Why you lily-livered ASX. Via Getty
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Wall Street hit more record highs on Thursday in New York, the Australian market on Friday, alas, has not.
The S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) index ended Friday March 22 was down 11.4 points or 0.15% to 7,770.6 points…
Still, the benchmark Australian index ended the week about 0.7% higher, despite some very choppy trade.
The XJO has now gained almost 10% over the last half year of trade…
Resources proved to be the bugbear on Friday in Sydney.
Damn the quality lead offered by Wall Street traders, who plugged their cash into Mega Tech anyway.
We’re still waiting for our own mega tech sector to hoover up all our best investing ideas. Until then it’s Resources and some banks.
And they were AWOL.
The big miners fell away this arvo after the previously punchy price of iron ore fell away in Singapore.
That sucked the oxygen out of any chance of a post-lunch fight back on the local bourse. When RIO, Fortescue and BHP are joined in retreat by the Big Four banks and our larger energy stocks, then you can just pack up the tent and put on the telly.
On the ASX, energy stocks tracked a lower crude oil price to fall 1.4 per cent. Brent closed below $US86 after a stronger US dollar outweighed optimism that the Federal Reserve will stick to its rate cut forecast this year. Woodside Energy fell 1.9 per cent and Ampol declined 1.3 per cent.
On the bank front, well, they’ve looked wobbly ever since the investment bank arm of Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) fingered its colleagues in the taking-money business a week ago, noting how expensive the Big 4 are looking.
However, as my own dear colleague Carlos Capolingua from MarketIndex rightly pointed out this week, there’s one group of investors in particular who’ve abandoned the banks when they’re usually right out front when it comes to loading up on Big 4 bank stocks.
Macquarie cites anecdotal evidence that these supporters of Aussie banks, have largely been absent from the buy side over the past six months.
The ASX Financials (XFJ) Index Half Year-to-date…
Carl says of this cohort:
“Whilst individually your typical retail investor is a mere drop in the ocean of the market, when it comes to Australian banks, they punch well above their weight.”
Macquarie suggests retail investors represent around 40-50% of banks’ share registries.
“This means a trend of selling among retail investors can have an outsized impact,” Carl adds.
In any case, the brokers seem to agree there’s nothing the banks are selling right now which is convincing investors to get in there and that’s a weight on the ASX200 all it’s own.
Healthcare stocks surged this arvo, led by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (ASX:FPH) which is well out in front, after an upbeat guidance statement to the ASX.
FPH has lifted its full year revenue and profit outlook, after what MD Lewis Gradon says has been solid demand for its 2H hospital consumables product portfolio “towards the upper end of our expectations from November.”
FPH expects full year revenue to be circa $1.73bn (previously $1.7bn) and now expects underlying NPAT to be in the range of circa $260-$265m from $250-$260m.
The Small Ords (XSO) and the Emerging Co’s (XEC) both ended lower on Friday
Five of the 11 ASX Sectors ended higher, Property the clear leader.
Today’s best performing small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G50 | Gold50Limited | 0.145 | 45% | 376,569 | $10,929,000 |
| ZNO | Zoono Group Ltd | 0.115 | 44% | 1,267,957 | $17,094,192 |
| ENX | Enegex Limited | 0.026 | 37% | 923,592 | $7,009,404 |
| CTN | Catalina Resources | 0.004 | 33% | 3,570,154 | $3,715,461 |
| HCD | Hydrocarbon Dynamic | 0.004 | 33% | 602,132 | $2,425,747 |
| KPO | Kalina Power Limited | 0.004 | 33% | 7,991,028 | $6,630,384 |
| SLM | Solismineralsltd | 0.125 | 30% | 68,236 | $7,495,416 |
| HOR | Horseshoe Metals Ltd | 0.009 | 29% | 4,481,899 | $4,525,351 |
| IS3 | I Synergy Group Ltd | 0.009 | 29% | 6,000 | $2,128,563 |
| CAV | Carnavale Resources | 0.005 | 25% | 1,250,000 | $13,694,207 |
| BAS | Bass Oil Ltd | 0.056 | 24% | 3,580,443 | $12,077,750 |
| RON | Roninresourcesltd | 0.12 | 20% | 43,000 | $3,682,501 |
| BNL | Blue Star Helium Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 15,388,897 | $9,711,326 |
| M4M | Macro Metals Limited | 0.006 | 20% | 75,964,674 | $16,160,334 |
| MHC | Manhattan Corp Ltd | 0.003 | 20% | 100,000 | $7,342,449 |
| MOM | Moab Minerals Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 1,946,544 | $3,559,817 |
| TTI | Traffic Technologies | 0.006 | 20% | 123,567 | $3,788,351 |
| VRC | Volt Resources Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 370,456 | $20,650,533 |
| AUQ | Alara Resources Ltd | 0.055 | 20% | 745,915 | $33,032,027 |
| KCC | Kincora Copper | 0.037 | 19% | 149,440 | $6,135,504 |
| FRS | Forrestaniaresources | 0.02 | 18% | 1,802,160 | $2,750,358 |
| 1MC | Morella Corporation | 0.0035 | 17% | 226,766 | $18,536,398 |
| LML | Lincoln Minerals | 0.007 | 17% | 2,290,863 | $10,224,272 |
| MKL | Mighty Kingdom Ltd | 0.0035 | 17% | 200,000 | $1,983,800 |
| VR8 | Vanadium Resources | 0.045 | 15% | 207,509 | $21,851,708 |
Gold 50’s up 50%.
But it’s main game isn’t gold, as my dear Reuben points out.
It’s gallium, an obscure metal which hit headlines after world’s largest producer China announced export controls last year.
The US is desperately looking for its own sources of supply.
Sometimes a company just makes a terrific presso. Gold 50 (ASX:G50) is seriously into critical minerals at the moment like Gallium…
It’s also something of a bargain, right now.
Up sharply for an oil stock on this particular Friday is Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) which says it plans to kick off an Extended Production Test (EPT) at the Kiwi project “as soon as possible” to confirm the potential field size and gas composition.
“Bass has increased confidence that Kiwi contains a commercial volume of gas, providing the pathway for the company to enter the eastern states’ gas market,” it says.
But we’re
The biotech and hand sanitiser maker Zoono has nothing to say, but there’s lots of traders saying it.
The stock’s up a lazy 40% on Friday and this is two days after ZNO had already been handed a please explain from the ASX:
Still. Worth a chart:
Finally, ENEGEX (ASX:ENX) has new exploration ground at its Perenjori project in the West Yilgarn, the same neighbourhood as Chalice Gold Mines (ASX:CHN) 560Mt Gonneville project, the monster Boddington copper-gold mine, and the Greenbushes lithium operation.
Its newly granted exploration licence covers Rocky Ridge, a 6.5km-long gold target defined by elevated gold anomalism at surface and promising shallow drill results, including 7m at 2.52g/t to end of hole.
This hints at a source in the underlying bedrock, says the company.
It is planning initial on-ground exploration “in the coming weeks”.
For the last few years this unassuming and tightly held WA explorer has been doing all the inexpensive early work (sampling, geophysics, just walking around looking at rocks) to prove up targets across its massive 1500sqkm landholding.
It is run by the same team that sold Apollo Consolidated for ~$200m to Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) , which won an entertaining back-and-forth tussle with Gold Road (ASX:GOR) for control of the junior in 2021.
Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OSXR | Osteopore Limited - Rights 22-Mar-24 | 0.002 | -60% | 3,061,910 | $516,434 |
| CAI | Calidus Resources | 0.125 | -24% | 5,753,833 | $101,086,600 |
| AS2 | Askarimetalslimited | 0.064 | -24% | 841,892 | $6,685,368 |
| AUR | Auris Minerals Ltd | 0.007 | -22% | 6,950 | $4,289,634 |
| ETR | Entyr Limited | 0.007 | -22% | 5,450,898 | $17,847,935 |
| WGR | Westerngoldresources | 0.023 | -21% | 13,721 | $4,456,963 |
| CTO | Citigold Corp Ltd | 0.004 | -20% | 1,199,990 | $15,000,000 |
| ECT | Env Clean Tech Ltd. | 0.004 | -20% | 5,144,086 | $14,321,552 |
| MCT | Metalicity Limited | 0.002 | -20% | 10,000 | $11,212,634 |
| RIL | Redivium Limited | 0.004 | -20% | 109,764 | $13,654,274 |
| TMK | TMK Energy Limited | 0.004 | -20% | 6,990,000 | $30,612,897 |
| WML | Woomera Mining Ltd | 0.004 | -20% | 989,450 | $6,090,695 |
| TYX | Tyranna Res Ltd | 0.009 | -18% | 9,686,842 | $36,161,679 |
| PTR | Petratherm Ltd | 0.019 | -17% | 461,919 | $5,169,276 |
| LRL | Labyrinth Resources | 0.005 | -17% | 15,670 | $7,125,262 |
| LVE | Love Group Global | 0.11 | -15% | 22,000 | $5,269,442 |
| IXU | Ixup Limited | 0.017 | -15% | 15,000 | $21,750,712 |
| MCL | Mighty Craft Ltd | 0.017 | -15% | 555,227 | $7,302,643 |
| PLG | Pearlgullironlimited | 0.029 | -15% | 132,796 | $6,954,421 |
| EM2 | Eagle Mountain | 0.059 | -14% | 2,881,175 | $21,042,714 |
| BFC | Beston Global Ltd | 0.006 | -14% | 2,217,124 | $13,979,328 |
| OPN | Oppenneg | 0.006 | -14% | 2,029,602 | $7,904,257 |
| OSL | Oncosil Medical | 0.006 | -14% | 917,407 | $13,821,788 |
| RFA | Rare Foods Australia | 0.03 | -14% | 42,049 | $7,179,267 |
| LEX | Lefroy Exploration | 0.1 | -13% | 1,191,777 | $23,052,725 |
Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) has selected Bécancour port in Québec, Canada as the preferred port option for importing lithium-rich spodumene to its proposed lithium carbonate refinery in Bécancour.
Raiden Resources (ASX:RDN) has delineated two high priority lithium targets at its Mt Sholl project while Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals, which holds all base metal rights under their farm-in agreement, has identified a new nickel anomaly over 1.2km strike.
Godolphin Resources’ (ASX:GRL) surface grab sampling work at the Yeoval and Copper Hill East projects in NSW’s Lachlan Fold Belt have uncovered compelling copper-gold assays that warrant further exploration.
Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) has strengthened its board with the appointment of seasoned US-based life sciences commercial strategist Darla Hutton, who brings with her a wealth of experience in commercial operations from minimally invasive care leader Intuitive Surgical, as an independent non-executive director.
New World Resources (ASX:NWC) has defined strong geochemistry anomalies for based metals over 1,300m of strike across the Red Cloud and Rudkins targets at its Javelin VMS project in Arizona. This takes the total strike of potential VMS mineralisation up to 4.5km.
Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) is securing its hold on priority clay-hosted REE targets within the immediate vicinity of its promising Jupiter discovery by snapping up a strategic tenement to its north.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Lithium Universe, Raiden Resources, Godolphin Resources, Aroa Biosurgery, New World Resources and Venture Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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