ASX opens lower on Day 3, 2024
\nWall St extends losses
\nEnergy stocks on watch as oil prices jump<\/p>\n
Yes. Eddie\u2019s still training to defend his Wollongong Iron Man title<\/a> so it\u2019s more of the other Eddy until all is right in the surf triathlon world again.<\/p>\n For now, with the SPI 200 futures index pointing down by -19 points, or -0.25%, we\u2019d better get to work.<\/p>\n In New York, stocks have just finished lower as investors chewed over the mins from the last FOMC hoedown for a cheatsheet on the future of US monetary policy.<\/p>\n As per, the Fed minutes provided no crumbs on the timing of potential rate cuts, and officials were fulsome in their appreciation of\u00a0 the \u201cunusually elevated degree of uncertainty\u201d about everything economic.<\/p>\n Also uncertain \u2013 The Dow Jones Index fell 286 points or 0.76% on Wednesday. The S&P 500 (down -0.7%) and the Nasdaq Composite (down -1.2%) lost as well, a day after logging its worst session since October.<\/p>\n Mega Tech led the leaking\u00a0 \u2013 that\u2019s four in a row for the Mag-7.<\/p>\n Elon\u2019s Tesla lost -4% and chip maker Nvidia lost -1.3%. Elsewhere in New York, Walgreens Boots Alliance (lost -4%), Boeing was hit (-3.4%) as was Caterpillar (-2.8%).<\/p>\n With oil on a tear overnight, the top gainers included Chevron (+2%), Merck (+1.3%) and Exxon Mobil (+1%). Over the past four weeks, Chevron gained +5.5%, but it\u2019s still down -11%, YTD.<\/p>\n The big news \u2013 WTI crude futures climbed to US$73 a barrel overnight \u2013 the biggest single daily gain since November.<\/p>\n Behind the bump are new supply concerns out of Libya and renewed Middle East tension as well as a smaller than expected read on US output.<\/p>\n Natural gas was up +4.40%.<\/p>\n On the US data front, the ISM Manufacturing PMI has US manufacturing still in contraction, though less so than anticipated.<\/p>\n Iron ore is looking a decent bet on expectations that Beijing would bolster economic stimulus, with the PBoC (People\u2019s Bank of China) wading into the property market by offering low-cost financing to Chinese largest banks.<\/p>\n And crypto majors are back out of<\/em> currency \u2013 both Bitcoin and Ether look busy unwinding the last inexplicable surge.<\/p>\n Via TradingEconomics<\/p>\n Bitcoin soared near US$46k near New Year\u2019s day. BTC\u2019s up almost 20% since the start of December as a January 10 deadline for the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to give its blessing for a BTC ETF nears.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The gold price<\/strong> fell by -0.8% to US$2,042.89 an ounce.<\/p>\n Oil prices<\/strong> jumped\u00a0 \u2013 both Crude WTI and Brent added about +3.6 to +4%.<\/p>\n The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield <\/strong>is steady at 3.92%.<\/p>\n Iron ore futures<\/strong> are up +1.40%<\/p>\n The Aussie dollar<\/strong> slipped by -0.49% to US67.05c.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Out at Edjudina, M3 Mining (ASX:M3M)<\/strong><\/a> says it\u2019s encountered \u2018minor gold mineralisation in the fresh rock beneath previously intersected mineralisation.\u2019<\/p>\n The recent RC drilling, according to exec dir Simon Eley, shows that the variability in grade within the quartz veining highlights the localised \u2018nuggety\u2019 nature of the mineralisation.<\/p>\n The company is currently awaiting assay results for soil samples obtained along the El Capitan \u2018magnetic low\u2019 trend, which continues a further 7.5km to the southeast \u2013 due sometime in Q1.<\/p>\n Staying on gold with a production update from Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX)<\/strong><\/a> showing prelim numbers for Q2, with some 59,238 ounces of gold coming out of its operations, at an average sale price of $3,041\/oz.<\/p>\n WGX says its cash, bullion and liquid assets increased by $21m at the end of Q2, FY24, taking the total to $238m.<\/p>\n \u201cWestgold remains debt free, unhedged and on track to deliver FY24 production guidance of 245,000\u2013265,000 ounces.\u201d<\/p>\n More gold: Vertex Minerals (ASX:VTX)<\/strong><\/a> has published the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for its Reward Gold Mine, at Hill End in lovely NSW.<\/p>\n VTX says the PFS demonstrates \u2018strong economics and a robust base for future growth.\u2019<\/p>\n The Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Reward gold deposit at Hill End totals 419,000 tonnes at 16.72g\/t Au for 225,200oz Au. The Indicated Mineral Resource contains 70,500 ounces of gold while the Inferred Mineral Resource contains 154,700 ounces (VTX Announcement of 21 June 2023).<\/p>\n Culpeo Minerals (ASX:CPO)<\/strong><\/a> reports that results returned from first pass rock-chip sampling at its La Florida Prospect, Fortuna Project\u00a0 in Chile, indicate the presence of a copper-gold porphyry system outcropping at surface. Results from surface sampling returned grades up to 3.96% Cu and 2.61g\/t Au.<\/p>\n CPO says the Mineralisation styles are analogous to Culpeo\u2019s Lana Corina Prospect which returned drill intersections of 257m @ 1.10% CuEq1 and 169m @ 1.21% CuEq2.<\/p>\n Noronex (ASX:NRX)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 says it\u2019s got the drill results from an ongoing campaign at the company\u2019s 100% owned Humpback project, providing a new understanding of mineralisation at Fiesta which NRX now says \u2018significantly extends\u2019 the known length of the mineralised horizon and \u2018the potential size of the deposit with a number of new targets defined.\u2019<\/p>\n The highlights include: <\/span><\/p>\n The post Market Highlights: ASX Goldies get busy and Energy in focus on oil squeeze<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In other markets \u2026<\/h2>\n
5 ASX small caps to watch today, the copper\/gold edition<\/h2>\n
\n\u2022 Fiesta intercept of 45m @ 1.0% Copper Equivalent reported from hole 23FIERC02
\n\u2022 Intercept of over 0.5% Cu over 750m east of any previous intercept on the main Fiesta horizon in 23FORRC03
\n\u2022 Intercept of over 0.5% Cu 500m west of any previous intercept on the main Fiesta horizon in 23FIERC07.<\/p>\n