Polish King Bolesław Chrobry, who ascended to the throne partially because of that glorious moustache. Pic via Getty Images.
Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens
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Good morning everyone, and welcome to 18 April, 2024 – an important date in the history of everything, for a variety of rapidly-cobbled together reasons.
First of all, on this day in 1025, Bolesław Chrobry was crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland and the first ever Eastern European Scrabble champion, just by submitting his entry form.
In 1845, a fella called William Lamb (aka Lord Melbourne) became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after Robert Peel had a massive strop and walked off the job.
In 1874 David Livingstone, who got famous for exploring Africa, was buried in Westminster Abbey, leading me to believe that if he was dug up from that spot, whoever was manning the shovels would be morally obligated to say “Dr Livingstone, I exhume…”
In 1906, the city of San Francisco was nearly levelled by an earthquake, which claimed 4,000 lives and led to the city being rebuilt on the same friggin’ spot because people just can’t take a hint.
And in 1915, a French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I, lending his name to some tennis courts later in life, as a tribute to “the greatest drop-shot a Frenchman ever played”.
On the plus side of the ledger this morning, that’s about all the silliness I have time for – the rest of today’s Rise and Shine is all about giving you facts, figures and the lowdown on what’s happening before the market opens today.
That includes Earlybird Eddy’s look at what’s happening in the brave new world of weed stocks, and possibly a thing I wrote about a really exciting development in semiconductor tech.
On top of all that, I’ve fired up a tired old laptop to shake the internet hard enough for a bunch of data to fall out and written it all down in some kind of ord3r, so hopefully it all makes sense.
COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES
Gold: US$2,365.78 (-0.48%)
Silver: US$28.23 (+0.21%)
Nickel (3mth): US$17,726/t (-0.67%)
Copper (3mth): US$9,468/t (-1.13%)
Oil (WTI): US$82.80 (-3%)
Oil (Brent): US$87.53 (-2.76%)
Iron ore: US$115.85/t (+5.9%)
AUD/USD: 0.6436 (+0.52%)
Bitcoin: US$61,265 (-3.96%)
WHAT GOT YOU TALKING
Health stocks are still behind some of the biggest market moves this month, so here’s a handy recap of what’s been going on in that slice of the ASX.
#ASX #health #stocks:
💠 @FirebrickPharma ( $FRE ) surged 80pc after launching #Nasodine in the US
💠 @NextScience ( $NXS ) says it antimicrobial solution is effective https://t.co/tkBgVDgkyq— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) April 17, 2024
YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRD | Mount Ridley Mines | 0.002 | 100% | 598,894 | $7,784,883 |
| FRE | Firebrickpharma | 0.077 | 51% | 8,360,754 | $9,126,284 |
| BUR | Burleyminerals | 0.064 | 36% | 1,299,622 | $4,901,948 |
| RNU | Renascor Res Ltd | 0.113 | 36% | 27,478,222 | $210,770,822 |
| IEC | Intra Energy Corp | 0.002 | 33% | 675,000 | $2,536,172 |
| MEG | Megado Minerals Ltd | 0.013 | 30% | 318,437 | $2,544,556 |
| LSA | Lachlan Star Ltd | 0.076 | 29% | 556,409 | $12,246,819 |
| BVR | Bellavistaresources | 0.200 | 25% | 522,594 | $7,937,756 |
| AMD | Arrow Minerals | 0.005 | 25% | 5,006,161 | $37,918,825 |
| MKL | Mighty Kingdom Ltd | 0.005 | 25% | 6,298,013 | $2,645,066 |
| OAR | OAR Resources Ltd | 0.003 | 25% | 284,907 | $6,306,622 |
| RML | Resolution Minerals | 0.003 | 25% | 250,000 | $3,219,994 |
| RR1 | Reach Resources Ltd | 0.003 | 25% | 217,315 | $7,380,040 |
| AS1 | Asara Resources Ltd | 0.011 | 22% | 2,324,469 | $7,939,578 |
| FZR | Fitzroy River Corp | 0.150 | 20% | 38,662 | $13,494,281 |
| LPD | Lepidico Ltd | 0.003 | 20% | 29,724,288 | $19,095,770 |
| GAS | State GAS Limited | 0.125 | 19% | 147,378 | $28,793,813 |
| KAM | K2 Asset Mgmt Hldgs | 0.050 | 19% | 25,571 | $10,125,578 |
| AKO | Akora Resources | 0.175 | 17% | 551,377 | $14,247,422 |
| BNL | Blue Star Helium Ltd | 0.007 | 17% | 7,668,848 | $11,653,592 |
| PUA | Peak Minerals Ltd | 0.004 | 17% | 522,512 | $3,124,130 |
| SI6 | SI6 Metals Limited | 0.004 | 17% | 5,562,376 | $7,106,578 |
| TMK | TMK Energy Limited | 0.004 | 17% | 1,335,260 | $20,267,144 |
| NXM | Nexus Minerals Ltd | 0.071 | 16% | 444,398 | $23,732,668 |
| AKN | Auking Mining Ltd | 0.022 | 16% | 574,163 | $4,471,720 |
Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:
The big mover on Wednesday was Firebrick Pharma (ASX:FRE), after it announced that its Nasodine nasal spray was being launched in the United States. The company pointed out that the spray will be marketed in the US “for ‘nasal hygiene’ without any therapeutic claims”, bypassing the need for the spray to receive FDA approval. Clever, clever.
Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU) climbed nicely on news that the Australian Government, through Export Finance Australia (EFA), has conditionally approved a $185 million loan facility from the Australian Government’s $4 billion Critical Minerals Facility to support the development of Renascor’s planned vertically integrated battery anode material manufacturing operation.
And DroneShield (ASX:DRO) was up on news that the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has approved the first Counter-small UAS (C-UAS) procurement framework agreement in NATO history, signed through COBBS BELUX BV, DroneShield’s in-country Belgium and Luxembourg partner for an initial three-year agreement with extension options. Plus, there’s a couple of wars on, apparently.
YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OSX | Osteopore Limited | 0.13 | -58% | 327,314 | $3,098,607 |
| DUB | Dubber Corp Ltd | 0.06 | -53% | 22,454,472 | $77,144,481 |
| CNJ | Conico Ltd | 0.00 | -33% | 151,667 | $2,707,643 |
| AXP | AXP Energy Ltd | 0.00 | -25% | 22,383 | $11,649,361 |
| CTN | Catalina Resources | 0.00 | -25% | 290,912 | $4,953,948 |
| JAV | Javelin Minerals Ltd | 0.00 | -25% | 10,500,002 | $4,352,462 |
| ROG | Red Sky Energy. | 0.00 | -25% | 27,623 | $21,688,909 |
| WSR | Westar Resources | 0.01 | -20% | 1,810,389 | $2,780,363 |
| 88E | 88 Energy Ltd | 0.00 | -20% | 23,450,833 | $125,620,313 |
| AOA | Ausmon Resorces | 0.00 | -20% | 124,625 | $2,647,498 |
| ASV | Assetvisonco | 0.01 | -19% | 23,875 | $11,613,385 |
| VKA | Viking Mines Ltd | 0.01 | -18% | 262,180 | $11,277,843 |
| E33 | East 33 Limited. | 0.01 | -18% | 1,732,183 | $9,130,508 |
| LYN | Lycaonresources | 0.24 | -17% | 1,260,519 | $12,776,313 |
| ASM | Ausstratmaterials | 1.20 | -17% | 1,017,165 | $240,180,454 |
| ADY | Admiralty Resources. | 0.01 | -17% | 26,200 | $9,776,844 |
| EPM | Eclipse Metals | 0.01 | -17% | 1,043,220 | $26,530,266 |
| YAR | Yari Minerals Ltd | 0.01 | -17% | 19,307 | $2,894,147 |
| WMG | Western Mines | 0.27 | -16% | 734,702 | $24,026,618 |
| FAL | Falconmetalsltd | 0.14 | -15% | 111,519 | $29,205,000 |
| VMS | Venture Minerals | 0.02 | -15% | 22,878,240 | $61,200,352 |
| ADG | Adelong Gold Limited | 0.00 | -14% | 49,582 | $3,081,711 |
| AEV | Avenira Limited | 0.01 | -14% | 682,329 | $16,443,238 |
TRADING HALTS
Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU) – pending an announcement to the market regarding debt financing of the company’s phase one graphite concentrate operation.
Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) – pending an announcement to the market in relation to the outcome of a capital raising.
Tolu Minerals (ASX:TOK) – pending an announcement to be made to the ASX in relation to an equity raising.
Clean TeQ Water (ASX:CNQ) – pending the release of information to the market relating to a capital raise.
E&P Financial Group (ASX:EP1) – pending the release of an announcement to ASX regarding the Federal Court of Australia settlement approval hearing.
