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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 10 April, 2024 – an important date in the history of balanced diets, as it was on this day in 1633 that, for the first time ever, bananas went on sale to the public in London.

The fruit went in display in the window of a herbalist shop owned by Thomas Johnson, on Snow Hill in the neighbourhood of Holborn, and they caused quite a sensation.

Johnson’s bananas were in the window for two reasons – firstly, because “holy crap, that’s what a banana looks like!” and because they’d been carefully shipped all the way from Bermuda, in an unripened state, and needed time to ripen before people could eat them and not be completely grossed out.

It was a golden time for the residents of London, who – I suspect – had long been suffering from a lack of potassium in their diet, leading them to talk funny, refuse to bathe and generally be super-grumpy about everything.

The monkey population of London – admittedly, a tiny sub-sector of the community – no doubt welcomed the arrival of the unusual fruit, which meant they could finally indulge in their traditional cuisine, and stop relying on late night kebabs, cans of lager and the occasional explosively hot curry.

On an entirely unrelated note, though, I am delighted to inform you that the Stockhead team has been beavering away tirelessly, to bring you some excellent content to peruse before the market gets going today.

That includes Josh’s dig into the broader world of things that get taken out of the ground and sold for loads of money, and Cam’s, er, dig into the broader world of things that get taken out of the ground and sold for loads of money.

Plus, I’ve been busy looking at charts and numbers and Twitter and stuff that Eddy wrote and I’ve compiled a bunch of it here for you, because I like you and I’d really like you to succeed. Go on.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,344.67 (+0.25%)

Silver: US$27.81 (-0.14%)

Nickel (3mth): US$17,687.00/t (+1.29%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,2981.36/t (+0.79%)

Oil (WTI): US$86.58 (+0.01%)

Oil (Brent): US$90.58 (-0.04%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$105.55/t (+3.43%)

AUD/USD: 0.6608 (+0.06%)

Bitcoin: US$71,244.90 (-0.52%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Copper’s the metal on everyone’s lips at the moment, as this look into what it’s been doing lately clearly shows…

#Copper‘s rally has finally brought the red metal back into focus after a dull 2023. This chart shows the market is balancing on a knife edge. | #ASX #stocks #shares https://t.co/259mtJmxDj

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) April 8, 2024

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Solstice Minerals (ASX:SLS) was leading the Small Caps at lunch time, on news that it has entered into a binding Sale and Purchase Agreement with Northern Star, to sell 100% of the Hobbes Exploration Licence for total consideration of $12.5 million. Solstice held 80% of the licence, while the remaining 20% was held by “an unrelated private company” – Solstice’s words, not mine – which has also agreed to the sale.

Explorer Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) revealed that it is working toward a maiden drilling campaign at the Bangemall Ni-Cu-Co PGE project and has expanded its 480km2 Eastern Goldfields tenement portfolio. M2R was briefly up as much as 109% in very early trade, but that eased almost as quickly to be +55% by the closing bell.

Regeneus (ASX:RGS) was continuing its recent positive form after announcing a $3.48 million two-tranche placement, ahead of the company changing its name and ticker today to Cabrium Bio (ASX:CBM).

Patrys (ASX:PAB) jumped 12% after announcing that new data from preclinical studies using PAT-DX1 and PAT-DX3 (both called deoxymabs) in animal models were presented by Dr Kim O’Sullivan from Monash University during the plenary session at the 21st International Vasculitis Workshop in Barcelona. The presentation demonstrated positive preclinical data for deoxymabs in the autoimmune disease, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) vasculitis.

Next Science (ASX:NXS) announced the publication of a study which found BLASTX to be efficacious in the treatment of pressure ulcers, when used in conjunction with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). The study has been published in Diagnostics, an international peer-reviewed journal, by Dr Thomas E. Serena.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

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TRADING HALTS

Anteris Technologies (ASX:AVR) – pending an announcement in relation to a proposed capital raising.

Omni Bridgeway (ASX:OBL) – pending an application to the Supreme Court of Western Australia by the company seeking orders relating to the appointment of the company’s auditor.