The ASX200 has ended Friday down 0.15pc, but ends week higher
Property and Healthcare gains offset by Resources losses
Small Caps led by Gold50
Wall Street hit more record highs on Thursday in New York, the Australian market on Friday, alas, has not.
The S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) index ended Friday March 22 was down 11.4 points or 0.15% to 7,770.6 points…
Still, the benchmark Australian index ended the week about 0.7% higher, despite some very choppy trade.
The XJO has now gained almost 10% over the last half year of trade…
Resources proved to be the bugbear on Friday in Sydney.
Damn the quality lead offered by Wall Street traders, who plugged their cash into Mega Tech anyway.
We’re still waiting for our own mega tech sector to hoover up all our best investing ideas. Until then it’s Resources and some banks.
And they were AWOL.
The big miners fell away this arvo after the previously punchy price of iron ore fell away in Singapore.
That sucked the oxygen out of any chance of a post-lunch fight back on the local bourse. When RIO, Fortescue and BHP are joined in retreat by the Big Four banks and our larger energy stocks, then you can just pack up the tent and put on the telly.
On the ASX, energy stocks tracked a lower crude oil price to fall 1.4 per cent. Brent closed below $US86 after a stronger US dollar outweighed optimism that the Federal Reserve will stick to its rate cut forecast this year. Woodside Energy fell 1.9 per cent and Ampol declined 1.3 per cent.
On the bank front, well, they’ve looked wobbly ever since the investment bank arm of Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) fingered its colleagues in the taking-money business a week ago, noting how expensive the Big 4 are looking.
However, as my own dear colleague Carlos Capolingua from MarketIndex rightly pointed out this week, there’s one group of investors in particular who’ve abandoned the banks when they’re usually right out front when it comes to loading up on Big 4 bank stocks.
Macquarie cites anecdotal evidence that these supporters of Aussie banks, have largely been absent from the buy side over the past six months.
The ASX Financials (XFJ) Index Half Year-to-date…
Via Google
Carl says of this cohort:
“Whilst individually your typical retail investor is a mere drop in the ocean of the market, when it comes to Australian banks, they punch well above their weight.”
Macquarie suggests retail investors represent around 40-50% of banks’ share registries.
“This means a trend of selling among retail investors can have an outsized impact,” Carl adds.
In any case, the brokers seem to agree there’s nothing the banks are selling right now which is convincing investors to get in there and that’s a weight on the ASX200 all it’s own.
Healthcare stocks surged this arvo, led by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (ASX:FPH) which is well out in front, after an upbeat guidance statement to the ASX.
FPH has lifted its full year revenue and profit outlook, after what MD Lewis Gradon says has been solid demand for its 2H hospital consumables product portfolio “towards the upper end of our expectations from November.”
FPH expects full year revenue to be circa $1.73bn (previously $1.7bn) and now expects underlying NPAT to be in the range of circa $260-$265m from $250-$260m.
The Small Ords (XSO) and the Emerging Co’s (XEC) both ended lower on Friday
Five of the 11 ASX Sectors ended higher, Property the clear leader.
ASX Sectors at the close on Friday
ASX Sectors this week
Via MarketIndex
US stock futures are higher on Friday in Sydney:
Via Fox News
ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS
Today’s best performing small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap G50 Gold50Limited 0.145 45% 376,569 $10,929,000 ZNO Zoono Group Ltd 0.115 44% 1,267,957 $17,094,192 ENX Enegex Limited 0.026 37% 923,592 $7,009,404 CTN Catalina Resources 0.004 33% 3,570,154 $3,715,461 HCD Hydrocarbon Dynamic 0.004 33% 602,132 $2,425,747 KPO Kalina Power Limited 0.004 33% 7,991,028 $6,630,384 SLM Solismineralsltd 0.125 30% 68,236 $7,495,416 HOR Horseshoe Metals Ltd 0.009 29% 4,481,899 $4,525,351 IS3 I Synergy Group Ltd 0.009 29% 6,000 $2,128,563 CAV Carnavale Resources 0.005 25% 1,250,000 $13,694,207 BAS Bass Oil Ltd 0.056 24% 3,580,443 $12,077,750 RON Roninresourcesltd 0.12 20% 43,000 $3,682,501 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.006 20% 15,388,897 $9,711,326 M4M Macro Metals Limited 0.006 20% 75,964,674 $16,160,334 MHC Manhattan Corp Ltd 0.003 20% 100,000 $7,342,449 MOM Moab Minerals Ltd 0.006 20% 1,946,544 $3,559,817 TTI Traffic Technologies 0.006 20% 123,567 $3,788,351 VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.006 20% 370,456 $20,650,533 AUQ Alara Resources Ltd 0.055 20% 745,915 $33,032,027 KCC Kincora Copper 0.037 19% 149,440 $6,135,504 FRS Forrestaniaresources 0.02 18% 1,802,160 $2,750,358 1MC Morella Corporation 0.0035 17% 226,766 $18,536,398 LML Lincoln Minerals 0.007 17% 2,290,863 $10,224,272 MKL Mighty Kingdom Ltd 0.0035 17% 200,000 $1,983,800 VR8 Vanadium Resources 0.045 15% 207,509 $21,851,708
Gold 50’s up 50%.
But it’s main game isn’t gold, as my dear Reuben points out.
It’s gallium, an obscure metal which hit headlines after world’s largest producer China announced export controls last year.
The US is desperately looking for its own sources of supply.
Sometimes a company just makes a terrific presso. Gold 50 (ASX:G50) is seriously into critical minerals at the moment like Gallium…
Via G50
It’s also something of a bargain, right now.
Via Google
Up sharply for an oil stock on this particular Friday is Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) which says it plans to kick off an Extended Production Test (EPT) at the Kiwi project “as soon as possible” to confirm the potential field size and gas composition.
“Bass has increased confidence that Kiwi contains a commercial volume of gas, providing the pathway for the company to enter the eastern states’ gas market,” it says.
But we’re
The biotech and hand sanitiser maker Zoono has nothing to say, but there’s lots of traders saying it.
The stock’s up a lazy 40% on Friday and this is two days after ZNO had already been handed a please explain from the ASX:
Via ZNO
Still. Worth a chart:
Via Google
Finally, ENEGEX (ASX:ENX) has new exploration ground at its Perenjori project in the West Yilgarn, the same neighbourhood as Chalice Gold Mines (ASX:CHN) 560Mt Gonneville project, the monster Boddington copper-gold mine, and the Greenbushes lithium operation.
Its newly granted exploration licence covers Rocky Ridge, a 6.5km-long gold target defined by elevated gold anomalism at surface and promising shallow drill results, including 7m at 2.52g/t to end of hole.
This hints at a source in the underlying bedrock, says the company.
It is planning initial on-ground exploration “in the coming weeks”.
For the last few years this unassuming and tightly held WA explorer has been doing all the inexpensive early work (sampling, geophysics, just walking around looking at rocks) to prove up targets across its massive 1500sqkm landholding.
It is run by the same team that sold Apollo Consolidated for ~$200m to Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) , which won an entertaining back-and-forth tussle with Gold Road (ASX:GOR) for control of the junior in 2021.
ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS
Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
Code Company Price % Volume Market Cap OSXR Osteopore Limited – Rights 22-Mar-24 0.002 -60% 3,061,910 $516,434 CAI Calidus Resources 0.125 -24% 5,753,833 $101,086,600 AS2 Askarimetalslimited 0.064 -24% 841,892 $6,685,368 AUR Auris Minerals Ltd 0.007 -22% 6,950 $4,289,634 ETR Entyr Limited 0.007 -22% 5,450,898 $17,847,935 WGR Westerngoldresources 0.023 -21% 13,721 $4,456,963 CTO Citigold Corp Ltd 0.004 -20% 1,199,990 $15,000,000 ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.004 -20% 5,144,086 $14,321,552 MCT Metalicity Limited 0.002 -20% 10,000 $11,212,634 RIL Redivium Limited 0.004 -20% 109,764 $13,654,274 TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.004 -20% 6,990,000 $30,612,897 WML Woomera Mining Ltd 0.004 -20% 989,450 $6,090,695 TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.009 -18% 9,686,842 $36,161,679 PTR Petratherm Ltd 0.019 -17% 461,919 $5,169,276 LRL Labyrinth Resources 0.005 -17% 15,670 $7,125,262 LVE Love Group Global 0.11 -15% 22,000 $5,269,442 IXU Ixup Limited 0.017 -15% 15,000 $21,750,712 MCL Mighty Craft Ltd 0.017 -15% 555,227 $7,302,643 PLG Pearlgullironlimited 0.029 -15% 132,796 $6,954,421 EM2 Eagle Mountain 0.059 -14% 2,881,175 $21,042,714 BFC Beston Global Ltd 0.006 -14% 2,217,124 $13,979,328 OPN Oppenneg 0.006 -14% 2,029,602 $7,904,257 OSL Oncosil Medical 0.006 -14% 917,407 $13,821,788 RFA Rare Foods Australia 0.03 -14% 42,049 $7,179,267 LEX Lefroy Exploration 0.1 -13% 1,191,777 $23,052,725
ICYMI – PM Edition
Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) has selected Bécancour port in Québec, Canada as the preferred port option for importing lithium-rich spodumene to its proposed lithium carbonate refinery in Bécancour.
Raiden Resources (ASX:RDN) has delineated two high priority lithium targets at its Mt Sholl project while Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals, which holds all base metal rights under their farm-in agreement, has identified a new nickel anomaly over 1.2km strike.
Godolphin Resources’ (ASX:GRL) surface grab sampling work at the Yeoval and Copper Hill East projects in NSW’s Lachlan Fold Belt have uncovered compelling copper-gold assays that warrant further exploration.
Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) has strengthened its board with the appointment of seasoned US-based life sciences commercial strategist Darla Hutton, who brings with her a wealth of experience in commercial operations from minimally invasive care leader Intuitive Surgical, as an independent non-executive director.
New World Resources (ASX:NWC) has defined strong geochemistry anomalies for based metals over 1,300m of strike across the Red Cloud and Rudkins targets at its Javelin VMS project in Arizona. This takes the total strike of potential VMS mineralisation up to 4.5km.
Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) is securing its hold on priority clay-hosted REE targets within the immediate vicinity of its promising Jupiter discovery by snapping up a strategic tenement to its north.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Lithium Universe, Raiden Resources, Godolphin Resources, Aroa Biosurgery, New World Resources and Venture Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
Trading Halts
Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) – Regarding a capital raise
Many Peaks Gold (ASX:MPG) – Regarding some its continuous disclosure challenges
OD6 Metals (ASX:OD6) – Regarding a capital raise
Coda Minerals (ASX:COD) – Regarding a capital raise
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