Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning, and welcome to Rise and Shine.

Ever dependable, we’re back for a second day in a row, a remarkable show of stamina timed to perfection before the ASX shuts up shop for TWO WHOLE TRADING DAYS to acknowledge the death of a man 2000 years ago who may be the Messiah or just a very naughty boy.

Indeed it was on this day … lol no, we’re not getting coaxed into that one, enjoy your Easter eggs.

Rather it was on April 17 back in 1982 when Queen Elizabeth proclaimed the Canada Act, declaring the country free from colonial rule, thereby exposing the maple leaf nation to its eventual conquer as the USA’s 51st State.

The whole thing was challenged by the rowdy Francophone crew in Quebec, who were knocked back by their own courts in their attempts to thwart the new constitution, which divided power between Ottawa and the provinces.

The fight went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, a case described in a 9-0 whitewash judgement from the full bench as ‘c’est la merde’.

It did inspire one plucky Quebecois teenager of some repute. A young Céline Marie Claudette Dion found herself in the throng of the constitutional debate. Fifteen years later the classic protest tune My Heart Will Go On would be born and go on to poison the experience of karaoke for an entire generation.

But you don’t have to sit through the drunken wails of a Tokyo salary man to get your hands on the market info you need, because we’ve got it all laid out below.

Overnight gold passed US$3300/oz as the WTO warned Donald Trump’s tariff policies could result in a 0.2% drop in trade. Back home Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) got De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) shareholder approval for its $5bn takeover of the Hemi gold mine owner, and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) copped a massive hit to first quarter iron ore shipments from Pilbara cyclones. And now to the markets.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$3312.12/oz (+2.79%)

Silver: US$32.87/oz (+1.74%)

Iron Ore: US$98.50/t (-0.21%)

Nickel (3mth): US$15,558/t (+1.64%)

Copper (3mth): US$9164/t (-0.25%)

Zinc: US$2,615/t (-0.8%)

Lithium carbonate (Fastmarkets CIF China, Japan, Korea): $9100/t (+0.00%)

Oil (WTI): US$61.98/bbl (+1.24%)

Oil (Brent): US$65.52/bbl (+1.31%)

AUD/USD: 0.6367 (+0.4%)

Bitcoin: US$83,779.44 (+0.11%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Natural hydrogen company HyTerra is poised to explore the true hydrogen potential of the Nemaha hydrogen and helium project in Kansas, US, with two new wells set to be drilled on the project.

HyTerra is gearing up to drill two wells at Nemaha hydrogen and helium project in Kansas, USA, the first steps in a comprehensive 12-month program seeking to unlock the natural (white) hydrogen potential. #ASX $HYT @HyteraHYT https://t.co/aFK2RbAUup

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) April 16, 2025

Also in the news…

• A home-grown leader in sleep and neural analysis, Compumedics (ASX:CMP) is tackling the burgeoning US home sleep testing market. Read more about it in Tim Boreham’s Biocurious.

• Canaccord’s Tim Hoff saw Azure Minerals coming before it happened. He thinks Zambian copper junior Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC) has similar credentials. Josh Chiat has more, here.

• Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) has reported further “encouraging” results from its brain cancer radiotherapy program. For this and other biotech-related happenings of import, tap into Tim’s epic Health Check column Monday through Thursday.

• Copper isn’t sure which way to go, yo-yoing between US$5.26 per pound in March to US$4.01 on April 8 before recovering to around US$4.59 yesterday. White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) is riding the highs, up 17.7% in trading yesterday as John Miller explains in our Resources Top 5.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Equity Story Group (ASX:EQS) surged on inking an acquisition agreement with leading financial advisory firm Baker Young. Baker Young has some $700m funds under management, with $180m in managed discretionary accounts and audited FY24 revenue of $4.5m.

“This opportunity expands our wealth advisory platform, strengthens our corporate advisory reach, and delivers national scale,” EQS CEO Shane White said.

NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals (ASX:NSB) skyrocketed after sealing a deal to acquire StemSmart, a patented stem cell tech from Isopogen WA, giving it full rights to produce next-gen cell therapies using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs).

Early trial results in Crohn’s patients are looking promising, showing the treatment is safe, effective, and potentially life-changing. To fund the move, NSB has raised $3.5 million and lined up fresh board talent, including industry veterans and a new chief scientific adviser.

Pilot Energy (ASX:PGY) pulled in $5 million through a heavily oversubscribed placement at 1 cent a share, double its last trading price. The fresh cash will go toward wrapping up the recently announced Korean deal. The deal is a proposed investment by a Korean consortium into Pilot’s Mid-West Clean Energy Project, aiming to develop a large-scale clean hydrogen and ammonia operation in WA.

Norwest Minerals (ASX:NWM) secured a key mining lease for its 100%-owned Bulgera gold project, a historic site with a 217,600-ounce gold resource.

The project sits just 50km from Catalyst Metals’ 1.8Mtpa gold plant, making it ripe for a potential restart. With the gold price surge breathing new life into Bulgera’s economics, Norwest will be holding off on any capital raise for now while it reworks its models.

WIN Metals (ASX:WIN) updated its Butchers Creek Gold resource, now sitting at 5.23Mt at 1.91g/t Au for 321,000oz of gold, with a big boost to the indicated resource, up 86% to 258,000oz.

This increase sets the stage for development studies, as WIN eyes low-cost open-pit mining in the current high gold price environment. WIN’s also planning more drilling in 2025, targeting high-priority areas like Golden Crown, which recently returned 6m at 10.85g/t Au.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

Trading Halts

• Aldoro Resources (ASX:ARN) – exploration results
• Orpheus Minerals (ASX:ORP) – a material acquisition and cap raise
• Proteomics International Laboratories (ASX:PIQ) – cap raise
• Somerset Minerals (ASX:SMM) – cap raise
• Stealth Global (ASX:SGI) – cap raise
• Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) – cap raise
• Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX:SRL) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While White Cliff Minerals and Prospect Resources are Stockhead advertisers they did not sponsor this article.