Markets overnight were scrambling to adjust to a shock move by the Bank of Japan to allow the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds to shift up to 0.50 per cent instead of its long-preferred 0.25 per cent cap. In a nutshell, Japan’s become the final global domino to fall in the race to hike rates… maybe.

The BoJ hasn’t raised rates yet, but investors are certainly now baking it in as, according to Marcus Today, analysts “anticipate losses ahead for Japanese investors as major international debt players have more incentive to bring capital back home.”

Immediate result? The yen soared 4% against the USD, US 10-year yields rose 10.9bps, 2-years fell 0.4bps, and the Battler lost 0.37% against the greenback.

US markets finished up, eventually, with the Dow Jones putting on 0.28%, the NASDAQ eking out 0.01%, and the S&P 500 gaining 0.10%. Europe stocks were a mildly mixed bag, but the ASX is looking okay, with SPI Futures up 58 points (+0.83%).
That mild ASX optimism may be due to the weaker USD, which means good news for commodities, which charged overnight. Gold rose 1.68%, nickel, zinc and tin were up 3.43%, 2.14%, and 1.83%, and aluminium rose 0.19%. Brent crude was down 0.57%, WTI up 1.16%, but strangely, natural gas was smacked down 8.93%.

Even Bitcoin enjoyed a 1.93% pop, perhaps because FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried signed those extradition papers to get him out of his terrifying cell in the Bahamas.

5 stocks to watch on the ASX today

Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) is eyeballing “multiple, thick intercepts of spodumene-bearing pegmatite” from its drill program at Mavis Lake.

Significant intercepts include:

  • Drill Hole MF22-180 – over 35m of spodumene-bearing pegmatite from 197m downhole
  • Drill Hole MF22-179 – over 23m of spodumene-bearing pegmatite from 157m downhole
  • Drill Hole MF22-177 – over 30m of spodumene-bearing pegmatite from 175m downhole

A possible pegmatite stack at depth has also been identified via intercepts from multiple drill holes, which CRR hopes points to a potential new significant zone, stacked under the Main Zone that “may link to previous intercepts at depth extending over a 500m strike”. All potentially good news for a JORC 2012 Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate currently being prepared. So far CRR has completed nearly 20km worth of drilling in 2022 with assays still pending for core from 29 drill holes.

Medtech company MedAdvisor’s (ASX:MDR) had a good start to FY23, with revenue expected to be between $58 million and $61 million, up 50-60% on 1H FY22 ($38.7 million). The $122m market cap company specialises with a medication and adherence platform that “focuses on improving health outcomes by connecting health professionals with their patients using technology and enhancing medication adherence”. It recently announced an expansion of its COVID-19 awareness program in the US with increased pharmacy participation in the US digital platform, inMotion. MDR says that and “increasing support from “major pharmaceutical manufacturers” going into Q2 is fueling the increased revenue.

Xanadu Mines (ASX:XAM, TSX:XAM) is “pleased to announce” execution of formal documentation for Phases 2 and 3 of its transaction with Zijin Mining Group. Which is not surprising, given Zijin’s pumping $7.2 million into the Mongolia gold-copper explorer to bring its shareholding in XAM to 19.99%. That’s a valuation of 0.04c per XAM share, a hefty increase on yesterday’s closing price of 0.028c. The cash will fund the exploration of Xanadu’s “highly prospective” Red Mountain project, new projects in southern Mongolia, and corporate regulatory and administrative costs. And there’s a Phase 3 in train, which could see another US$35m Zijin dollars coming for a Kharmagtai project JV.

Nickel is not dead. But whoever said it was? Anyway, Poseidon Nickel (ASX:POS) is beating wannabe shareholders off with a pooey stick after closing its Share Purchase Plan (SPP) heavily oversubscribed on Monday. The SPP provided Eligible Shareholders with the opportunity to apply for up to $30,000 worth of shares at the same price ($0.035 per share) as the last $6 million Placement. It targeted raising $3 million, but got $9m worth of interest. It eventually accepted a total of $6m. That’s a popular stock.

And WA gold hunter Magnetic Resources (ASX:MAU) is reporting its thickest intersections to date at its Julie North 4 project. It says mineralisation is “expanding in size and depth” and notes two new high-grade drill hole intersections, including 67m at 1.8g/t from 101m and 56m at 1.52g/t from 92m. Both thickened at depth as a nearby western hole intersected 17m at 1.92g/t from 52m, are outside the resource, and ended in mineralisation. That augers well for the enlargement of the Lady Julie North 4 Resource (Indicated and Inferred) of 2.7Mt at 1.27g/t for 109,000oz.

But wait, there’s more – further north, MAU saw thickening from 8m at 6.94g/t in MLJRC 686 to 18m at 4.98g/t from 89m in another hole – also outside the current resource.

Featured Companies

You might be interested in