Top 10 at 11: ASX scales new high as BHP flexes mining muscle

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.

ASX follows Wall Street higher

Australia’s stock market has hit a record high for a second consecutive day in morning trade, taking cues from a strong overnight performance on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 gained 0.54% to close at a fresh record — its ninth all-time high this year — while the Nasdaq climbed 0.74% and the Dow Jones rose 0.52%.

Investors were buoyed by stronger-than-expected US retail sales, which surged 0.6% in June, well above forecasts for a modest 0.1% increase.

In a further sign of resilience in the US economy, jobless claims fell for a fifth straight week to 221,000 — the lowest level in three months.

Among standout performers overnight, chipmaker Nvidia rose 1%, lifting its market valuation to a staggering US$4.25 trillion.

Streaming giant Netflix rallied 2% after smashing earnings expectations, reporting US$11.1 billion in revenue and earnings of US$7.19 per share.

Shares in BHP (ASX:BHP) rose nearly 2% in early trade after the mining heavyweight reported record copper and iron ore production for FY25, landing at the upper end of its annual guidance.

Looking ahead, The Big Australian expects more subdued production in FY26 as it navigates key decisions on its multibillion-dollar Jansen potash project, which is facing cost overruns and delays, and its suspended WA nickel operations.

Bitcoin is trading just below US$119,600, retreating after hitting an all-time high above US$123,000 earlier this week.

The Aussie dollar is hovering around US64.87c, as softer-than-expected jobs data on Thursday fuelled speculation The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)  could cut interest rates in August.

WINNERS

Askari Metals (ASX:AS2) rose 75% in morning trade after reporting high-grade copper in historic drilling results from its newly acquired Nejo Gold Project in Ethiopia. Significant intercepts at the Katta Target include 14.33m at 3.2% copper from 25.3m depth, and 35.51m at 0.82% copper from 152.55m — the latter drilled around 100m down dip.

Historic exploration at the Katta 2 Target also identified six copper-bearing gossans, with one mapped over 600m in strike length and up to 30m wide, remaining open along strike and depth. Soil geochemistry highlights a copper anomaly extending more than 2km. Gold was not assayed during this phase of exploration

Supplier of well-known essential health, beauty, and wellness products McPhersons (ASX:MCP) is up 25% in morning trade after providing a full-year FY25 trading update and progress on transformation of the business.

MCP said FY25 revenue from continuing operations was expected to be in the order of $139 million with estimated underlying EBITDA of ~$7 to $7.5m and four out of five core brands achieving year-on-year revenue growth in challenging trading conditions.

The company said FY25 financial year results reflect a year of transitioning from its direct-to-store operating model to a new third-party warehousing and pharmacy wholesaler model, which is now in operation.

LOSERS

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

Disclosure: The journalist held shares in BHP at the time of writing this article.