Top 10 at 11: ASX falls early, Jumbo looks skyward on second-highest profit on record

Morning, and welcome to Stockhead’s Top 10 (at 11… ish), highlighting the movers and shakers on the ASX in early-doors trading.

With the market opening at 10am sharp eastern time, the data is taken at 10.15am in the east, once trading kicks off in earnest.

In brief, this is what the market has been up to this morning.

Powell euphoria fizzles

The ASX opened down 0.1% on Tuesday, a soft thud after Wall Street’s weekend fizz wore off overnight.

Traders got carried away on Powell’s hint of rate cuts, then sobered up when they realised he never actually promised them.

Meanwhile, earnings season continues to dominate headlines on the ASX.

Coles Group (ASX:COL) stacked up $44.5b in full-year sales, with supermarket revenue climbing 4.3% to $40bn, ahead of forecasts.

Fortescue (ASX:FMG) ’s full-year profit sank 41% as iron ore slid, yet the Forrests still pocket $1.24bn in dividends… not exactly soup kitchen stuff.

Viva Energy (ASX:VEA) ’s first-half profit collapsed 67%, and its dividend halved.

Elsewhere, iron ore prices jumped after Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) was forced to halt its giant Simandou project in Guinea following a fatal accident.

Small cap winners

Fluence Corporation (ASX:FLC) has tapped its own CFO, Ben Fash, as the next CEO and MD, with Tom Pokorsky retiring after a 50-year career but staying on in an advisory role through the handover. Fash has been running the numbers since 2023 and will slide into the top job by December. At the same time, Fluence struck a deal with its revolving lenders to swap about US$1.8m in accrued interest for shares at 5.4¢ each, issuing just over 52m new shares if shareholders give it the nod at an October EGM.

Omega Oil (ASX:OMO) has confirmed the commercial potential of its Canyon Sandstone project, with modelling showing a single 2,000m horizontal well could deliver about 0.95MMBOE, or 5.72BCF gas equivalent, over ten years. The acreage could host up to 418 such wells, pointing to very large volumes of oil and gas. Canyon-2 testing also confirmed the reservoir is highly over-pressured, stacking up well against US shale plays like the Eagle Ford, said OMA.

Jumbo Interactive (ASX:JIN) posted its second-highest profit on record in FY25, even without the monster jackpots that supercharged last year’s $200m Powerball. Group revenue slipped 8.8% to $145.3m and NPATA fell 8.8% to $42.3m, but the dividend held at 54.5c a share. Lottery Retailing slipped as the lack of giant jackpots dulled player spending, though margins improved thanks to sharper marketing playbook, it said.

Small cap laggards

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.