Closing Bell: ASX inches closer to correction territory as traders move into defensive sectors

ASX takes another hit, Trump’s tariffs to blame
Albanese ignored by Trump ahead of tariff bombshell
Retailers, miners, banks slump

Things got a bit ugly on the ASX on Wednesday with the benchmark ASX 200 index taking another big hit, this time by 1.32%.

The sell-off came after Trump ruled that Australia wouldn’t be getting any exemptions from his tariffs on steel and aluminium exports. These tariffs are now set to start hammering Australian businesses from this afternoon.

Adding fuel to the fire, PM Albanese revealed that Trump had flat-out ignored his calls before making the final decision. Albanese called the move “unjustified” and a slap in the face to the long-standing relationship between the two countries.

But Tom Wickenden at Betashares said Australia’s exports of steel and aluminium to the US account for only about $1bn, or 5% of the total export value – and will likely have minimal impact.

“Australia’s largest exports to the US are services based rather than physical goods or materials, and should therefore not be impacted by the proposed tariffs,” Wickenden said.

Today’s market downturn, meanwhile wasn’t a blip.

The losses on the ASX have piled up over the last few days, pushing the market closer into correction territory, ie: 10% below its record high from February.

“Right now investors are heavily moving out of high-risk growth stocks and tech names, and parking money in healthcare, agriculture, and real estate investment trusts, as these sectors are more stable,” said Moomoo’s Jessica Amir.

Of the 11 sectors that make up the ASX, only one managed to stay in the green, while the rest of them bled red.

The consumer discretionary sector copped it the hardest, while the banks weren’t far behind.

Goldies were the only sector showing signs of life.

In the large caps space, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) was pummelled on the tariff news, down by 2.3%. The company also announced it was looking to sell off up to US$9 billion worth of bonds to cover the cost of buying Arcadium Lithium.

Nickel Industries (ASX:NIC), the top dog in pure-play nickel production listed on the ASX, made a solid rebound, bouncing back 7% after losing nearly a quarter of its value yesterday on tax hike news from Indonesia.

IPH (ASX:IPH), the patent and trademark firm dropped 10%, becoming the worst performer on the ASX 200 today. The company announced that its long-time CFO, John Wadley, was stepping down.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Code	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
FRS	Forrestania Resources	0.037	61%	7,023,499	$6,036,453
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.002	50%	22,311,038	$28,933,812
CTO	Citigold Corp Ltd	0.005	43%	2,323,151	$10,500,000
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.004	33%	5,693,246	$1,880,402
H2G	Greenhy2 Limited	0.004	33%	8,311,935	$1,794,553
DGR	DGR Global Ltd	0.009	29%	758,317	$7,305,872
ASR	Asra Minerals Ltd	0.003	25%	300,000	$4,746,254
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.003	25%	10,000,000	$4,887,272
RGL	Riversgold	0.005	25%	7,550,028	$6,734,850
TAS	Tasman Resources Ltd	0.005	25%	858,305	$3,220,998
ABE	Ausbondexchange	0.029	21%	112,648	$2,704,035
T3D	333D Limited	0.006	20%	358,614	$880,917
EMH	European Metals Hldg	0.190	19%	246,622	$33,191,153
CNJ	Conico Ltd	0.007	17%	200,000	$1,424,924
PVT	Pivotal Metals Ltd	0.007	17%	200,701	$5,443,355
SPQ	Superior Resources	0.007	17%	116,661	$13,019,183
NMG	New Murchison Gold	0.015	15%	79,930,797	$107,087,025
PR2	Piche Resources	0.070	15%	106,832	$5,092,847
AJX	Alexium Int Group	0.008	14%	3,594	$11,105,001
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.008	14%	21,390,749	$8,614,505
LIO	Lion Energy Limited	0.016	14%	205,651	$6,330,348
MKL	Mighty Kingdom Ltd	0.008	14%	75,000	$1,512,444
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	0.004	14%	212,621	$4,585,272
GIB	Gibb River Diamonds	0.041	14%	52,678	$7,722,340

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Forrestania Resources (ASX:FRS) has successfully secured $500,910 through a placement of 20,036,400 shares at $0.025 each. The placement was made at a 29.7% premium to the recent 10-day average share price, showing strong backing from existing shareholders, directors and staff. The funds will go toward drilling at the Lady Lila prospect, where there’s an estimated resource of 24,000 ounces of gold and further exploration at the Ada Ann prospect.

Pivotal Metals’ (ASX:PVT) first full metallurgical testwork on its Horden Lake project in Quebec has confirmed the deposit’s massive potential. Copper recoveries were solid, hitting 87-94%, with high-grade concentrates produced. The testwork used simple, low-cost flotation methods, meaning lower risks and costs to get the project off the ground.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.002	-33%	16,183	$3,005,349
ERA	Energy Resources	0.002	-33%	503,868	$1,216,188,722
TON	Triton Min Ltd	0.005	-29%	1,454,227	$10,978,721
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.002	-25%	1,048,604	$4,063,446
NRZ	Neurizer Ltd	0.002	-25%	132,000	$6,716,008
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.002	-25%	1,836,495	$9,673,198
LU7	Lithium Universe Ltd	0.007	-22%	1,910,608	$7,073,817
PSL	Paterson Resources	0.007	-22%	40,000	$4,104,341
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.006	-21%	24,140,300	$22,185,079
APC	APC Minerals	0.012	-20%	4,425	$1,757,597
TOU	Tlou Energy Ltd	0.012	-20%	1,829,572	$19,478,765
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.004	-20%	1,248,969	$10,601,880
BLZ	Blaze Minerals Ltd	0.002	-20%	10,000	$3,917,370
NTM	Nt Minerals Limited	0.002	-20%	3,775,125	$3,027,257
OSL	Oncosil Medical	0.004	-20%	3,054,333	$23,032,901
TSL	Titanium Sands Ltd	0.004	-20%	337,514	$11,683,736
ASB	Austal Limited	3.615	-20%	16,611,322	$1,634,783,882
AVD	Avada Group Limited	0.370	-20%	39,267	$39,070,112
PEK	Peak Rare Earths Ltd	0.097	-19%	1,065,675	$42,251,293
X2M	X2M Connect Limited	0.017	-19%	1,632,854	$7,945,166
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.009	-18%	188,235	$5,986,726
TGH	Terragen	0.025	-17%	160,507	$15,150,515
ADY	Admiralty Resources.	0.005	-17%	2,800,000	$15,776,876
NC6	Nanollose Limited	0.033	-15%	377,520	$9,079,290

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Mount Hope Mining (ASX:MHM) has reprocessed aeromagnetic data and uncovered several promising copper targets near historic mines at its Mount Hope project in NSW’s Cobar region. With these new insights, the company is fine-tuning its drill targets and getting ready to kick off its maiden drilling program.

Arika Resources (ASX:ARI) has struck significant shallow gold at its Queen of the May prospect, with standout hits such as 20m at 1.62 g/t gold from 28m. With more assays pending and follow-up drilling planned, the company is aggressively expanding its footprint in the underexplored Laverton gold field.

Victory Metals’ (ASX:VTM) scoping study confirms North Stanmore as a world-class rare earths and scandium project with a 31-year mine life and a strong $1.2 billion NPV. With low costs, high recoveries, and growing offtaker interest, the company is targeting project commissioning by Q3, 2028.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Mount Hope Mining, Arika Resources and Victory Metals 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.