ASX Small Caps Lunch Wrap: Who’s feeling their own mortality today?

You might think you’re the centre of the universe. Or that your new kid, or dog is. And technically, you’re correct.

We think, unless the universe is as flat as the Earth.

But even if you are at the centre of it – technically – here’s some perspective from the James Webb Telescope, which NASA yesterday starting handing out the first glorious piccies from. You’ve probably seen this one of thousands of galaxies just like our own Milky Way, which is pretty massive:

Now, let’s zoom out a little:

It was almost 50 years ago that Earthlings got a mind-altering sense of their place in the cosmos with the release of the Blue Marble pic taken from the Moon.

Now, thanks to the JWT – follow its releases here, they’re extraordinary – people who stare and think about these images too long are in genuine danger of wondering what is that actual point of it all?

Best to snap out of it and back to the comfort of our own cosy planet where we rule as THE Apex species.

Well, until we saw this coming:

Heart, meet defibrillator.

TO MARKETS

The S&P/ASX200 is… OK. So far down just 5.30 points to 6,601.00. Sector-wise, Energy and Utilities are a bit depressed (Woodside is off 1.9%) but at stocks level, BNPLs are to blame, again. Tyro and Zip are dragging on the 200, down 3.03% and 2.83% respectively.

So for the past five days, the index has been becalmed. We’ll take it.

And ignore the fact it’s down 11.33% for the last year to date.

As Josh Chiat reports, lower copper, nickel, gold and iron ore prices (hitting a 2022 low of US$106.05/t) hit the market overnight. Materials stunk again this morning, down 0.85%.

But he also notes bankers over at Goldman Sachs say there are a host of reasons to keep backing the miners even under the looming threat of recession.

NOT THE ASX

Why is Woodside off? Because oil is – prices collapsed by 8% to a three-month low, with Brent crude back below US$100 at US$98.60 a barrel at 8am today. They’ve crept back a little, but not enough to make a difference.

The fall almost mirrored last Wednesday’s 10% plunge, and brace for more, because here’s executive director Fatih Birol with the latest update on the energy crisis.

“We might not have seen the worst of it yet.”

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for July 11 [intraday]:

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

And the award goes to Arrow Minerals (ASX:AMD), which is popping up in news everywhere this morning. Not because it will divest the Strickland copper-gold project in WA to Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE); more because it’s doing so to focus on its West African assets.

Namely, the Simandou North iron ore project in Guinea. Yes, that Simandou.

They’re calling it “an exceptional early-stage opportunity”, one that provides Arrow with access to the premium iron belt in West Africa at a time where significant infrastructural improvements are underway.

As Emma Davies writes, the project lies at the northern end of the Simandou Range and forms an extension of the stratigraphy that hosts one of the largest undeveloped high-grade iron deposits in the world, including Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) Simandou Project.

It’s a daring move. See this headline “Will Simandou ever get built” for more details on why.

Elsewhere, Zelira copped a query from the ASX over why it’s share price popped some 20% today and the simple answer was “because we got some good news from the German regulatory authority BfArM about our clinically validated cannabinoid-based insomnia medication Zenivol, duh”.

Which it did.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for July 11 [intraday]:

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

Assetowl, lol.