This Week

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This week’s biggest fail goes to Singaporean medtech Osteopore (ASX:OSX), which is raising $3m at a ludicrous 94.42% discount to last closing price.

How does that even happen? A poorly timed 15:1 consolidation, amongst other things.

“Despite the recent share consolidation exercise for reasons which were valid at that time, since then there has been further review of the company’s position and ability to raise additional funds, and in light of this the Board considers the raising is nonetheless required and urgent,” exec chairman Mark Leong says.

Meanwhile, the precipitous fall of once great lithium developer Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) continues.

Worth ~$2.7bn at $2.11/sh in April 2022, the struggling stock has now announced a $20m raise at just 7c per share to keep the lights on.

The issue price represents a massive 39.1% discount to the last closing price of A$0.115 on 8 March 2024 and a 42.3% discount to the 5-day VWAP of A$0.121.

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