Top 10 at 11: ASX wobbles as profit taking threatens; VR training stock welcomes government backing

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.

Bulls and bears standoff

After hitting a new all-time high and closing high yesterday, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a sweep of profit taking slide the ASX lower today.

That hasn’t happened just yet – the bourse is down just 4 points or 0.04% in the first hour of trade, zigzagging in a narrow band just below neutral as the bears and bulls play tug of war.

Industrials, financials, telecom and healthcare are all moving lower, while real estate pulls far out in front (+0.67%) and the gold index continues its climb (+1.35%).

Oil fell 1% to an eight-week low at US$U66.89 a barrel of Brent before staging a small recovery to US$67.12 a barrel today after US President Trump slapped India with a 50% tariff (up from 25%) for continuing to purchase Russian oil.

That’s done little for the energy sector this morning, which is pretty much dead flat as of about 10:30 am AEST.

SMALL CAP WINNERS

In the news…

Augmented reality training provider XReality Group (ASX:XRG) has locked in two new government contracts for its Operator XR AI training solution with a total value of $7.81m.

The first contract comes in the form of a merit-based grant with the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Program, offering $2.1m over 24 months, to be used for accelerating XRG’s virtual reality training offering.

The second is the largest order for Operator XR’s OP-2 systems to date, inked with the Texas Department of Public Safety for a five-year period. The initial order is valued at $4.3m, with a $1.4m option for additional support services down the track.

Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) has further expanded Australia’s largest undeveloped antimony deposit with a new round of drilling, striking up to 8m at 1.05% antimony from 137m of depth with mineralisation in all seven holes.

The drilling program both confirmed the presence of previously identified mineralisation and highlighted the presence of a new sub-cropping structure with potential to increase the scale of the antimony system.

Building efficiency provider EPX (ASX:EPX) has lifted its annual recurring revenue by 14% in the 2025 financial year, now $15.5m. The company also expanded its annual contract value (an indication of potential future revenue) by 10% to $17.6m.

The growth was based on a 35% expansion in site numbers, lifting from 547 in June 2024 to 740 sites this year following a strategic restructure of EPX’s sales sector.

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