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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 31 January, 2024 – a patchy day in world history that has a couple of quick highlights worth mentioning.

On this day in 1531, King Ferdinand of Austria and King John Zapolya of Hungary officially recognise each other – despite neither of them looking anything like their Tinder profile pics.

In 1675, a woman called – for reals – Cornelia Olfaarts was found not guilty of witchcraft, but did cop a fine for being mean to her husband and teasing him about his surname.

In 1696, the Catholic League disbanded, replaced by the Rugby League, to the detriment of the world as we know it.

In 1747, the first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital, London after Galloping Knob-Rot swept through the city at an alarming rate.

In 1849, corn laws were abolished in Britain, leading to a frenzy of corn-based activity and the eventual invention of popcorn.

And in 1871, millions of birds flew over western San Francisco, darkening the sky and covering the entire city in a thick coating of guano, which is yet to be removed.

(It’s also my mum’s birthday, so… Happy Birthday, ma!)

But you didn’t come here to learn all that – you came to visit us because we have more modern things to tell you about… Such as Josh’s dive into what’s happening in the coal and iron ore markets, and Rob Badman was mysteriously MIA yesterday, so there’s probably some kind of ground-shaking yarn on the way from him as well.

Oh look – it’s all about Australia’s geothermal ambitions.

Plus, there’s a bunch of words and numbers down below to help you get an idea of the shape of the market before the action kicks off later today.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,032.84 (+0.03%)

Silver: US$23.17 (-0.13%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,281.50/t (-1.51%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,420.60/t (-0.30%)

Oil (WTI): US$77.10 (+0.16%)

Oil (Brent): US$82.69 (-0.28%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$135.55/t (0.00%)

AUD/USD: 0.6614 (flat)

Bitcoin: US$43,377.80 (+0.17%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

The steeliest gaze on the ASX is back… Stockhead’s legendary Garampeiro columnist Barry Fitzgerald sits down with his guest Peter Ledwidge from Mako Gold, to find out what’s making the explorer tick right now.

Stockhead’s ‘Garimpeiro’ columnist Barry FitzGerald is back in the studio for another instalment of The Explorers Podcast. In this episode Barry chats to Peter Ledwidge, founder and managing director of Mako Gold (ASX:MKG). https://t.co/1gqbDHAqup #ASX @MakoGoldLtd

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) January 29, 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 EMU EMU NL 0.0015 50% 5,504,907 $2,024,771 ATH Alterity Therapeutics 0.0055 38% 40,597,501 $15,245,305 IS3 I Synergy Group Ltd 0.008 33% 439,670 $1,824,482 PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.004 33% 1,108,947 $5,253,323 VAL Valor Resources Ltd 0.004 33% 1,446,072 $12,520,004 DCL Domacom Limited 0.013 30% 23,000 $4,355,018 AXN Alliance Nickel Ltd 0.039 30% 464,071 $21,775,188 MP1 Megaport Limited 12.4 27% 3,188,212 $1,556,240,642 CC9 Chariot Corporation 0.48 26% 220,736 $30,926,816 CCX City Chic Collective 0.545 25% 3,905,023 $100,885,237 IEC Intra Energy Corp 0.0025 25% 1,000,000 $3,321,563 NAE New Age Exploration 0.005 25% 250,000 $7,175,596 RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.005 25% 259,400 $2,478,163 DXB Dimerix Ltd 0.215 23% 3,859,785 $75,835,466 NIC Nickel Industries 0.7275 21% 26,917,187 $2,571,485,928 ARV Artemis Resources 0.018 20% 3,117,783 $25,367,942 AD1 AD1 Holdings Limited 0.006 20% 972,612 $4,493,242 BPP Babylon Pump & Power 0.006 20% 1,198,065 $12,497,745 CHK Cohiba Minerals 0.003 20% 16,601,335 $6,325,575 CRB Carbine Resources 0.006 20% 289,101 $2,758,689 ECT Environmental Clean Tech 0.006 20% 76,734 $14,321,552 KNM Kneomedia Limited 0.003 20% 840,000 $3,833,178 OMX Orange Minerals 0.024 20% 121,574 $1,715,003 TIG Tigers Realm Coal 0.006 20% 400,000 $65,333,512 RHY Rhythm Biosciences 0.13 18% 444,923 $24,325,685

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Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Up top for the Small Caps on Tuesday morning was City Chic Collective (ASX:CCX), with a 23% gain on news that the company has weathered a difficult six months that saw cost-cutting, inventory clearing and a headcount reduction result in a dip in revenue to ~$53.8 million for its Australia/New Zealand sector, down 32% on PCP.

Similarly, revenue fell to ~$52.0 million – down 26% in PCP – for its Americas division, but despite how that looks, it’s actually good news for the company.

The result is in line with the strategic decisions the company has made in an effort to get the business back on track, with inventory expected to be approximately $39.5 million at the end of H1 FY24, down 27% from July when the company was massively overstocked and struggling.

Similarly, a happy news story from LiveHire (ASX:LVH) helped it to a prize-winning gain in early trade, with the company reporting Q2 positive Net Operating Cashflow of $0.8m, and clearly very grateful for the $1.4 million R&D refund that pushed it into positive territory.

Delivery platform Zoom2u Technologies (ASX:Z2U) also delivered a quarterly, showing that group revenue for Q2 FY24 is at $1.6 million, 37% higher on PCP, which was good enough news to get investors in behind a climb of around 18% through the morning.

Late in the day, there were a couple of bolters – namely nickel chaser Alliance Nickel (ASX:AXN), and US-based lithium hunters Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9), both of which managed to snag ~30% worth of gains despite a notable lack of news.

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 MKL Mighty Kingdom Ltd 0.007 -42% 13,697,438 $5,711,085 AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 -33% 13,250,000 $3,176,998 CT1 Constellation Tech 0.002 -33% 209,141 $4,424,201 RR1 Reach Resources Ltd 0.002 -33% 5,970,701 $9,630,891 WEC White Energy Company 0.034 -32% 10,164 $5,661,767 AMT Allegra Medical 0.031 -30% 167,741 $5,262,885 HMD Heramed Limited 0.017 -29% 1,034,324 $7,710,341 AUG Augustus Minerals 0.058 -28% 598,139 $6,729,600 KOR Korab Resources 0.011 -27% 1,694,520 $5,505,750 STM Sunstone Metals Ltd 0.009 -25% 5,443,226 $41,852,819 ME1DA Melodiol Global Health 0.017 -23% 1,258,258 $5,201,706 RMI Resource Mining Corp 0.024 -23% 127,006 $17,432,782 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.018 -22% 34,473,004 $44,672,101 PVW PVW Res Ltd 0.045 -21% 107,046 $5,780,072 1MC Morella Corporation 0.004 -20% 603,387 $30,893,997 ASV Asset Vision Co 0.008 -20% 145,000 $7,258,366 M4M Macro Metals Limited 0.002 -20% 812,500 $6,167,694 NES Nelson Resources 0.004 -20% 2,250,000 $3,067,972 PUA Peak Minerals Ltd 0.002 -20% 900,000 $2,603,442 YOJ Yojee Limited 0.002 -20% 1,004,143 $6,363,858 LEL Lithenergy 0.345 -20% 508,139 $44,294,300 EMS Eastern Metals 0.029 -19% 5,625 $2,967,345 AW1 American West Metals 0.15 -19% 6,028,436 $80,819,036 29M 29 Metals 0.42 -17% 7,918,782 $354,164,242 KNB Koonenberry Gold 0.05 -17% 76,347 $7,184,945

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TRADING HALTS

Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) – pending the announcement of maiden exploration results from the Monte Alto Phase 1 diamond drilling program.

Propel Funeral Partners (ASX:PFP) – pending an announcement regarding an institutional placement and a follow-on share purchase plan.

NSX (ASX:NSX) – pending the release of an announcement to the market in relation to a capital raising involving a placement and entitlement offer.

Pan Asia Metals (ASX:PAM) – pending the release of an announcement in relation to a proposed equity raise by way of a placement.

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