Lunch Wrap: ASX navigates choppy waters with strong resources momentum

• Resource stocks absolutely flying as iron, rare earths and lithium all gain
• Gold rips to new all-time high, copper futures surge 5.2pc higher overnight
• ASX Banks meanwhile are in full retreat

It’s looking like another round of TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) trading on the ASX 200, with the bourse hovering just about flat as of 12:30 AEDT.

Defensives are the name of the game today, with info tech, utilities and healthcare on the up.

The financial sector, and especially the major banks, is having much less fun in today’s trade.

Commonwealth (ASX:CBA) is down 1.46%, Westpac (ASX:WBC) is 1.93% lower, and National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) has dropped 1.77%.

On the other hand, the energy sector is climbing as fears over a US-China trade war flare-up simmer down, driving oil prices higher. Brent Crude lifted 1.1% to US$63.54 a barrel, remaining subdued.

Meanwhile, copper futures shot up 5.2%, iron ore jumped 0.7% to US$106.53 a tonne and gold futures smashed another record, hitting US$4165.76 an ounce.

Gold’s momentum is showing no signs of slowing. The Bank of America Global Research lifted its price forecast for the precious metal to $5000 an ounce for 2026.

The continued tension over rare earth and lithium components for advanced technologies out of China is still revving those stocks higher, all coming together for a very healthy 2.72% uptick for the materials sector.

Resources dominate

The top gainers on the ASX this morning are almost exclusively resources companies.

Gold, rare earths, lithium, graphite – you can’t throw a stick without hitting a resource stock on the up today.

One exception to the resources wave by midday on the east coast was SRG Global (ASX:SRG).

Since SRG provides maintenance, industrial, engineering and construction services to the mining industry, it’s basically an honorary member of the resources sector anyway.

In other news, Light and Wonder (ASX:LNW) has confirmed it will delist from the Nasdaq, moving to a single listing on the ASX. The stock was down 0.89% at time of writing.

Southern Cross Electrical (ASX:SXE) is up 2.73% after reiterating its 2026 EBITDA guidance of between $65 million and $68 million at its annual general meeting.

Glove and PE manufacturer Ansell (ASX:ANN) has reported unauthorised access to some of its data via a licensed third-party software.

It’s unclear exactly what data the cyber incident involved, but the company says it’s working with cyber experts to coordinate with government agencies and regulators.

ANN shares dipped 0.6% on the news but have since recovered to lift 0.49%.

Seems data breaches are becoming a bit old hat as investor grow accustomed to the constant flow of stolen data.

The same can’t be said for Qantas (ASX:QAN) investors, who have punished the airline with a 1.23% slice to the stock price after the stolen data of 5.7 million customers was released on the dark web over the weekend.

ASX LEADERS

Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

 In the news…

Austral Gold (ASX:AGD) has resumed gold production at the Caposo mine in Argentina, after updating the mine’s mineral reserve and refurbishing the plant. Caposo’s proven and probable reserves now sit at 2.149Mt at 1.13g/t gold and 58.52g/t silver, for 80,000 ounces of gold and 3.276 million ounces of silver.

Cobalt Blue (ASX:COB) has inked an MoU with Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM) to evaluate strategic options for cobalt and other products produced at the Nico Young cobalt-nickel project. The MoU revolves around COB’s Kwinana Cobalt Refinery and Broken Hill Cobalt project and the potential synergies available with LGM’s assets.

Ionic Rare Earths (ASX:IXR) has raised a total of $15.6m in a placement and rights issue that was anchored by a $3 million investment from US-based Argentem Creek Partners, a specialist critical mineral investment firm.

IXR closed out its rights issue heavily oversubscribed, raising $6.1 million. The excess demand was accommodated by a $9.5m follow-on placement, completed on the same terms as the rights issue

ASX LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Broken Hill Mines’ (ASX:BHM) has intersected extensions of high-grade mineralisation at Pinnacles in NSW as it assesses the potential for open-pit mining.

Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) has observed extensive lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites during site visits to its new Nigerian portfolio.

Odyssey Gold (ASX:ODY) says a mining technical study supports its plans to process gold from the Tuckanarra project at the nearby Burnakura mill.

Argent Minerals (ASX:ARD) is back on the ground, launching a new drill drive to follow up the stellar grades seen in the first diamond drill program at its Kempfield project.

Golden Mile Resources (ASX:G88) has accelerated exploration at the Aurora prospect after a series of strong silver, gold and lead assays.

Loyal Metals (ASX:LLM) is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to hunt for unmined copper and gold at the Highway Reward project.

LAST ORDERS

Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) has tapped a former US air force major general and General Dynamics IT executive for its advisory board. Major General (Ret.) Peter J Lambert brings more than 30 years leadership in US intelligence, defence and advanced technology integration.

The appointment aligns with Locksley’s 100% American mine-to-market vision, with an emphasis on leveraging defence-grade systems integration, operational intelligence, and secure supply-chain development.

DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) has collected 341 soil samples of 1048 planned across the Central Rutile project in Cameroon, identifying abundant natural rutile (titanium) and visible heavy mineral sands across the Kombo licence area.

While the program is still ongoing, DY6 says the results have already reinforced the project-scale potential of the area. The company is now deploying handheld pXRF testing of samples to define high-priority areas of titanium mineralisation.

Green Critical Minerals (ASX:GCM) is looking to rebrand to GCM Corporation, with the company’s ticker remaining unchanged. GCM will seek approval from shareholders at the next annual general meeting on November 25.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Locksley Resources, DY6 Metals and Green Critical Minerals 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.