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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 31 January, 2024 – a patchy day in world history that has a couple of quick highlights worth mentioning.

On this day in 1531, King Ferdinand of Austria and King John Zapolya of Hungary officially recognise each other – despite neither of them looking anything like their Tinder profile pics.

In 1675, a woman called – for reals – Cornelia Olfaarts was found not guilty of witchcraft, but did cop a fine for being mean to her husband and teasing him about his surname.

In 1696, the Catholic League disbanded, replaced by the Rugby League, to the detriment of the world as we know it.

In 1747, the first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital, London after Galloping Knob-Rot swept through the city at an alarming rate.

In 1849, corn laws were abolished in Britain, leading to a frenzy of corn-based activity and the eventual invention of popcorn.

And in 1871, millions of birds flew over western San Francisco, darkening the sky and covering the entire city in a thick coating of guano, which is yet to be removed.

(It’s also my mum’s birthday, so… Happy Birthday, ma!)

But you didn’t come here to learn all that – you came to visit us because we have more modern things to tell you about… Such as Josh’s dive into what’s happening in the coal and iron ore markets, and Rob Badman was mysteriously MIA yesterday, so there’s probably some kind of ground-shaking yarn on the way from him as well.

Oh look – it’s all about Australia’s geothermal ambitions.

Plus, there’s a bunch of words and numbers down below to help you get an idea of the shape of the market before the action kicks off later today.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,036.81 (+0.25%)

Silver: US$23.15(-0.09%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,439/t (-2.06%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,558/t (+0.15%)

Oil (WTI): US$77.78 (+1.31%)

Oil (Brent): US$82.47 (+0.78%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$135.61/t (0.04%)

AUD/USD: 0.6604 (-0.12%)

Bitcoin: US$43,527 (+0.86%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

The steeliest gaze on the ASX is back… Stockhead’s legendary Garampeiro columnist Barry Fitzgerald sits down with his guest Peter Ledwidge from Mako Gold, to find out what’s making the explorer tick right now.

Stockhead’s ‘Garimpeiro’ columnist Barry FitzGerald is back in the studio for another instalment of The Explorers Podcast. In this episode Barry chats to Peter Ledwidge, founder and managing director of Mako Gold (ASX:MKG). https://t.co/1gqbDHAqup #ASX @MakoGoldLtd

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) January 29, 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	Company	Price	%	Volume	MARKET CAP
EMU	EMU NL	0.0015	50%	5,504,907	$2,024,771
ATH	Alterity Therapeutics	0.0055	38%	40,597,501	$15,245,305
IS3	I Synergy Group Ltd	0.008	33%	439,670	$1,824,482
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.004	33%	1,108,947	$5,253,323
VAL	Valor Resources Ltd	0.004	33%	1,446,072	$12,520,004
DCL	Domacom Limited	0.013	30%	23,000	$4,355,018
AXN	Alliance Nickel Ltd	0.039	30%	464,071	$21,775,188
MP1	Megaport Limited	12.4	27%	3,188,212	$1,556,240,642
CC9	Chariot Corporation	0.48	26%	220,736	$30,926,816
CCX	City Chic Collective	0.545	25%	3,905,023	$100,885,237
IEC	Intra Energy Corp	0.0025	25%	1,000,000	$3,321,563
NAE	New Age Exploration	0.005	25%	250,000	$7,175,596
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.005	25%	259,400	$2,478,163
DXB	Dimerix Ltd	0.215	23%	3,859,785	$75,835,466
NIC	Nickel Industries	0.7275	21%	26,917,187	$2,571,485,928
ARV	Artemis Resources	0.018	20%	3,117,783	$25,367,942
AD1	AD1 Holdings Limited	0.006	20%	972,612	$4,493,242
BPP	Babylon Pump & Power	0.006	20%	1,198,065	$12,497,745
CHK	Cohiba Minerals	0.003	20%	16,601,335	$6,325,575
CRB	Carbine Resources	0.006	20%	289,101	$2,758,689
ECT	Environmental Clean Tech	0.006	20%	76,734	$14,321,552
KNM	Kneomedia Limited	0.003	20%	840,000	$3,833,178
OMX	Orange Minerals	0.024	20%	121,574	$1,715,003
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.006	20%	400,000	$65,333,512
RHY	Rhythm Biosciences	0.13	18%	444,923	$24,325,685

Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Up top for the Small Caps on Tuesday morning was City Chic Collective (ASX:CCX), with a 23% gain on news that the company has weathered a difficult six months that saw cost-cutting, inventory clearing and a headcount reduction result in a dip in revenue to ~$53.8 million for its Australia/New Zealand sector, down 32% on PCP.

Similarly, revenue fell to ~$52.0 million – down 26% in PCP – for its Americas division, but despite how that looks, it’s actually good news for the company.

The result is in line with the strategic decisions the company has made in an effort to get the business back on track, with inventory expected to be approximately $39.5 million at the end of H1 FY24, down 27% from July when the company was massively overstocked and struggling.

Similarly, a happy news story from LiveHire (ASX:LVH) helped it to a prize-winning gain in early trade, with the company reporting Q2 positive Net Operating Cashflow of $0.8m, and clearly very grateful for the $1.4 million R&D refund that pushed it into positive territory.

Delivery platform Zoom2u Technologies (ASX:Z2U) also delivered a quarterly, showing that group revenue for Q2 FY24 is at $1.6 million, 37% higher on PCP, which was good enough news to get investors in behind a climb of around 18% through the morning.

Late in the day, there were a couple of bolters – namely nickel chaser Alliance Nickel (ASX:AXN), and US-based lithium hunters Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9), both of which managed to snag ~30% worth of gains despite a notable lack of news.

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	Company	Price	%	Volume	MARKET CAP
MKL	Mighty Kingdom Ltd	0.007	-42%	13,697,438	$5,711,085
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.002	-33%	13,250,000	$3,176,998
CT1	Constellation Tech	0.002	-33%	209,141	$4,424,201
RR1	Reach Resources Ltd	0.002	-33%	5,970,701	$9,630,891
WEC	White Energy Company	0.034	-32%	10,164	$5,661,767
AMT	Allegra Medical	0.031	-30%	167,741	$5,262,885
HMD	Heramed Limited	0.017	-29%	1,034,324	$7,710,341
AUG	Augustus Minerals	0.058	-28%	598,139	$6,729,600
KOR	Korab Resources	0.011	-27%	1,694,520	$5,505,750
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.009	-25%	5,443,226	$41,852,819
ME1DA	Melodiol Global Health	0.017	-23%	1,258,258	$5,201,706
RMI	Resource Mining Corp	0.024	-23%	127,006	$17,432,782
BNL	Blue Star Helium Ltd	0.018	-22%	34,473,004	$44,672,101
PVW	PVW Res Ltd	0.045	-21%	107,046	$5,780,072
1MC	Morella Corporation	0.004	-20%	603,387	$30,893,997
ASV	Asset Vision Co	0.008	-20%	145,000	$7,258,366
M4M	Macro Metals Limited	0.002	-20%	812,500	$6,167,694
NES	Nelson Resources	0.004	-20%	2,250,000	$3,067,972
PUA	Peak Minerals Ltd	0.002	-20%	900,000	$2,603,442
YOJ	Yojee Limited	0.002	-20%	1,004,143	$6,363,858
LEL	Lithenergy	0.345	-20%	508,139	$44,294,300
EMS	Eastern Metals	0.029	-19%	5,625	$2,967,345
AW1	American West Metals	0.15	-19%	6,028,436	$80,819,036
29M	29 Metals	0.42	-17%	7,918,782	$354,164,242
KNB	Koonenberry Gold	0.05	-17%	76,347	$7,184,945

TRADING HALTS

Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) – pending the announcement of maiden exploration results from the Monte Alto Phase 1 diamond drilling program.

Propel Funeral Partners (ASX:PFP) – pending an announcement regarding an institutional placement and a follow-on share purchase plan.

NSX (ASX:NSX) – pending the release of an announcement to the market in relation to a capital raising involving a placement and entitlement offer.

Pan Asia Metals (ASX:PAM) – pending the release of an announcement in relation to a proposed equity raise by way of a placement.