Top 10 at 11: ASX up again as Trump shows softening stance on China

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 top 10 data is taken at 10.15am, once trading kicks off in earnest.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.42% as of 10.50am AEST, tracking strong gains on Wall Street overnight as US President Donald Trump showed a softening stance on China tariffs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq index climbed 2.5%, the S&P 500 index was up 1.7% and the Dow Jones rose 1%.

US 10-year bond yields settled flat at ~4.39%

Among commodities, global benchmark Brent crude is trading higher at ~$US66 per barrel, while gold is up to trade at  $US3330.74 per ounce. Iron ore is trading at $US100.09 per tonne.

Cryptocurrency giant bitcoin remains above $US93,000, while the Aussie dollar is trading ~US64c.

Back on the local bourse, nine of the 11 sectors opened in the green with materials leading the gainers, up 1.06%, followed by tech (+0.6%). Energy was down 1.49%, followed by consumers staples (-0.69%).

 

WINNERS

WordPress Table

Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) is up 33% in morning trade after reporting four significant copper-gold anomalies have been identified, extending across a 20 km north-south corridor at its Ararenda Project, in northeast Brazil.

GMN said the anomalies were in partly derived from a known iron and copper mineralised zone underlain by a major IP anomaly that extends into GMN tenements.

Livium (ASX:LIT) is up 18% after announcing that its wholly-owned subsidiary Envirostream Australia had signed a new battery recycling agreement on a subcontractor basis with Sell & Parker Pty Ltd.

“This agreement with Sell & Parker has the potential to be Envirostream’s largest ever recycling contract on a revenue basis,”CEO and managing director Simon Linge said.

 

LOSERS

WordPress Table

 

Financial services company Generation Development Group (ASX:GDG) is down 13% in morning trade after releasing its March quarter update, which included FUM of $26.8 billion for Evidentia Group.

The company said it had  further strengthened its leadership in the investment bonds market, reaching $3.95bn in FUM, up 23% on PCP, and achieving record quarterly inflows of $239m, up 55%.

In his address to shareholders former Aussie swim star and GDG CEO Grant Hackett said the company delivered a strong performance in the March quarter, with all businesses contributing to growth despite continued market volatility.

“The group remains well-positioned with a robust financial profile, strong net inflows, and clear strategic momentum,” Hackett said.