Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 07 August, 2024 – an important date in the history of global politics.

In 1620, a family brawl got completely out of hand, resulting in a battle at Ponts-the-Ce, Poitou during which French King Louis XIII defeated his own mother, Marie de Medici, earning the right to stay up past 9pm and watch whatever he wanted on telly.

In 1914, there was an engagement between British cruiser HMS Gloucester and German cruisers SMS Breslau and SMS Goeben off Greece. They went on to have several speedboats and jetskis before divorcing in 1928.

In 1940, Winston Churchill reportedly recognised De Gaulle’s French government in exile, despite the French wearing some cunning disguises like fake moustaches and tall, pointy hats.

And on this day in 1961, Nikita Kruschev predicted that the economy of the USSR would surpass that of the United States, cementing his place in history as the precise opposite of Nostradamus.

Luckily for you, you won’t have to make a bunch of wildly inaccurate predictions in order to get your hands on good pre-market info today.

That’s because – as always – we’ve worked super-hard to gather together lots of fiddly little things below, so you don’t need to go ferreting all over the internet for your ASX info this morning.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2408.20 (+0.14%)

Silver: US$27.21 (-0.15%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,204/t (-0.43%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,620/t (-1.51%)

Zinc: US$2,620/t (-0.87%)

Oil (WTI): US$74.16 (+1.65%)

Oil (Brent): US$77.38 (+1.42%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$104.18/t (+0.17%)

AUD/USD: 0.6506 (-0.15%)

Bitcoin: US$$55,582.10 (+2.58%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

What did former Labor Party heavyweight Kim Beazley have to say about the future of Austrlia’s rare earths resources? You’ll need to read this cracking yarn from Josh Chiat, who is somehow surviving the rigours of the Diggers and Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie this week.

Former pollie thinks taxpayers should subsidise Australian #RareEarths mines, calling them a #defence asset. | #REEs #mining @diggersndealers #ASX https://t.co/QLO3Shi2Hz

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) August 5, 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
MHI	Merchant House	0.070	75%	280,806	$3,770,660
ME1	Melodiol Glb Health	0.002	50%	1,154,444	$789,420
ATX	Amplia Therapeutics	0.130	44%	2,465,216	$24,679,079
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.002	33%	240,000	$6,415,269
ADG	Adelong Gold Limited	0.004	33%	142,855	$3,353,967
FGH	Foresta Group	0.008	33%	936,543	$14,132,274
KPO	Kalina Power Limited	0.004	33%	1,000,000	$7,459,182
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.004	33%	1,367,654	$2,381,443
MSG	Mcs Services Limited	0.004	33%	275,000	$594,299
OAR	OAR Resources Ltd	0.002	33%	3,689,068	$4,833,150
ZLD	Zelira Therapeutics	0.760	26%	5,040	$6,865,029
TGH	Terragen	0.025	25%	1,940,745	$7,381,623
HCL	Highcom Ltd	0.175	25%	2,994,126	$14,375,574
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.003	25%	1,846,852	$2,019,930
RIL	Redivium Limited	0.003	25%	474,000	$5,461,710
RWD	Reward Minerals Ltd	0.044	22%	100,012	$8,202,713
HLX	Helix Resources	0.003	20%	37,946,698	$8,160,484
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.003	20%	1,429,174	$12,091,498
CHM	Chimeric Therapeutic	0.018	20%	1,651,070	$13,301,550
MKL	Mighty Kingdom Ltd	0.004	14%	6,375,000	$11,255,801
OVT	Ovanti Limited	0.004	14%	1,618,706	$4,340,369
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.004	14%	131,963	$45,733,458
GGE	Grand Gulf Energy	0.005	11%	853,551	$9,428,612

Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Javelin Minerals (ASX:JAV) was climbing on news that it has appointed highly experienced mining engineer and operations manager Andrew Rich to its board as non-executive director. Rich has been brought on as the company looks to update the resource and kick off a new exploration campaign at its Coogee gold mine in WA, which currently holds a 1.4Mt at 1.07 g/t indicated and inferred resource for a contained 49,000oz of gold.

Merchant House (ASX:MHI) was also up Tuesday morning after delivering a note to investors which is actually a bit of a bummer. The company has decided to jettison its American Merchant Inc textile factory in the US, because it’s currently losing around $3.7 million every year. Once the land and assets have been sold, Merchant House says it will explore options to delist from the ASX altogether.

Amplia Therapeutics (ASX: ATX) was up on some positive news, announcing that another patient in its Phase 2a ACCENT trial for advanced pancreatic cancer has shown a confirmed partial response. This brings the total number of responders in the first patient group to four. The ACCENT trial is investigating the effectiveness of narmafotinib, used in combination with standard chemotherapy, for treating advanced pancreatic cancer.

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) was up on news that it is set to acquire the world-class Araxá niobium-REE-phosphate project in Brazil. Historical drilling at Araxá has already defined extensive high-grade niobium, REE and phosphate mineralisation with more than 500 intercepts of high-grade niobium, >1% Nb2O5, along with ultra-high grades up to 8% Nb2O5, 33% TREO and 32% P2O5; and mineralisation commencing from surface and open in all directions.

Grand Gulf Energy (ASX:GGE) was up on news that it has secured all necessary permits and paperwork from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining for its Jesse-3 well, which the company says will test deeper pay below the Leadville primary target by casing and perforating the entire basinal stratigraphic section.

HighCom (ASX:HCL) was climbing on Tuesday, off the back of a double dose of good news for the company. Tuesday saw the announcement of a $2.5 million order for the company’s ballistic armour from an undisclosed military customer, which followed a similar announcement yesterday of an $8.9 million order from a similarly undisclosed buyer.

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
BCB	Bowen Coal Limited	0.015	-38%	59,699,253	$68,380,299
AD8	Audinate Group Ltd	8.500	-36%	4,361,654	$1,107,009,696
HCD	Hydrocarbon Dynamic	0.002	-33%	54,700	$2,425,747
DOU	Douugh Limited	0.003	-25%	12,296	$4,328,276
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.003	-25%	5,887,679	$4,373,269
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.002	-25%	500,650	$3,323,987
MTL	Mantle Minerals Ltd	0.002	-25%	100,000	$12,394,892
NRZ	Neurizer Ltd	0.003	-25%	905,960	$7,609,723
GAS	State GAS Limited	0.059	-25%	452,740	$21,756,057
GLN	Galan Lithium Ltd	0.120	-20%	6,077,558	$74,054,099
LM8	Lunnonmetalslimited	0.160	-20%	40,326	$44,042,922
BCT	Bluechiip Limited	0.004	-20%	700,000	$5,910,198
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.004	-20%	100,000	$2,516,434
CAV	Carnavale Resources	0.004	-20%	4,200,000	$17,117,759
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	0.008	-20%	13,742,691	$48,697,626
AS1	Asara Resources Ltd	0.009	-18%	89,822	$9,703,929
HE8	Helios Energy Ltd	0.009	-18%	1,581,044	$28,644,544
AGD	Austral Gold	0.015	-17%	44,021	$11,021,604
AQI	Alicanto Min Ltd	0.015	-17%	381,354	$12,575,663
MOV	Move Logistics Group	0.200	-17%	22,000	$27,932,431
REM	Remsensetechnologies	0.025	-17%	6,257	$4,945,791
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.003	-17%	173,952	$9,507,891
BCA	Black Canyon Limited	0.065	-17%	34,507	$6,306,915
BXN	Bioxyne Ltd	0.005	-17%	28,519	$12,279,872