Closing Bell: Miners, oil stocks rally; retail struggles as Lovisa shares dumped

ASX 200 down on Tuesday; energy and iron ore stocks rise
BHP’s underlying profit up 2pc, but dividend cut.
Lovisa drops 12pc; Zip Co loses over 10pc despite strong revenue

The ASX traded cautiously following a mixed session on Wall Street. At the close of Tuesday, the benchmark ASX 200 index was down by 0.15%.

Overnight, Wall Street’s focus turned from the Fed to Nvidia Corp’s earnings on Wednesday (US time), which will test the resilience of the AI trade and the broader stock market.

“Move over, Powell. It’s Jensen Huang’s turn to move markets,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise.

Locally, traders focused on earnings reports from domestic heavyweights, as well as key economic data from China, all while remaining wary of ongoing geopolitical concerns.

Energy was the best performer today, as expected, after crude prices gained 3% overnight on Libya’s decision to halt exports.

Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS), Santos (ASX:STO) rallied between 2%-4%.

Iron ore stocks also rallied after the price of iron ore burst through US$100 a tonne as Chinese stockpiles shrink.

Index-heavy BHP (ASX:BHP), saw a 2% rise following a slightly stronger-than-expected underlying profit of $US13.7 billion (USD) – more on that below.

Today’s earnings season highlights

BHP (ASX:BHP) reported an underlying profit of US$13.7 billion for the full year FY24, a 2% increase from the previous year.

The company will pay a final dividend of USD 0.74 per share, down 14% from last year.

“With the company cutting its full-year dividend, BHP’s focus on growth is clear, a signal that CEO Mike Henry is exploring acquisition opportunities,” said eToro’s Josh Gilbert.

Coles Group (ASX:COL) rose 2% after reporting a full-year, after-tax profit of $1.1 billion, citing increased supermarket sales and measures taken to reduce theft-related losses.

Jewellery retailer Lovisa (ASX:LOV) was hit hard, down 12% despite FY24 results meeting expectations.

The decline was primarily driven by a disappointing trading update for the first half of FY25, which fell short of market consensus.

Newly listed fast-food retailer, Guzman y Gomez (ASX:GYG), was also down 3% after reporting statutory loss before tax of $11.6 million, a slump from a profit of $200k reported last year.

The loss was incurred despite revenue increasing to $342.2 million, reflecting a 32.1% rise year over year.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) stock, Zip Co (ASX:ZIP) lost over 10% as the company reported a decline in active customer numbers.

Zip, however, reported a 28.2% increase in revenue and a 243.2% rise in cash EBITDA for FY24.

What else happened today?

Across the region, Asian shares ended their three-day rally, with tech stocks leading the decline.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.5%, reversing part of its recent 11% gain. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China, and South Korea all dropped.

Chinese consumer stocks were battered after PDD Holdings, the owner of Temu, reported a record drop in revenue and issued a sales warning.

Still in China, Beijing has called on Canada to revise its new tariffs after Canada said it will impose a 100% tariff on imports of China-made electric vehicles after similar announcements by the US and EU.

Looking ahead to tonight’s session on Wall Street, watch for the US August consumer confidence index.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ID8	Identitii Limited	0.016	78%	5,453,776	$5,412,893
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.003	50%	11,420,309	$3,623,987
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.003	50%	1,387,682	$8,553,692
M2R	Miramar	0.013	44%	41,398,745	$3,553,016
BAS	Bass Oil Ltd	0.103	37%	5,926,295	$21,782,367
TG1	Techgen Metals Ltd	0.042	35%	11,740,313	$3,972,110
ATH	Alterity Therap Ltd	0.004	33%	1,246,548	$15,961,008
CNJ	Conico Ltd	0.002	33%	9,421,207	$3,302,291
GMN	Gold Mountain Ltd	0.004	33%	2,914,134	$11,722,420
ICU	Investor Centre Ltd	0.004	33%	163,742	$913,534
MRQ	Mrg Metals Limited	0.004	33%	6,513,227	$8,134,556
SI6	SI6 Metals Limited	0.002	33%	700,000	$3,553,289
BCB	Bowen Coal Limited	0.013	30%	27,881,634	$28,491,791
SRN	Surefire Rescs NL	0.007	30%	1,325,974	$9,931,539
HTG	Harvest Tech Grp Ltd	0.018	29%	520,090	$11,373,710
LRV	Larvottoresources	0.410	28%	8,940,596	$98,545,428
BGE	Bridgesaaslimited	0.015	25%	69,430	$1,472,765
ECT	Env Clean Tech Ltd.	0.003	25%	2,303	$6,343,621
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.020	25%	19,459,617	$12,746,171
PKO	Peako Limited	0.005	25%	243,216	$3,513,899
PUR	Pursuit Minerals	0.003	25%	37,321	$7,270,800
TTI	Traffic Technologies	0.005	25%	595,427	$3,891,541
TX3	Trinex Minerals Ltd	0.003	25%	166,666	$3,657,305
TYX	Tyranna Res Ltd	0.005	25%	2,031,294	$13,151,701
WML	Woomera Mining Ltd	0.003	25%	3,500	$3,036,278

Shipbuilder Austal (ASX:ASB) surged 5% in a relief rally after agreeing to a US$24 million penalty to avoid criminal prosecution by US regulators in a fraud investigation. Austal was accused of falsifying financial information to give the appearance it was fulfilling its targets on a major US Navy contract. In 2022, Austal settled an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission by admitting to a civil breach and paying a $650k penalty.

Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) was up on news that the company has been granted Exploration E08/3676 over the high-grade copper-lead-silver occurrence at the Joy Helen prospect, in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Miramar has previously announced rock chimp sampling from an initial reconnaissance field trip returned results including 5.49% Cu, 42.0% Pb and 73.48g/t Ag, and 5.43% Cu, 36.7% Pb, 36g/t Ag and 0.27% Zn.

Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) was up on news of further results from its fieldwork at its Iguatu Project area, showing “extensive copper-gold anomalies indicative of IOCG copper mineralisation”. The company says there’s been a major area of anomalous copper detected, with 38km2 of anomaly within tenement and 14 km2 of very highly anomalous copper. Gold anomalies are in most areas of copper anomalies, with few gold anomalies not associated with copper.

Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) was rose after the company announced that initial results from the Kiwi 1 Extended Production Test (EPT) indicate gas flow rates in line with expectations and condensate yields far exceeding the company’s expectations. Bass says that the well has been flowing 4.1 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas and 988 barrels of condensate per day at a flowing wellhead pressure of 1585 psi.

Surefire Resources (ASX:SRN) was up on news that is executed a Joint Cooperation Agreement with Mid West Ports Authority to determine optimal solutions for export of product through the Port of Geraldton, with the aim of securing port access for 1.25Mtpa of export capacity, allowing the company to accelerate a supply chain solution to support the development of Victory Bore vanadium project with the export of concentrate to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Antilles Gold (ASX:AAU) was up after releasing a supplemental announcement to its 21 August notice, outlining its find at the Nueva Sabana gold-copper deposit in central Cuba. In the gold column, Antilles is reporting intercepts including 2m @ 25.26g/t Au from 38.5m (incl 1m @ 45.39g/t Au), while on the copper side the results have turned up 25m @ 1.76% Cu from 52m (incl 4m @ 5.56% Cu).

Peako (ASX:PKO) was up on news that it has appointed Ryan Skeen as CEO, effective today. Skeen currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of Heavy Rare Earths Limited (ASX: HRE), sports a Master of Applied Finance (Distinction) and a B.Bus (Financial Risk Management), and brings “expertise in financial markets, strategic leadership, and corporate governance” with him to the table.

Acrux (ASX:ACR) jumped after announcing the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of its generic version of Aczone Gel, 7.5% (Dapsone Gel, 7.5%). This approval marks Acrux’s fifth successful ANDA (Abbreviated New Drug Application) for a topical treatment, adding to its growing portfolio. The generic Dapsone Gel, 7.5% is designed for treating acne vulgaris in patients aged nine and older. According to data, the market for this product in the US exceeds US$37.4 million annually.

Queensland Pacific Metals (ASX:QPM) was up on news that the company has signed new contracts to cover Townsville Power Station (“TPS”) dispatch rights and North Queensland Gas Pipeline (“NQGP”) gas transport and storage service, which the company says will provide it with ‘a significant reduction in fixed operating charges and ensures it will be financially robust with capacity to accelerate its’ gas production growth plans”.

Cleanspace (ASX:CSX) delivered a financial snapshot this morning, and the news was good. The company reports revenue $15.7 million, representing growth of 30% v PCP (H2 + 32%) and has delivered annual expense savings of $4 million, leaving the company with $9.8 million in cash on hand.

Identitii (ASX:ID8) was up on news of a milestone in the patent infringement case it is fighting against JP Morgan in the US, after the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected JP Morgan’s call for Identitii’s patent to be set aside. As such, the matter remains pending in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, and there is currently a motion to dismiss the case in front of the district court that has not yet been ruled upon.

The niobium heater is real as Caprice Resources (ASX:CRS) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire an additional 430km2 of strategic exploration tenure in WA’s West Arunta region from Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) exploration arm – right next to its Bantam project. The large landholding acquisition now makes Caprice the third largest ASX-listed explorer in the highly prospective West Arunta. The burgeoning mining district, in northeast WA, has ignited exploration for the critical mineral around the world after WA1 Resources’ (ASX:WA1) Luni deposit discovery last year – especially for ASX ressies in Brazil, where 90% of current production takes place, largely through privately-owned CBMM.

TechGen Metals (ASX:TG1) has zoomed up the charts today with high grades of up to 7.05% antimony (Sb) hits at its Station Creek project in WA’s Pilbara. The company went to ground sampling rock chips on the back of 1980s data that the project area was perhaps prospective for antimony, yet was only explored for uranium base metals and gold in the past. On review of the antimony anomalism found within Station Creek, TG1 is planning further work to assess the project’s potential.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
GCR	Golden Cross	0.002	-33%	800,000	$3,291,768
PAM	Pan Asia Metals	0.065	-31%	482,762	$17,438,724
GW1	Greenwing Resources	0.053	-26%	206,385	$14,180,507
CT1	Constellation Tech	0.002	-25%	857,142	$2,949,467
EXL	Elixinol Wellness	0.003	-25%	500,000	$5,284,729
5EA	5Eadvanced	0.090	-25%	1,386,293	$39,850,237
JLG	Johns Lyng Group	4.195	-25%	12,173,374	$1,551,353,855
KNB	Koonenberrygold	0.011	-21%	1,048,647	$4,029,025
HPR	High Peak Royalties	0.060	-21%	1,150,254	$15,812,538
TON	Triton Min Ltd	0.010	-21%	515,215	$18,820,665
MYG	Mayfield Group Ltd	0.730	-20%	252,363	$83,694,181
AMD	Arrow Minerals	0.002	-20%	61,536,296	$26,348,413
HLX	Helix Resources	0.004	-20%	3,650,430	$16,320,968
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.002	-20%	451,814	$21,472,812
SMM	Somerset Minerals	0.004	-20%	4,606,118	$5,154,994
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.002	-20%	103,154	$14,737,667
DUN	Dundasminerals	0.033	-20%	1,955,986	$3,469,750
8VI	8Vi Holdings Limited	0.065	-18%	45,818	$3,311,002
PUA	Peak Minerals Ltd	0.003	-17%	8,000,715	$4,453,935
NVQ	Noviqtech Limited	0.023	-15%	238,891	$4,085,329
MXO	Motio Ltd	0.018	-14%	246,473	$5,632,165
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.006	-14%	993,853	$19,660,775
HOR	Horseshoe Metals Ltd	0.006	-14%	649,857	$4,642,972

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Anax Metals’ (ASX:ANX) preliminary XRF scanning has indicated high-grade copper-zinc was intersected during drilling at the Evelyn deposit within its Whim Creek project. Samples have been submitted to the laboratory for assaying.

Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) has been granted the go ahead to dispose of processed brine at its Green River lithium project in Utah through the use of disposal wells on its purchased private property.

Brightstar Resources’ (ASX:BTR) infill drilling at the 244,000oz Lord Byron gold deposit in WA’s Goldfields region has returned thick intercepts of gold, boosting confidence in the mine as it progresses towards production in 2025.

Dateline Resources’ (ASX:DTR) diamond drilling at its Colosseum project in California has returned a thick 203.6m intersection grading 1.03g/t gold in the North Pipe. The company notes that mineralisation at North Pipe is more evenly disseminated than in South Pipe while the assay grades are generally higher than resource block grades from historical drilling. North Pipe contains 603,000oz out of the total 1.1 million ounces resource at Colosseum.

Elevate Uranium’s (ASX:EL8) drilling at the Hirabeb prospect within its Koppies project in Namibia has returned high-grade results including a stand-out intersection of 2m grading 1482ppm eU₃O₈. This has also proven that mineralisation at the prospect is not constrained by the palaeochannel system.

Everest Metals Corporation (ASX:EMC) has submitted a mining proposal to begin mining at the Mt Dimer Taipan gold-silver project, 150km west of Kalgoorlie. It has also advanced negotiations for toll treatment options with neighbouring mills.

Finexia Financial Group (ASX:FNX) has secured a cornerstone investment from Factory Capital GP Ltd through a private placement of $3.73m, which will be used to support the expansion of the company’s private credit operations.

Initial leach testing by Godolphin Resources (ASX:GRL) has identified the conditions for optimal extraction of rare earths from its Narraburra project, achieving 81% magnet REE extraction with limited deleterious element extraction and low acid consumption.

Kingsland Minerals (ASX:KNG) is moving ahead with a mining lease application at its 194.9Mt Leliyn graphite project, already considered Australia’s largest graphite deposit in the NT. Work is also underway to produce a bulk concentrate sample.

Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) has extended its existing deal with the Burnet Diagnostics Initiative to progress a new point-of-care test that will provide rapid, near-patient measurement of blood levels of the liver biomarker Alanine Transaminase in an upcoming clinical trial.

Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) has been granted an exploration tenement over the high-grade Joy Helen prospect on the Chain Pool project, setting the scene for drilling activities to begin in an area that is prospective for multiple styles of mineralisation.

PharmAust (ASX:PAA) has released promising interim results from its ongoing open-label extension study of its lead drug monepantel to treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. The drug continues to be well-tolerated while slowing disease progression and improving survival.

QEM’s (ASX:QEM) scoping study has outlined robust economics for its unique Julia Creek vanadium and oil shale project in Queensland. The project could deliver after-tax NPV of ~$1.1bn and IRR of 16.3% from the production of vanadium and transport fuels.

Queensland Pacific Metals (ASX:QPM) has agreed to commercial terms with the Townsville Power Station and North Queensland Gas Pipeline for the supply of gas from its Moranbah project. The company has started drilling seven production wells that could deliver a significant production boost through the December quarter.

Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU) has announced that Australia’s National Native Title Tribunal has now registered its Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC).

The ILUA contains a cooperative framework to respect Aboriginal heritage and support the BDAC community during the construction and operation of the upstream portion of the company’s proposed vertically integrated battery anode material project.

In addition to including monitoring and reporting protocols and pathways for employment, training and contracting of members of the Barngarla People, the ILUA provides that RNU will issue shares to BDAC worth $35,000, calculated at the 30-day volume-weighted average price.

Riversgold’s (ASX:RGL) shallow drilling at its Northern Zone gold project just 25km east of Kalgoorlie has gold intersections topping up at 27.5g/t. This 1903m program successfully targeted an overlying blanket of shallow gold mineralisation in the oxide zone above the gold mineralised porphyry system at the project. Further infill and step-out targeted drilling is now being planned over the expanded footprint of the mineralised porphyry.

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) has appointed former Brazilian Mines Minister Adolfo Sachsida, as board advisor to provide insights and advice throughout the progression of its Araxá niobium-REE project, which already has more than 500 intercepts of >1% niobium.

Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN) has finalised a binding agreement to sell its Triumph gold project in Queensland to Dart Mining (ASX:DTM) for $1m in cash and $1m in DTM shares.

Once completed, the divestment will allow the company to focus funds and efforts on its flagship Ravenswood Consolidated project while retaining upside in Triumph through its stake in DTM. Diamond drilling is ongoing at Ravenswood and is currently focussed on the 400m long, under-drilled Gap Zone at Liontown, with assays expected in early September 2024.

White Cliff Minerals’ (ASX:WCN) final batch of rock chip sample assays from its Great Bear project in northern Canada has returned bonanza silver grades of up to 7.54% (75,439g/t).

The results from the 1.5km by 1.5km Slider prospect marks another high-grade discovery. It is about 550m along strike to the northwest from two historical producing underground silver mines that produced 34.2Moz of refined silver. Rock chips from the Charlie skarn horizon, which covers a strike of about 900m, returned consistently high-grade polymetallic results with a top assay of 9.8% copper, 233g/t silver, 1.7% lead and 2.4% zinc.

Managing director Troy Whittaker said the company had not only found possibly the highest grade silver result in recent history from a maiden field program, it had also delineated six high-grade copper, gold and silver mineralised districts to date at Great Bear.

“If we are able to marry these results and structures up with the recently completed geophysics and prove depth potential we will be well placed for significant discovery.”

New World Resources’ (ASX:NWC) drilling has proved the quality of its Antler and

Javelin projects in Arizona after returning very high-grade intersections of up to 2.5m grading 11.8% copper equivalent at Antler. Resource definition drilling at the new Pinafore deposit within Javelin has also returned high-grade copper.

Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) has signed a US$40m deal with Chengdu Chemphys for 23,000t of LCE produced from its Hombre Muerto West project over the first five years of production from the Argentine brine development. First production is expected in H1 2025.

TRADING HALTS

Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) – pending the announcement of results from Kiwi 1 Completion and commencement of the Extended Production Test in the Cooper Basin.

Riversgold (ASX:RGL) – pending an announcement regarding results from the Northern Zone Gold Project.

Macro Metals (ASX:M4M) – pending an announcement regarding exploration results at the Goldsworthy East Project.

Omega Oil & Gas (ASX:OMA) – pending the release of an announcement related to a material capital raising.

IXUP (ASX:IXU) – pending the release of an announcement related to a material business update.

Frontier Energy (ASX:FHE) – requested in connection with a proposed capital raising.

Energy Resources of Australia (ASX:ERA) – pending the release of an announcement in relation to a capital raising.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Anax Metals, Anson Resources, Brightstar Resources, Dateline Resources, Elevate Uranium, Everest Metals Corporation, Finexia Financial Group, Galan Lithium, Godolphin Resources, Kingsland Minerals, Lumos Diagnostics, New World Resources, PharmAust, QEM, Queensland Pacific Metals, Renascor Resources, Riversgold, St George Mining, Sunshine Metals and White Cliff Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.