Just right after a cold bath. Pic via Getty Images
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In a nice change, local markets kicked off happily enough this morning after Wall Street staged a welcome return following some positive central bank body language late last week.
The S&P/ASX200 is up on Monday, gaining 46.90 points or 0.60% to 7,824.60.
Just before midday in Sydney, it was steady as she goes for the local market. Almost all 11 sectors started the session strongly in the green, only the mining stocks letting the team down.
The top-performing stocks on the benchmark index on Monday at midday, were JB HiFi (ASX:JBH) and Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) up 8.5% and 5.4%, kicking off a week where earnings reports dominate.
It is certainly a morning to remember for the consumer stocks, with the prospect of some stronger-than-expected results capable of lifting the ASX out of the doldrums.
JBH began that mission with some aplomb today – leading the sector out with strong numbers.
JBH dropped a special dividend of $0.80 a pop this morning after reporting better than expected sales for the first month of the new financial year.
The positivity leached into the broader sector. Next door, Harvey Norman Holdings (ASX:HVN) added about 4% before and the automobile version of buying stuff, Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL) lurched ahead some 4.5%. Likewise, the digital platform Carsales.com (ASX:CAR) was up 2.7% after lifting revenue by some 40% to $1.1bn.
The big 4 Aussie banks were all higher this morning.
On the bummer side of the ASX200 ledger is Aurizon Holdings (ASX:AZJ), which has shed more than 5%, despite the freight operator calling a $150 million of share buybacks and a 25% boom in annual net profit.
Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) is down almost 9% following writedowns on oil and gas leading to a FY net loss of $475.3mn.
BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) were struggling in the face of industrial relations changes and as Singapore iron ore futures dropped circa 2% to $US99.75, back to near four month lows.
That said, the local index is only down 1.5% for the past five days. It’s been a somewhat remarkable recovery for equities in the wake of Monday last’s brutal sell-off, after the most market volatility of the year so far.
For the Friday session, the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, closing at 5,344.16, while the techie Nasdaq Comp also added 0.5%, ending at 16,745.30.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 51 points, or 0.13% to end at 39,497.54.
Last Monday, the Dow plunged a terrifying 1,000 points, and the S&P 500 dropped 3% after traders did not take to jobs data, which exacerbated fear for the delayed US Fed interest rate cuts.
The rebound began in earnest on Thursday in New York with the S&P5 00 surging 2.3% and the Nasdaq climbing almost 3% following a happier employment report.
In the end, the S&P 500 lost a mere 0.04% last week, even momentarily going positive during Friday’s session.
On the ASX, eight out of the 11 sectors are in the green, led by consumer discretionary stocks which rose 1.7%.
IT stocks added 1.4%.
At midday, the local sectors looked like this:
In other breaking small cap news, Everest Metals (ASX:EMC) has reported news from its Revere Gold and Base Metal Project in WA where recent bulk sampling has confirmed the presence of a high-grade gold reef system that extends from the surface. EMC says it has started crushing the ore and plans to set up a gold processing plant by September with plans to begin 5,500 metres of exploration drilling in late August.
Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) has announced positive new drilling results from its Bankan Gold Project in Guinea. Drilling at the Gbengbeden area revealed strong gold grades that could increase reserves, with notable results including 1.51 grams per ton over 25 metres.
Gold this morning was ahead about 0.4%. Silver was flat and Copper added 0.9%.
Oil rose 0.85%
On Friday markets in the EU closed higher. London’s FTSE added 0.28 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.24 per cent, and Paris closed 0.31 per cent higher.
Across Asian markets, Japan has slipped on thin holiday trade after Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.56%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.17% and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.27% lower last week.
Both Bitcoin and Ether are down around 0.4% on Monday morning.
US Futures were mixed at lunchtime in Sydney.
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 12 August [intraday]:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap ODE Odessa Minerals Ltd 0.003 50% 4,907 $2,086,565 RMX Red Mount Min Ltd 0.0015 50% 500,000 $3,423,577 SGQ St George Min Ltd 0.034 36% 32,095,682 $24,713,511 LPD Lepidico Ltd 0.002 33% 5,827,250 $12,883,687 MKL Mighty Kingdom Ltd 0.004 33% 546,263 $9,647,829 SI6 SI6 Metals Limited 0.002 33% 850,000 $3,553,289 SLZ Sultan Resources Ltd 0.008 33% 87,454 $1,185,519 WML Woomera Mining Ltd 0.004 33% 15,360,559 $3,654,417 ZMM Zimi Ltd 0.018 29% 2,011 $1,773,306 KRR King River Resources 0.0125 25% 6,741,753 $15,282,208 AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.0025 25% 199 $6,338,594 VML Vital Metals Limited 0.0025 25% 1,100,000 $11,790,134 PPK PPK Group Limited 0.475 22% 91,084 $35,085,374 HCL Highcom Ltd 0.265 20% 1,891,556 $22,590,188 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.006 20% 3,028,952 $9,724,426 ENT Enterprise Metals 0.003 20% 3,333,333 $2,733,293 NES Nelson Resources. 0.003 20% 187,500 $1,533,986 SUM Summitminerals 0.215 19% 1,238,560 $12,938,029 DY6 Dy6Metalsltd 0.066 18% 82,855 $2,823,007 ALY Alchemy Resource Ltd 0.007 17% 25,000 $7,068,458 ATH Alterity Therap Ltd 0.0035 17% 735,282 $15,961,008 BMO Bastion Minerals 0.007 17% 41,714 $2,610,503 POS Poseidon Nick Ltd 0.0035 17% 215,476 $11,140,604 RNE Renu Energy Ltd 0.0035 17% 349 $2,178,402 NYR Nyrada Inc. 0.05 16% 618,166 $7,834,974
Out front among the little caps on Monday is St George Mining (ASX:SGQ), which dropped an urgent-sounding update on its proposed acquisition of the “advanced, high-grade niobium-REE Araxá Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil”.
And it goes like this:
“The company is aware of misinformation circulating in online chat rooms and social media regarding Araxá – particularly claims that an active tailings dam is located within the project area and that significant high-grade mineralisation discovered at the project is beneath the tailings dam.
“This information is false and not correct,” noted SGQ.
St George says Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), which supplies more than 80% of the world’s niobium from mining operations near the Project, operated – until 1985 – a tailings dam (“Dam B4”, and sometimes referred to as Dam 4 in CBMM’s English language publications) on tenement 832.150/1989 that forms part of the project.
“CBMM, which is responsible for managing Dam B4, has progressively rehabilitated and integrated Dam B4 into the environment.”
SGQ goes on to debunk the online chatter, including a photo of the current status of Dam B4, sourced from CBMM’s website.
“Importantly, the significant niobium intersections at the project – being more than 500 intercepts of greater than 1% Nb2O5 – that St George will use to underpin a potential maiden JORC compliant mineral resource are located on tenement 831.972/1985.
No other tailings dams – neither historical nor presently active – are within the project area or proximal to the project.”
Up 33% this morning was Woomera Mining (ASX:WML) which alongside Kincora Copper (ASX:KCC) announced a deal in the shape of a legally binding earn-in term sheet which grants Woomera a 100% earn in interest in KCC’s Bronze Fox Project, located in the world-class Southern Gobi copper belt in Mongolia.
The juicy bits:
• Bronze Fox includes an Inferred Mineral Resource of 194.1 Mt of 0.2% Cu and 0.07 g/t Au containing 426kt of Cu and 437koz Au for the West Kasulu prospect
• The Inferred Resource covers a small section of one of three large near surface porphyry complexes with a number of drill ready priority targets defined
• Woomera can earn an 80% interest in the Project (in two phases) by spending US$4m (with an election to acquire 100% once WML has earned its 80% interest)
• Drilling program scheduled to commence in the September quarter testing new greenfield and resource expansion targets
• Firm commitments have been received for a $1.7m share placement with an additional $0.3m Share Purchase Plan to be offered to eligible shareholders
Si6 Metals (ASX:SI6) says it has received 266 soil sample assay results at its Padre Paraíso lithium prospect in the Lithium Valley, Brazil, where “significant anomalous lithium zones have been identified with strong lithium potential.”
The Padre Paraiso prospect is located ~20km from Sigma Lithium Corp’s high purity “Green Lithium” concentrate mine (Grota do Cirilo Project) – with a 85.6Mt measured and indicated resource at 1.4% (Li2O1).
SI6 says the high-grade anomalous lithium soil zones “demonstrate a significant lithium discovery potential within a confirmed and extensive 3km pegmatite corridor.”
Li-S Energy will develop a production line to produce high-quality lithium foils from lithium metal ingots after Industry Minister Ed Husic announced an Industry Growth Program (IGP) Commercialisation and Growth Grant of $1.7 million for Li-S Energy (ASX:LIS) to develop Australia’s first lithium foil production line.
Lithium metal foil is used for the anode of both lithium sulfur and lithium metal batteries, but current imported supply has limited quality and is not optimised for Li-S cells. In addition to supplying foil for its own cell production, the company intends to market the foils to both domestic and international customers.
“With Australia currently producing 52% of the world’s lithium ore1 and global demand for lithium metal foil forecast to reach US$51 billion by 2032, Australia has a unique opportunity to capitalise on this emerging market,” Dr Lee Finniear, CEO of Li-S Energy said.
Back in the good books is Mighty Kingdom (ASX:MKL), which on Friday announced the global launch of the free-to-play mobile game “POWER RANGERS: MIGHTY FORCE” (their emphasis) in collaboration with Canadian publisher East Side Games Group (TSX: EAGR) and Hasbro.
MKL says the game is now available for download worldwide through the App Store and Google Play Store.
“With over 100,000 players pre-registered across Apple and Android platforms and solid pre-release metrics, MKL is confident in the game’s ability to meet performance expectations.”
MKL and ESGG will share sales revenue, with other terms of the partnership “commercial in confidence”.
Finally, HighCom (ASX:HCL) last week dropped a slow burn earnings update which has caught fire this morning. On Thursday the defence contractor said it expects revenue to come in for the full year at the lower end of guidance, while its cash position has significantly improved – from $1.6m to $6.2m.
HCL also flagged its key relationship with US AeroVironment has extended and expanded to new products. New orders of ballistic products for US domestic and international customers valued at $13.7m, to be supplied during H1 FY25.
Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 12 August [intraday]:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap ACW Actinogen Medical 0.031 -59% 70,916,520 $206,084,631 JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.001 -50% 100,000 $8,553,692 CTN Catalina Resources 0.002 -33% 75,000 $3,715,461 BXN Bioxyne Ltd 0.005 -29% 3,984,043 $14,326,518 AUH Austchina Holdings 0.003 -25% 50,000 $8,401,535 SHO Sportshero Ltd 0.003 -25% 21,190 $2,471,331 OLI Oliver'S Real Food 0.013 -24% 50,500 $7,492,443 SGA Sarytogan 0.1225 -21% 1,938,610 $23,053,666 FL1 First Lithium Ltd 0.091 -21% 406,946 $9,160,164 RFA Rare Foods Australia 0.02 -20% 109,345 $6,799,581 BUY Bounty Oil & Gas NL 0.004 -20% 4,252,205 $7,492,505 VIT Vitura Health Ltd 0.07 -20% 1,972,384 $50,101,020 DMG Dragon Mountain Gold 0.005 -17% 257,043 $2,368,030 IBG Ironbark Zinc Ltd 0.0025 -17% 136,216 $5,077,718 LML Lincoln Minerals 0.005 -17% 503,333 $12,337,557 CGR Cgnresourceslimited 0.073 -16% 732,603 $7,897,703 HXL Hexima 0.016 -16% 200,000 $3,173,753 TRU Truscreen 0.017 -15% 202,456 $11,051,822 BM8 Battery Age Minerals 0.115 -15% 15,000 $12,558,259 PAB Patrys Limited 0.006 -14% 689,738 $14,402,131 BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.019 -14% 4,621,240 $25,246,060 GRL Godolphin Resources 0.013 -13% 206,502 $3,208,368 AT1 Atomo Diagnostics 0.02 -13% 1,052,962 $14,701,653 WGR Westerngoldresources 0.02 -13% 227,583 $3,918,166 AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.0035 -13% 511,215 $5,845,711
Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) has now shortlisted partners and financiers to conclude a definitive sales agreement and financing in the near term for its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina.
The company has also connected new piping from the central northern part of the HMW project, increasing pond flow by up to 50% while the latest batch of pond liners have arrived on site for the installation process for Pond 4 and Pond 5, where earthworks are now 80% complete.
Permitting for HMW Phase 2 production is continuing with strong provincial government support.
Separately, the company has declined to proceed with an unsolicited, conditional, non-binding indicative proposal relating to a potential acquisition of its Argentine lithium assets.
Mamba Exploration (ASX:M24) has successfully acquired an additional four uranium projects in Canada’s high-grade Athabasca Basin as announced in early June.
All four projects are strongly supported by significant radiometric uranium anomalies and the association with graphitic conductors via historical electromagnetic (EM) surveys by previous explorers.
Of particular interest is the Blake Lake South project, which is known for its classic unconformity-style deposit potential and contains several targets for high-grade unconformity style deposits at shallow depth in a very similar setting to Cameco’s Key Lake deposit.
“We’re thrilled to add new acreage to our Athabasca Basin portfolio, focusing on identifying drilling targets over the next six months, especially at the promising Black Lake South project,” executive director Simon Andrew said.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While St George Mining, Galan Lithium and Mamba Exploration are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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