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

Bjorn Borg's comeback coach was a 79-year-old dilettante who admitted to knowing nothing of the game of tennis, but gabbed his way into a job. Sound like anyone you know? Pic: Getty Images

Good morning, and welcome to Rise and Shine.

Gold grappled on to the rope in its attempts to pull above US$3500/oz, sliding in Asian trade late yesterday.

Trump absurdity has sent investors scrambling for the safe haven metal after an acid laden Easter message targeting former President Joe Biden then, more consequentially, a Truth Social post targeting Fed Chair Jerome Powell, calling the reserve banker a “major loser” in a screed aimed at pressuring Powell to cut rates.

Markets are now worried he’ll try to fire Powell before his term ends in 2026 and stick a yes man in the chair.

Trump then posed next to First Lady Melania and a dude dressed as the Easter Bunny, maybe Pete Hegseth, who can’t access his Signal app inside the suit.

(The bunny, often a White House aide, was used for a dig at former President Biden, who was ushered away by his rabbit suited minder at the 2022 Easter Egg Roll).

Anyway, it was on this day, April 23 in 1991, that Swedish tennis great Bjorn Borg came out of retirement after eight years without playing a competitive game, or training, or hitting so much as table tennis ball.

He arrived with guru Tia Honsai as his coach, actually a 79-year-old Welshman named Ron Thatcher who had no tennis experience, but claimed to be a connoisseur of the martial arts.

Ground to a husk in a punishing 6-2 6-3 loss by 52nd ranked Spaniard Jordi Arrese – a middle of the road pro who never made it past the third round of a Grand Slam but nabbed a surprise silver medal at home in the Barcelona Olympics – Borg went on to lose 11 straight matches in his pro return.

But you won’t need to embarrass yourself in front of your former colleagues to get all the market info you need today, because we’ve pulled everything you need (and some things you don’t) together for you below.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$3468.99/oz (+4.64%)

Silver: US$32.53/oz (+0.4%)

Iron Ore: US$98.50/t (-0.87%)

Nickel (3mth): US$15,622/t (0.00%)

Copper (3mth): US$9188.50/t (0.00%)

Zinc: US$2577/t (0.00%)

Lithium carbonate (Fastmarkets CIF China, Japan, Korea): $9100/t (+0.00%)

Oil (WTI): US$64.05/bbl (+1.54%)

Oil (Brent): US$67.21/bbl (+1.43%)

AUD/USD: 0.6416 (+0.68%)

Bitcoin: US$88,507.14 (+1.11%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

It was a wild night on Monday in the US, as Donald Trump tanked markets with calls to dump US Fed chair Jerome Powell.

Top 10 at 11: #ASX stumbles 0.89pc; US markets fall as Trump pressures Fed for #ratecuts. @JindaleeL soars on receiving US Government stamp of approval.https://t.co/YMAOhbetHQ

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) April 22, 2025

Also in the news …

RareX (ASX:REE) piqued interest with plans to explore a Kenyan rare earths project, which could eventually be processed through Iluka Resources’ (ASX:ILU) Eneabba rare earths refinery in Australia.
Get the skinny on Hillgrove Resources’ (ASX:HGO) copper growth plans at its Kanmantoo mine in the Adelaide Hills, courtesy of Kristie Batten.
Exciting Cote d’Ivoire gold explorer Many Peaks Minerals (ASX:MPK) dropped by the Explorers studio to chat to Barry FitzGerald.
NHS reform in the UK poses challenges and opportunities for medical systems play Alcidion (ASX:ALC).
And gold hit another new record, closing in on US$3500/oz.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
TKL	Traka Resources	0.002	100%	37,100,000	$2,125,790
PSL	Paterson Resources	0.009	50%	614,850	$2,736,227
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.002	50%	5,574,997	$28,933,812
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.002	50%	2,199,985	$6,574,681
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.002	50%	1,150,000	$4,109,881
WNR	Wingara Ag Ltd	0.007	40%	570,000	$877,713
CUL	Cullen Resources	0.004	33%	3,126,154	$2,080,206
IS3	I Synergy Group Ltd	0.004	33%	86,979	$1,332,625
OLI	Oliver'S Real Food	0.004	33%	598,383	$1,622,196
RLG	Roolife Group Ltd	0.004	33%	508,242	$4,488,094
SRN	Surefire Rescs NL	0.004	33%	1,423,524	$7,248,923
SMM	Somerset Minerals	0.012	33%	1,310,323	$2,357,032
AUR	Auris Minerals Ltd	0.005	25%	199,210	$1,906,504
YAR	Yari Minerals Ltd	0.005	25%	416,946	$1,929,431
ASE	Astute Metals NL	0.026	24%	958,961	$12,980,945
PFT	Pure Foods Tas Ltd	0.021	24%	79,147	$2,302,236
OM1	Omnia Metals Group	0.011	22%	1,190,909	$1,953,825
WTM	Waratah Minerals Ltd	0.200	21%	1,128,923	$33,503,937
BGE	Bridgesaaslimited	0.018	20%	70,305	$2,997,888
CUF	Cufe Ltd	0.006	20%	3,088,625	$6,732,874
EM2	Eagle Mountain	0.006	20%	826,905	$5,675,186
SHP	South Harz Potash	0.006	20%	500,000	$5,412,894
TMS	Tennant Minerals Ltd	0.006	20%	2,618,272	$4,779,452
WBE	Whitebark Energy	0.006	20%	196,248	$1,999,534
CEL	Challenger Gold Ltd	0.085	20%	17,430,612	$119,829,517

Traka Resources (ASX:TKL) has just made a move into Guinea’s gold-rich Siguiri Basin, teaming up with local outfit Alamako to take on the Didi Gold Project. It’s locked in a deal to earn 75% of the project, which sits right between two of AngloGold Ashanti’s big gold mines. Early drilling and trenching work by Alamako has already turned up some juicy gold hits, with grades up to 17 grams a tonne and wide intercepts too.

Astute Metals (ASX:ASE) is having a crack at turning its Red Mountain Lithium Project in Nevada into something serious, and the early signs are looking good. Testwork on some low-grade drill samples showed it can strip out a chunk of the waste rock and bump up the lithium grade by 22%. It’s only early days with one test so far, but it’s a solid proof-of-concept. The lab reckons results should get even better once Astute runs the numbers on richer clay samples.

Somerset Minerals (ASX:SMM) has locked in $2.4 million from investors to kick off its first drill campaign at the Coppermine Project in Canada. It’s planning to sink around 1500 metres of drilling into the Coronation target from early July, chasing high-grade copper and silver hits, including past rock chip samples with up to 45% copper. Permits are nearly sorted, with final ticks expected in a week or two, and the project itself still needs shareholder approval next week to go ahead.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
SRL	Sunrise	0.400	-44%	895,040	$64,061,524
TEG	Triangle Energy Ltd	0.003	-40%	48,258,537	$10,446,170
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.001	-33%	2,000,000	$3,047,585
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.001	-33%	17,412,733	$4,880,668
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.002	-33%	37,508	$6,172,342
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.002	-25%	1,202,302	$4,574,558
FFF	Forbidden Foods	0.006	-25%	9,219,224	$5,696,816
GTR	Gti Energy Ltd	0.003	-25%	6,431,216	$11,995,799
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.004	-20%	1,340,689	$15,867,318
C7A	Clara Resources	0.004	-20%	91,999	$2,558,021
CCO	The Calmer Co Int	0.004	-20%	22,000	$12,769,356
NAE	New Age Exploration	0.004	-20%	9,753,859	$13,296,995
VMM	Viridismining	0.285	-20%	1,276,076	$30,264,823
MEI	Meteoric Resources	0.105	-19%	18,569,969	$303,792,162
EPX	Ept Global Limited	0.029	-17%	10,000	$23,055,762
ANR	Anatara Ls Ltd	0.005	-17%	7,232,914	$1,280,302
ANX	Anax Metals Ltd	0.005	-17%	100,000	$5,296,845
PER	Percheron	0.010	-17%	4,542,293	$13,049,252
RDN	Raiden Resources Ltd	0.005	-17%	177,607	$20,705,349
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.005	-17%	2,680,218	$32,533,363
KNG	Kingsland Minerals	0.105	-16%	57,478	$9,070,114
VHM	Vhmlimited	0.320	-16%	423,151	$82,516,982
SNS	Sensen Networks Ltd	0.032	-16%	468,365	$30,135,424
SKY	SKY Metals Ltd	0.043	-16%	86,343	$36,245,861
BRX	Belararoxlimited	0.115	-15%	143,445	$21,130,518