Closing Bell: ASX dips 0.15pc as traders bide their time

• ASX finishes down just 0.15pc after choppy session
• Tech sector a bright spot, up 1.09pc
• All Ord Gold index weighs heavy, down 2.28pc

ASX nudges lower as investors stick to the sidelines

There’s a little too much geopolitical chaos brewing for most trader’s appetite at present, leading to a subdued day of trading that left the ASX down 0.15%.

It was looking like the bourse might tip into the green around midday, but it was not to be.

The materials sector, undercut by falling gold and iron ore stocks, fell 1.56%.

Pantoro Gold (ASX:PNR) shed 5%, Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) 4.9%, Fortescue (ASX:FMG) 3.8% and Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) 3.6%.

Looking at our indices, only the All Tech made any real progress today, lifting 0.62% alongside the info tech sector’s 1.09% gain.

Standouts include archTIS (ASX:AR9) up 62%, Simble Solutions (ASX:SIS) adding 50% and Locate Technologies (ASX:LOC) up 14%. You can read more about the first two below.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Making news…

Simble Solutions (ASX:SIS) is raising $527k to grow its sustainability software business, locking in $500k from a placement.

It will use the funds for working capital and stash $200k in Bittensor (TAO), a decentralised AI crypto, to earn staking rewards and support its long-term strategy. Faldi Ismail steps in as non-exec chair, bringing 20+ years in deals, listings and capital markets.

archTIS (ASX:AR9) has cracked into the UK defence market, locking in a three-year contract worth $263k with the UK arm of a global aerospace giant.

The deal covers 400 NC Protect licences to help meet strict UK Ministry of Defence data security rules in Microsoft 365. This follows a recent win with the US Department of Defense.

European Lithium (ASX:EUR) says Critical Minerals Group (ASX:CMG), which it owns 63% of, has landed a non-binding US$120m Letter of Interest from the US EXIM Bank to help develop the Tanbreez rare earths project in Greenland.

The funding, if finalised, would be non-dilutive and run over 15 years. If it goes ahead, EUR said the package would support one of the world’s largest rare earth deposits and boost Western supply chains.

Check out Stockhead’s Break it Down for more.

NewPeak Metals (ASX:NPM) says Lakes Blue Energy, in which it holds a 16.3% stake, is raising $6.5 million at $0.75/share through a fully underwritten placement ahead of its planned ASX relisting around June 24.

The funds will help kick off drilling of the Wombat-5 well in the Gippsland Basin, targeting up to 10 terajoules a day from a 1.5km lateral. The Victorian government has given consent to drill, pending rehab bond payments, with spudding expected the week of July 21.

Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) has secured global rights to a new microwave-based tech from Macquarie University that makes recycling solar panels cleaner and more efficient.

It’s raising $1.7m to back the move, with solar waste set to hit 78 million tonnes by 2050, and most panels still ending up in landfill.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Nordic Resources’ (ASX:NNL) data review indicates there’s more gold mineralisation than meets the eye at Hirsikangas as the company prepares for a JORC resource estimate.

An expanded three-rig campaign at Waratah Minerals’ (ASX:WTM) Spur project has confirmed extensions to known gold mineralisation at the Spur Gold Corridor.

Brookside Energy (ASX:BRK) has flagged two newly emerging sub-plays within its SWISH Area of Interest in Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin.

Personalised audio tech provider Audeara (ASX:AUA) has delivered record revenue exceeding $3.64 million for the 11 months to end of May FY25.

iTech Minerals (ASX:ITM) has identified gold and antimony in data from historical drilling and rock chips at Falchion prospect of its Reynolds Range project in the NT.

Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) has defined an 800m strike trend of copper volcanogenic massive sulphide-style mineralisation at Earl’s Target within its Skyline copper project in Newfoundland, Canada.

Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) has treated its 500th patient in a CLIA waiver study for FebriDx, a move making it more accessible by clinicians.

TRADING HALTS

Adveritas (ASX:AV1) – cap raise
Cygnus Metals (ASX:CY5) – cap raise
Lode Resources (ASX:LDR) – correction of Webbs Consol announcement
Odyssey Gold (ASX:ODY) – cap raise
Riedel Resources (ASX:RIE) – cap raise

LAST ORDERS

EBR Systems (ASX:EBR) has accepted applications for a total of $20m under a heavily oversubscribed security purchase plan, raising a total of $75.9m after a recent $55.9m placement.

The funds will support a ramp up of commercial efforts for EBR’s novel WiSE system, the world’s only wireless, endocardial (inside the heart) pacing system in clinical use for stimulating the heart’s left ventricle.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While EBR Systems, Lithium Universe and European Lithium are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.