Top 10 at 11: ASX slides deeper into the red, but gold still shines bright

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.

Broad market selldown

The market is moving broadly lower this morning, shedding 0.26% with nine of 11 sectors in the red.

There’s not a lot of resistance to speak of at present.

The top banks have recovered somewhat from yesterday (+0.28%), and gold rose 0.8% again overnight to US$3545.80 an ounce, a fresh all-time high.

Gold futures are moving higher again this morning, stretching into new territory above US$3555 an ounce.

Oil also rose 1%, climbing to US$68.33 a barrel of Brent as airstrikes on Russian crude facilities threaten supply disruptions and a weaker US dollar pushes commodities higher.

For all that, iron ore fell 1.8% to US$101.65 a tonne in Singapore trade.

While there’s still plenty of potential for a turnaround, it’s looking like a pretty bearish market this morning.

Let’s take a look at the stocks offering a bit of sparkle amongst the gloom.

SMALL CAP WINNERS

In the news…

Middle Island Resources (ASX:MDI) has snapped up a 620km2 exploration portfolio prospective for gold, silver and copper after acquiring Konstantin Resources.

Konstantin had accumulated a broad selection of exploration assets in Serbia and the Balkan region, building out a pipeline of gold and base metal targets across Serbia’s prolific Tethyan Metallogenic Belt.

MDI will also be partnering with Cygnet Capital to raise $3.4m in a share placement, with funds to support the next stage of exploration across its new assets.

Future Battery Minerals (ASX:FBM) has hit broad gold in the first 10 holes drilled at the Miriam project in WA’s goldfields, unearthing results up to 33m at 1.57 g/t gold from 35 and 29m at 1.45 g/t gold from 32m downhole.

Management says the gold hits highlight multiple areas were lodes offer strong extensional potential, and FBM is keen to follow up with more drilling.

VRX Silica (ASX:VRX) has gotten the environmental green light for its Arrowsmith North silica sand project, clearing the runway to offtake agreements, financing and project development work streams.

VRX is targeting first production for the second half of 2026, with plans to build Arrowsmith north into a long-life silica sand project for foundry, container glass and flat-glass markets in Asia.

SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

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