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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 03 January, 2024 – a date on the calendar worth noting as it was on this day in 1975 that a staple of US television comedy, the inimitable Saturday Night Live, debuted.

Below is the “cold open” sketch that started it all…

… which, as we can all agree, neatly sums up the entire show as something really funny that initially holds an enormous amount of promise, before Chevy Chase turns up and ruins everything.

It did launch the careers of a number of incredibly talented comics, many of whom are now a lot less funny, either because they’re now dead, or because they’re Chevy Chase.

This day in 1975 is also worth noting as it’s the day on which former US President Bill Clinton married former not-quite US President Hilary Clinton.

Which makes today the anniversary of the birth of one of the longest-running jokes in American history… and the start of a very patchy TV show.

What isn’t a laughing matter, though, are the efforts of the Stockhead team who have hit the ground running in 2024, committed as always to bringing you the very best we can in the way of news and information to help you navigate the vagaries and vulgarities of the ASX.

Today, those efforts include Rob Badman’s timely chat with Binance’s Aussie boss Ben Rose, and Nadine McGrath’s look at which companies are taking the bold IPO step into the arms of the ASX this month.

Also, down below, there’s all the data and digits that the number nerds seem to love, because Rise and Shine just wouldn’t be the same without it.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,071.27 (+0.43%)

Silver: US$23.96 (+0.84%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,375.40/t (+0.59%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,422.80/t (-0.57%)

Oil (WTI): US$72.75 (+1.53%)

Oil (Brent): US$78.25 (+1.57%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$142.50/t (+1.06%)

AUD/USD: 0.68 (+0.27%)

Bitcoin: US$45,302.40 (+2.45%)

(Prices correct at market close, 4:00pm yesterday)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Our very own on-camera powerhouse Sarah Hughan managed to get Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) managing director Chris Piggott to sit still long enough that she was able to pick his brains about the year we’ve just had, and do some crystal ball gazing into what 2024 has in store.

Stockhead’s Sarah Hughan sits down with Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) managing director Chris Piggott to close the books on 2023 and gain a sneak peek into what’s around the corner.https://t.co/yx62nC3ShU #ASX @LeeuwinMetals

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) January 2, 2024

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap BPP Babylon Pump & Power 0.006 50% 27,787,803 $9,986,590 PEC Perpetual Res Ltd 0.014 40% 3,720,740 $6,300,294 MTM MTM Critical Metals 0.092 35% 19,839,754 $6,761,722 NVQ Noviqtech Limited 0.004 33% 2,783,216 $3,928,336 AMM Armada Metals 0.037 32% 239,230 $5,824,000 CPO Culpeominerals 0.044 26% 5,384,229 $4,079,683 EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.0025 25% 740,741 $7,334,027 PAM Pan Asia Metals 0.155 24% 761,053 $20,877,679 CDR Codrus Minerals Ltd 0.07 23% 4,157,750 $4,998,188 BFC Beston Global Ltd 0.011 22% 6,066,217 $17,973,422 LLI Loyal Lithium Ltd 0.375 21% 1,071,106 $25,240,547 EYE Nova EYE Medical Ltd 0.29 21% 5,822,227 $45,750,934 AL8 Alderan Resource Ltd 0.006 20% 1,002,882 $5,534,307 ESR Estrella Res Ltd 0.006 20% 3,298,685 $8,796,859 PKO Peako Limited 0.006 20% 133,334 $2,635,424 RDS Redstone Resources 0.006 20% 714,285 $4,606,892 SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.006 20% 165,007 $2,947,430 VAR Variscan Mines Ltd 0.012 20% 390,318 $3,644,448 DXB Dimerix Ltd 0.245 20% 6,292,959 $87,346,959 NWM Norwest Minerals 0.032 19% 533,126 $7,764,377 CR9 Corellares 0.026 18% 677,395 $10,231,999 SGC Sacgasco Ltd 0.013 18% 348,567 $8,547,609 DYM Dynamicmetalslimited 0.165 18% 25,000 $4,900,000 CBL Control Bionics 0.054 17% 53,362 $6,664,095 MVP Medical Developments 0.89 17% 253,700 $65,591,966

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Yesterday’s Small Caps highlights were:

The first day back for the ASX in 2024 started with a confused bang for MTM Critical Metals (ASX:MTM), when surged more than 35% on no news early in the day, before a trading halt was requested at 11:23am “pending [the company] releasing an announcement”.

At the time of writing, that announcement hasn’t landed yet. We’ll have something on it once it does.

Culpeo Minerals (ASX:CPO) was also enjoying a rapid rise in fortune, ostensibly off the back of last December’s announcement of significant widths of visible copper mineralisation intersected at very shallow depth at the El Quillay Prospect, Fortuna Project in Chile.

Meanwhile, Pan Asia Metals (ASX:PAM) jumped around 20% early in the day on news that the company has signed on the dotted line to convert existing MOUs into binding Option Agreements to purchase 100% of the ~1,200km2 Tama Atacama Lithium Brine Project, one of the largest lithium brine projects in South America.

PAM says that Tama Atacama is a Tier 1 asset in a Tier 1 jurisdiction “in the truest sense of the term ‘Tier 1’”, citing “extensive lithium surface anomalies with elevated lithium results up to 2,200ppm Li and averaging 700ppm Li (270ppm Li cutoff) extending over 160km north to south”.

The landscape changed a little over the course of the afternoon, with minnow Perpetual Resources jumping 40% just after lunch, despite no news since it announced rock-chip and grab samples showing “encouraging presence of pathfinder elements, suggesting potential for LCT-type pegmatites within Perpetual’s Brazil exploration permits” a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Nova Eye Medical (ASX:EYE) picked up where it left off at the tail end of last year, adding nicely to its tally on the back of news that proposed changes to the US Medicare system that would have negatively impacted the company are no longer going to be pushed into effect.

The company had been staring down the barrel of five major Medicare Administrative Contractors altering what’s known as Local Coverage Determinations to restrict or deny coverage for several procedures, including canaloplasty for minimally invasive glaucoma surgery at the end of January, 2024 – however, those proposals have now been completely withdrawn.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap JAL Jameson Resources 0.031 -31% 175,000 $19,607,999 PKD Parkd Ltd 0.02 -26% 35,401 $2,808,375 LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.003 -25% 1,456,296 $8,093,589 ME1 Melodiol Glb Health 0.0015 -25% 1,327,728 $9,457,648 ICE Icetana Limited 0.0265 -22% 54,001 $8,997,367 88E 88 Energy Ltd 0.004 -20% 4,393,004 $123,204,013 NOV Novatti Group Ltd 0.067 -19% 843,184 $28,108,493 BCT Bluechiip Limited 0.013 -19% 3,422,706 $12,725,981 ST1 Spirit Technology 0.066 -18% 1,699,357 $58,955,043 OAR OAR Resources Ltd 0.0025 -17% 163,526 $7,931,183 TAS Tasman Resources Ltd 0.005 -17% 520 $4,276,016 CLU Cluey Ltd 0.071 -16% 800 $17,137,153 EQS Equitystorygroupltd 0.031 -16% 105,000 $1,576,747 AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.003 -14% 8,782 $11,092,540 IEC Intra Energy Corp 0.003 -14% 35,000 $5,812,736 L1M Lightning Minerals 0.12 -14% 86,100 $5,911,509 OAU Ora Gold Limited 0.006 -14% 181,224 $39,826,416 RIL Redivium Limited 0.006 -14% 851,937 $19,115,984 HIQ Hitiq Limited 0.019 -14% 6,200 $7,182,069 MTC Metalstech Ltd 0.19 -14% 108,958 $41,570,010 OEC Orbital Corp Limited 0.091 -13% 118,266 $15,309,707 FCT Firstwave Cloud Tech 0.035 -13% 173,456 $68,383,225 HMI Hiremii 0.036 -12% 1,919,286 $4,940,235 PHX Pharmx Technologies 0.036 -12% 82,236 $24,538,778 A8G Australasian Metals 0.15 -12% 41,718 $8,860,484

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