Top 10 at 11: ASX tips above 9000 points as small caps rake in the cash

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.

Real estate fires higher on rate cut hopes

The ASX 200 dipped but then recovered, climbing 0.39% to tip up above 9000 points as of about 11:30 am AEDT.

Real estate is leading eight of 11 sectors higher, enjoying a 2% rise as traders anticipate another rate cut from the US Fed this month.

CME Group’s FedWatch interest rate probability tracker is predicting a 97.8% chance that the Fed will reduce the cash rate to 375-400 basis points at the next meeting.

Gold remains near recent all-time highs at US$4221.64 an ounce, while oil has continued to fall. Brent crude is now trading at US$61.91 a barrel.

We’re truly at Covid-era pricing at this point, with oil falling to levels not seen since early 2021.

Under normal circumstances, all that would be a recipe for some big potential market gains.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration is raining all over the parade.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ratcheted up the tension with China overnight, repeating Trump’s complaints that China’s critical mineral trade controls were “economic coercion” and a “power grab”.

“This is China versus the world,” he said, “We and our allies will neither be commanded nor controlled.

“We are not going to let a group of bureaucrats in Beijing try to manage the global supply chain.”

Bessent threatened “substantial actions” but said he hoped China would be open to discussion to de-escalate the situation.

Talk about mixed messages.

SMALL CAP WINNERS

In the news…

TrivarX (ASX:TRI) is moving to add the Stabl-Im IP and associated stable isotope cancer diagnostic IP from Nucleics Pty Ltd to its portfolio.

The technology is designed to provide safe imaging and monitoring of brain cancers through standard MRI using stable isotope labelling of replicating cells within the brain.

To fund the acquisition, TRI has secured commitments to raise $4.2 million in a share placement.

American West Metals (ASX:AW1) is also raising funds through a placement, targeting $7 million at an 18% premium to its 30-day VWAP.

The fresh capital will go to developing the West Desert project, home to a JORC resource containing indium, zinc, silver, copper and gold with potential for gallium and molybdenum to boot.

Cannindah Resources’ (ASX:CAE) trench sampling at the Mt Cannindah project’s Appletree and Dunno prospects hit copper grading up to 61m at 1.08% copper equivalent. It’s a promising start to exploration, with grades averaging about 0.52% copper, 0.08g/t gold and 141 parts per million molybdenum across 28 samples.

Pilot Energy (ASX:PGY) has inked an agreement to jointly develop a data centre at the Arrowsmith Production Facility alongside Kala Data.

The two companies intend to install a 1MW modular data centre unit by early 2026, expanding to 4MW by mid-2026, with potential to reach up to 30-35 MW across Arrowsmith or Pilot’s Three Springs Solar project.

Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) has achieved another research breakthrough for its solar panel recycling technology, reducing acid consumption in its silver recycling tests by 83%.

Importantly, LU7 and its partner Macquarie University were still able to recover 95% of silver at just 5 volts, drastically reducing chemical cost and waste while maintaining recovery outcomes.

SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

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