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

On Stockhead today, five reasons why uranium is about to boom, Trent Primmer sees value in energy and CBA briefly loses out to Rio.
But first the day ahead.

On Saturday, our biggest trading partner China released its industrial profit numbers for July.

They were bad.

China industrial profits slide as zero-Covid and costs weigh on demand #china #China #economy https://t.co/KPmAstbLcG

— SCMP Economy (@scmpeconomy) August 27, 2022

Today, the ABS will release preliminary retail trade numbers for July.

Why is this important?

“The Reserve Bank Governor has indicated that he will watch the household sector closely when deciding on interest rate settings,” says CommSec.

TRADING HALTS

The following companies are in trading halts and are expected out in the next few days:

AD1 Holdings (ASX:AD1) – There’s an acquisition in the works… we’ll keep you posted

Eclipse Metals (ASX:EPM) – Capital raise

Splitit Payments (ASX: SPT) – Capital raise

Australian Pacific Coal (ASX: AQC) – The bidding war continues…

Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) – There’s a buyout offer on the table

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: $US1,737.28 (-1.20%)

Silver: $US18.874 (-2.11%)

Nickel (3mth): $US21,633/t (-0.20%)

Copper (3mth): $US8,160.50/t (+0.39%)

Lithium Carbonate, China (Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, Aug 17): $US71,200/t (+90.2% year-to-date)

Lithium Hydroxide, China (Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, Aug 17): $US71,775/t (+127.4% year-to-date)

Oil (WTI): $US92.957 (+0.47%)

Oil (Brent): $US100.743 (+1.41%)

Iron 62pc Fe: $US108.50 (+1.88%)

AUD/USD: 0.68916 (-1.14%)

Bitcoin: $US20,022 (-3.02%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING OVER THE WEEKEND?

Uranium was a big winner last week. HUGE.

Wow! What a week for #Canada/US #Uranium #mining #stocks with almost every major name UP double-digit % gains⏫ even after #JPOW threw equities into a deep Friday hole⤵️ ️ as not an hour passes⌛ without even more bullish #Nuclear headlines. ⚛️ ️ #EnergyCrisis #NetZero pic.twitter.com/HgRHLpSFFf

— John Quakes (@quakes99) August 27, 2022

And yet there’s a sense more generally THE SKY IS ABOUT TO FALL.

*U.S. SUMMER STOCK RALLY AT RISK AS SEPTEMBER LOOMS – https://t.co/aTULA52NKC

pic.twitter.com/fshHLQyUlA

— Investing.com (@Investingcom) August 28, 2022

Keep up to date with Stockhead coverage or you’ll miss gold like that EVERY DAY. Follow our Twitter page.

For all you crypto lovers Stockhead’s Coinhead Facebook group is the place to share your views, insights, tips and ideas.

Also, be sure to check in preopen each day for ‘Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch’, and 10.30am for our daily ‘10 at 10’ column — a live summary of winners & losers at the opening bell.

LAST WEEK’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for August 22 – August 26:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Shares in small coal stock Australian Pacific Coal (ASX:AQC) ran hot after news of a bid from Nathan Tinkler at a massive premium to the last closing price.

AQC has been struggling for some time to get the thermal Darbook Coal Mine in NSW approved in the face of local opposition.

Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG) jumped high and fast off the back of some super copper intersections at its Corvette Prospect in NSW.

Visible copper = circa 150% share price gain.

On Monday, Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) increased resources at the Paradox lithium brine project in southern Utah by 324% to 788,300t of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), paving the way for development.

On Thursday, the share price hit all-time highs after a non-binding deal was inked with global direct lithium extraction (DLE) leader Sunresin to develop a full-scale commercial lithium plant at Paradox.

LAST WEEK’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for August 22 – August 26:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort: