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

On Stockhead today, why you can invest in gold AND Bitcoin, the key to picking an exploration winner, and UBS on whether oil can stay on the boil.

But first…

The day ahead

The All Ordinaries index is finally back above its February 2020 high of 7,230 points, which was the ASX market’s peak before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The broad Australian stocks index finished Thursday at 7,317 points, up 0.5 per cent from Wednesday’s close.

Australia’s 500 largest companies are represented in the index which has clawed back all of its losses over the past year.

Market watchers will be waiting to see if this upturn is a sustained trend, or whether there is more work to do on Australia’s economic recovery.

Australian government 10-year bonds were yielding 1.71 per cent Thursday, up slightly from a week ago.

TRADING HALTS

The following companies are in trading halts and are expected to exit over the next two trading days:

Friday

Stemcell United (ASX:SCU) – capital raising
Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC) – capital raising
Viking Mines (ASX:VKA) – capital raising
Empire Energy (ASX:EEG) – capital raising
Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) – capital raising

Monday

Field Solutions Holdings (ASX:FSG) – new project
Province Resources (ASX:PRL) – agreement
Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) – exploration results
Strike Energy (ASX:STX) – capital raising
Vimy Resources (ASX:VMY) – capital raising
Carpentaria Resources (ASX:CAP) – capital raising
LawFinance (ASX:LAW) – capital raising
Tilt Renewables (ASX:TLT) – acquisition
Elementos (ASX:ELT) – capital raising
Magnis (ASX:MNS) – funding deal

MARKETS

Gold: $US1,763.90 ($2,275.43) (+1.61%)

Silver: $US24.88 ($32.10) (+1.70%)

Oil (WTI): $US63.34 (+0.32%)

Oil (Brent): $US66.78 (+0.30%)

Coal: $US90.25 (+0.31%)

Iron 62pc Fe: $US173.01 (+0.93%)

AUD/USD: $US0.7752 (+0.40%)

Bitcoin: $US63,409.46 (+1.25%)

What got you talking Thursday

Stockhead readers enjoyed Nick Sundich’s post about how investors can tap into the lucrative IPO shares market that has seen some stellar gains in recent months.

Another story that whetted readers’ appetites for stock news was Reuben Adams’ post on gold companies and ones that are paying good dividends and making solid returns.

To keep up to date with Stockhead coverage, follow our Twitter page or sign up to our members-only Facebook group here.

Also, be sure to check in at 10.20am each day for our daily 10 at 10 column — a live summary of winners & losers at the opening bell.

Thursday’s winners

Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
CLZ	Classic Min Ltd	0.002	100	22,586,969
92E	92Energy	0.285	43	14,941,510
FGO	Fargo Enterprises	0.007	40	5,226,290
FPL	Fremont Petroleum	0.007	40	80,452,819
ACW	Actinogen Medical	0.056	30	39,476,488
ICN	Icon Energy Limited	0.018	29	364,465
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.019	27	112,059,155
CYQ	Cycliq Group Ltd	0.0025	25	42,782,502
VIC	Victory Mines Ltd	0.0025	25	6,461,226
CD3	Cd Private Equityiii	1.25	24	165,428
IVZ	Invictus Energy Ltd	0.185	23	11,944,302
MR1	Montem Resources	0.135	23	392,327
JCS	Jcurve Solutions	0.06	20	109,366
OAU	Ora Gold Limited	0.024	20	872,818
XRF	XRF Scientific	0.345	19	1,216,496
RTE	Retech Tech Co	0.285	19	4,000
EQE	Equus Mining Ltd	0.013	18	33,298,487
ENA	Ensurance Ltd	0.034	17	1,268,106
QFY	Quantify Tech Ltd	0.021	17	1,069,771
AZI	Alta Zinc Ltd	0.007	17	8,416,553
MSR	Manas Res Ltd	0.007	17	945,878
VMG	VDM Group Limited	0.0035	17	4,141,599

Thursday’s losers

Stocks highlighted in yellow made market moving announcements

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
OXX	Octanex Ltd	0.043	-40	1,443,543
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.006	-25	100,322,348
T3D	333D Limited	0.003	-25	4,745,381
LCY	Legacy Iron Ore	0.02	-23	58,664,806
XTC	Xantippe Res Ltd	0.002	-20	4,733,341
ICL	Iceni Gold	0.24	-17	3,645,367
LIO	Lion Energy Limited	0.038	-16	7,458,403
WHC	Whitehaven Coal	1.56	-15	41,470,427
OSP	Osprey Med Inc	0.018	-14	27,908,498
SBR	Sabre Resources	0.006	-14	1,966,885
AXI	Axiom Properties	0.062	-14	26,167
DTI	DTI Group Ltd	0.02	-13	590,497
AEV	Avenira Limited	0.007	-13	631,481
TYX	Tyranna Res Ltd	0.007	-13	40,000
RRL	Regis Resources	2.69	-12	19,604,823
ACS	Accent Resources NL	0.04	-11	19,658
KEY	KEY Petroleum	0.004	-11	1,600,000
NCR	Nucoal Resources Ltd	0.008	-11	541,800
PTR	Petratherm Ltd	0.098	-11	93,000
ARD	Argent Minerals	0.044	10	8,213,989
CL8	Carly Holdings Ltd	0.09	-10	106,200
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.135	-10	13,010