Closing Bell: Tech leads and goldies hit hard; Variscan jumps 50pc as Spanish zinc drilling begins

The ASX rose, driven by gains in Xero, while gold stocks slid. Meanwhile Variscan surged 50% and Bitcoin briefly hit US$93k before retreating.

The ASX rally came in the wake of US inflation data for October released last night. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX up, Xero leads gains

• Miners hit as iron ore drops, Variscan jumps 50pc

• Asian stocks down, Bitcoin hits US$93k before retreating

Aussie shares climbed higher on Thursday, powered by a rally in tech companies and the big banks.

At the close of day, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was up by 0.37%, with seven out of the 11 sectors lifting.

Source: Market Index

Leading the charge was Xero (ASX:XRO), which soared 6% after the accounting software company revealed a stellar half-year result. Xero reported a 51% jump in EBITDA to $311.7 million, while net profit surged by 76% to $95 million.

In the Financials sector, all of the major banks posted gains, with Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) leading the way, rising almost 2%.

However, miners struggled again as iron ore prices slid 1% for the December contract. Iron ore heavyweights including Fortescue (ASX:FMG) and BHP (ASX:BHP) saw their share prices dip.

Goldies also struggled, and were the worst-performing sub-sector today as the bullion price continues its decent this week.

Source: Market Index

Investors were also focused on ABS data today, which revealed a rise of 15,900 jobs in October, following a larger gain of 64,100 the previous month. The Australian unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%.

The data has now raised questions about the Reserve Bank's next move on interest rates.

"There is a lot going on, the Reserve Bank take it easy, take the time and I think that will continue," EY Oceania chief economist Cherelle Murphy told the ABC.

Other large caps stocks in focus today include explosives maker Orica (ASX:ORI), which dropped 0.3% despite posting a full-year net profit of $525 million. EBIT also rose 15% to $806 million.

Nufarm (ASX:NUF), a supplier of farm chemicals, surged 6% despite reporting a 29% decline in underlying EBIT to $313 million for FY24. The company also recorded a net loss of $6 million.

Still in the large end of town, Graincorp (ASX:GNC) fell 3% after its net profit slumped by 75% to $62 million in FY24, down from $250 million the year before. Despite maintaining its regular dividend, GrainCorp reduced its special dividend by 6 cents to 10 cents per share.

Cleanaway (ASX:CWY) gained 4% after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) raised concerns about its proposed acquisition of Citywide, the City of Melbourne’s waste management business.

What else happened today?

Most Asian stocks fell on Thursday, weighed down by the continued strength of the US dollar and economic concerns in China.

China's stock market remains under pressure as investors became cautious amid uncertainty about the Chinese government's economic stimulus plans.

Japanese stocks rose as the yen weakened and hit its lowest level against the dollar since July.

In the commodities markets, oil prices took a breather after recent gains, while gold continued its decline, edging lower for the fifth consecutive session.

Bitcoin, however, soared to new heights, crossing $93,000 for the first time before retreating, as optimism grew over US political support for the crypto market. At the time of writing, BTC is hovering near US$90k.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AUH	Austchina Holdings	0.002	100%	137,500	$2,400,384
MWY	Midway Ltd	1.240	62%	2,416,236	$66,812,210
VAR	Variscan Mines Ltd	0.011	57%	21,554,628	$4,610,032
MEM	Memphasys Ltd	0.006	50%	9,194,735	$7,052,326
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.002	50%	4,241,172	$1,298,147
SP8	Streamplay Studio	0.012	50%	14,678,873	$9,204,990
ATH	Alterity Therap Ltd	0.004	33%	1,678,204	$15,961,008
MKR	Manuka Resources.	0.030	25%	1,495,301	$18,714,424
CDX	Cardiex Limited	0.150	25%	619,713	$35,300,948
ABE	Ausbondexchange	0.037	23%	140,807	$3,380,043
UNT	Unith Ltd	0.016	23%	11,557,882	$15,974,210
XPN	Xpon Technologies	0.016	23%	1,034,764	$4,711,739
ADR	Adherium Ltd	0.011	22%	135,199	$6,827,220
SWF	Selfwealth	0.250	22%	9,415,125	$47,300,000
FSG	Field Solu Hldgs Ltd	0.030	20%	2,057,222	$19,336,114
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.003	20%	1,019,532	$7,923,243
MSB	Mesoblast Limited	1.815	19%	14,167,989	$1,741,220,774
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.020	18%	87,861	$13,542,807
E79	E79Goldmineslimited	0.027	17%	481,167	$2,349,741
AXE	Archer Materials	0.380	17%	3,421,476	$82,825,279
JAT	Jatcorp Limited	0.485	17%	139,223	$34,555,664
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.004	17%	268,146	$7,548,781
RGL	Riversgold	0.004	17%	153,040	$4,882,388

Midway (ASX:MWY) surged after announcing it had entered into a binding agreement with River Capital for the acquisition of all its shares. The deal offers shareholders $1.19 per share in cash, including a $0.38 special dividend, representing a 56% premium over Midway’s closing price prior to the announcement. Shareholders also have the option to receive the offer in cash or a mix of cash and shares.

ActivePort Group (ASX:ATV) and Radian Arc signed a binding agreement for a $4 million licence deal, with Radian Arc acquiring a perpetual licence for ActivePort’s cloud gaming software. The one-time upfront payment of $4 million will help ActivePort focus on expanding its network orchestration software in the telecommunications and data centre sectors, while Radian Arc takes cloud gaming development in-house.

Variscan Mines (ASX:VAR) has started underground drilling at the Udias Mine in northern Spain, marking the first drilling at the site. The mine is part of the Novales-Udias Trend, which is known for high-grade zinc-lead mineralisation. Variscan aims to expand the resource by targeting new areas, including parts of the mine never drilled before. The company is optimistic about increasing its high-grade zinc resources and expects to update its resource inventory following the drilling programme.

Immutep (ASX:IMM) rose after reporting positive results from its clinical trials. The INSIGHT-003 trial in non-small cell lung cancer showed that its drug eftilagimod alpha (efti), when combined with immunotherapy (KEYTRUDA) and chemotherapy, significantly improved overall survival and progression-free survival. The median overall survival was 32.9 months, with an impressive 81% 24-month survival rate. Additionally, the EFTISARC-NEO trial in soft tissue sarcoma showed a three-fold increase in tumour hyalinisation when combining efti with radiotherapy and KEYTRUDA.

SelfWealth (ASX:SWF) continued its strong performance, rising another 20% following a 70% jump yesterday, after receiving non-binding acquisition proposals from AxiCorp and Bell Financial Group (ASX:BFG). AxiCorp proposed to acquire the company at $0.23 per share, while Bell Financial offered $0.22 per share. Both proposals are subject to conditions, including board approval and no significant changes to the business. SelfWealth shareholders don’t need to take any action yet, and there’s no certainty the deals will proceed.

MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) rose after announcing it is reviewing strategic options to maximise shareholder value, believing its current market valuation does not reflect the full potential of its Australian and US businesses. The review, which is expected to take up to three months, will consider various initiatives, though no guarantees of any changes are provided. MedAdvisor plans to continue its current business plans, including the Transformation 360° project, during the review period.

Queensland Pacific Metals (ASX:QPM) officially changed its name to QPM Energy Limited (ASX:QPM), following a resolution passed at the recent Annual General Meeting today.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
SCP	Scalare Partners	0.240	-78%	218,852	$38,510,609
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.001	-50%	101,000	$3,623,987
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.001	-33%	600,000	$6,162,314
GMN	Gold Mountain Ltd	0.001	-33%	251,050	$5,861,210
MHC	Manhattan Corp Ltd	0.001	-33%	126,447	$6,746,955
WEL	Winchester Energy	0.002	-33%	333,333	$4,089,057
DTZ	Dotz Nano Ltd	0.065	-25%	345,818	$47,216,822
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.003	-25%	15,877,455	$4,007,132
AJL	AJ Lucas Group	0.007	-22%	3,087,770	$12,381,567
FRX	Flexiroam Limited	0.007	-22%	1,741,667	$7,070,794
PEC	Perpetual Res Ltd	0.014	-22%	14,008,533	$13,248,548
RDG	Res Dev Group Ltd	0.014	-22%	2,126,795	$53,115,446
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.002	-20%	10,317,306	$7,937,639
SRN	Surefire Rescs NL	0.004	-20%	2,285,211	$9,931,539
DUB	Dubber Corp Ltd	0.023	-18%	10,812,695	$58,662,610
LPM	Lithium Plus	0.115	-18%	249,230	$18,597,600
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.028	-18%	647,968	$18,814,212
PLC	Premier1 Lithium Ltd	0.008	-17%	2,045,957	$1,682,196
PBL	Parabellumresources	0.050	-17%	200,000	$3,738,000
TMB	Tambourahmetals	0.025	-17%	1,716,726	$3,253,701
CR9	Corellares	0.005	-17%	15,976	$2,790,555
ERA	Energy Resources	0.003	-17%	2,033,935	$66,444,898
FIN	FIN Resources Ltd	0.005	-17%	452,270	$3,895,612
JRV	Jervois Global Ltd	0.010	-17%	4,738,250	$32,433,165

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

A review of geoscientific datasets over Arika Resources’ (ASX:AR1) Yundamindra gold project in WA has revealed the majority of historical holes drilled in the 1980s-1990s were shallow. This indicates there is potential for the company to find more mineralisation at depth and at strike.

GTI Energy (ASX:GTR) is on track to update resources and the exploration target at its Lo Herma uranium project in Wyoming by the end of this year. It has also completed the first phase of its staking program to secure additional ground at the project that will extend the mineralised trend by ~1.6km.

Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) has staked an additional 6.7km2 of claims at its Maverick Springs North increasing its total landholding in Nevada by 34%. It follows positive drilling results including 110m at 109g/t silver equivalent.

Prodigy Gold (ASX:PRX) has sent representative samples of reverse circulation drill core from the Hyperion and Tethys lodes at the Hyperion gold deposit in the NT to contractor Independent Metallurgical Operations for metallurgical testing.

This will support work completed in early 2024 on the Suess lodes. Samples from Hyperion and Tregony North have also been sent for PhotonAssay analysis to verify these higher-grades and assess the possibility of coarse gold in the Hyperion and Tregony mineralisation.

Managing director Mark Edwards said outstanding drill results from Hyperion and Tregony North have generated strong optimism for the 2025 field season and that results from metallurgical testing will support the understanding of future development pathways for the flagship Hyperion deposit.

Clinical stage biotech company Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE) has received a $6.75m R&D Tax Incentive Program cash refund from the Australian Taxation relating to its research and development activities in FY2024.

Proceeds will be used to repay advances from Endpoints Capital, which had enabled the company to leverage its R&D benefits of the past, present and future R&D applicable expenditure. Chief executive officer James Graham adds that the funding “strengthens our ability to drive forward our R&D initiatives both domestically and internationally, accelerating our mission to develop cutting-edge anti-infective solutions”.

Likewise Suvo Strategic Minerals (ASX:SUV) has received a $380,236 cash refund from the R&D Tax Incentive Program on eligible research and development activities that it carried out.

It relates specifically to the company’s expenditure on development of its licensed intellectual property, namely a low carbon cement and concrete formulation known as ‘Colliecrete’, which achieved a 28-day compressive strength ranging from 31 to 35Megapascals (MPa) that far exceeds the 15MPa required for hardscaping at a major government project.

The company added that with the establishment of the EcoCast joint venture entities with PERMAcast, it was now evaluating potential state and federal grants which may be available to assist in funding research, development and commercialisation activities with respect to potential new low carbon cement and concrete products.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While ADX Energy, Brightstar Resources, C29 Metals, Challenger Gold, GTI Energy, Octava Minerals, Sovereign Metals, Queensland Pacific Metals and Vertex Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Closing Bell: Tech leads and goldies hit hard; Variscan jumps 50pc as Spanish zinc drilling begins