Lunch Wrap: ASX edges up as Trump says ‘buy’; Bitcoin roars back above US$102k

The ASX wobbled but stayed green with Macquarie soaring 4%, Bitcoin smashed through $102k on Trump’s trade hype.

Bitcoin smashed through $102K on Trump’s trade hype. Pic: Getty Images

• ASX edges up as Macquarie jumps 4pc

• Bitcoin cracks $102k on Trump trade talks

• Gold slips as oil and iron ore bounce back

The ASX opened the day with a jittery edge, swaying between gains and losses. But by lunch time AEST, the ASX200 index was up by 0.5%.

Local investors were keeping one eye on Wall Street’s rally, and the other on US-China trade talks set for the weekend.

Overnight, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tacked on 1% after Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the UK.

Trump called it the start of something much bigger, hinting that more deals could be on the cards.

“You better go out and buy stock now,” he declared, grinning.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is already packing his bags for Switzerland, where he’ll meet Chinese officials for a bit of backroom dealing.

Top of the agenda is cutting that monstrous 145% tariff Trump slapped on Chinese goods. “We’ll see,” he said, keeping his cards close, but the market loved it.

The crypto world buzzed after those comments, with Bitcoin jumping back above $102,000, hitting its highest level since January.

Just last month, Bitcoin slumped to US$75,000 after Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.

Elsewhere, crude prices perked up, with WTI climbing 3% to just over $US60.

Iron ore also found a bit of a heartbeat, clawing back 0.5% to sit at $US96.85 a tonne.

Meanwhile, gold’s glitter dulled a bit, shedding 2% after the UK deal poured some cold water on the trade war flames fuelling its climb.

Back home, seven out of 11 ASX sectors managed to blink green this morning, with tech leading the charge.

Source: MarketIndex

Source: MarketIndex

In the large caps space, Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) strutted into the spotlight, climbing 4% after posting a $3.7 billion full-year profit.

Asset management did the heavy lifting for the bank, proving once again that Macquarie knows how to squeeze a dollar out of every opportunity.

Over in real estate, CoStar finally got Domain Holdings Australia (ASX:DHG) to say yes, snapping it up for $2.8 billion. The deal’s been months in the making, and Domain shareholders got a nice 3% bump for their patience.

And finally, News Corp (ASX:NWS), the publisher of Stockhead, pulled in $2.01 billion in Q3, a slight bump from last year, with Dow Jones and book publishing doing the heavy lifting.

News' subsidiary REA Group (ASX:REA) wasn’t slacking too, hauling in $271 million, up 6%, thanks to a hot Aussie property market. News’ shares were up 3% .

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for May 9 :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.002	50%	2,500,001	$3,253,779
GGE	Grand Gulf Energy	0.003	50%	3,535,776	$5,600,774
VPR	Voltgroupltd	0.002	50%	527,047	$10,716,208
FIN	FIN Resources Ltd	0.007	40%	486,567	$3,474,442
JAL	Jameson Resources	0.040	33%	49,506	$18,322,000
TASDA	Tasman Resources Ltd	0.020	33%	400,001	$2,415,749
AKA	Aureka Limited	0.140	27%	686,056	$11,267,839
KPO	Kalina Power Limited	0.007	27%	4,731,615	$16,131,334
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.003	25%	15,380,644	$20,444,766
RWD	Reward Minerals Ltd	0.057	24%	25,000	$12,292,100
FRS	Forrestaniaresources	0.048	23%	21,350,182	$11,699,995
WCN	White Cliff Min Ltd	0.036	20%	47,537,128	$57,429,622
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.012	20%	43,284,838	$45,618,145
BPP	Babylon Pump & Power	0.006	20%	500,000	$12,497,745
CUF	Cufe Ltd	0.006	20%	13,281,259	$6,732,874
PCL	Pancontinental Energ	0.012	20%	5,553,504	$81,365,859
SKK	Stakk Limited	0.006	20%	240,992	$10,375,398
EMU	EMU NL	0.025	19%	32	$4,065,630
CPO	Culpeominerals	0.013	18%	1,323,011	$2,388,784
AUG	Augustus Minerals	0.036	16%	5,964,989	$3,694,934
AU1	The Agency Group Aus	0.022	16%	28,000	$8,351,955
VRX	VRX Silica Ltd	0.052	16%	550,607	$33,628,648
C79	Chrysoscorpltd	4.760	15%	260,888	$478,297,216
TG1	Techgen Metals Ltd	0.023	15%	183,816	$3,173,314

Jameson Resources (ASX:JAL) just gave an update on its Crown Mountain Hard Coking Coal Project, and it’s looking pretty solid. A review by top technical advisers confirmed the Project's proven and probable reserves are still good to go, even with the shake-up in costs and coal prices. Since 2020, inflation's pushed up capital and operating costs, but the Project’s still standing strong, said Jameson. Revised coal price forecasts and adjustments boosted its pre-tax NPV from US$469m to a massive US$942m.

Aureka (ASX:AKA) has just scored a major win by bringing on Jozef Story as its new exploration manager. Story’s no rookie, he’s fresh off four years at Barrick Gold as exploration manager, with over 25 years in the field, including stints at Fosterville and Castlemaine in Victoria. CEO James Gurry is stoked, saying Story’s experience gives Aureka the edge to tap into its gold targets at Bendigo, Stawell, and St Arnaud.

Forrestania Resources (ASX:FRS) has just struck gold, literally, at its Ada Ann prospect in WA's Eastern Goldfields. Fresh drilling results from its second phase confirmed high-grade hits, with the standout being 1m at 25.6g/t Au, the highest intercept seen at the site so far. The mineralised zone now stretches about 60m south and 30m north of previous finds, extending the strike to roughly 310m. Chairman John Hannaford reckons the thickening of the mineralised zones is a great sign, and the team’s itching to get the drills turning again later this year.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for May 9 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
BIT	Biotron Limited	0.002	-33%	20,000	$3,981,738
BUY	Bounty Oil & Gas NL	0.002	-33%	50,000	$4,684,416
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.002	-33%	4,104,602	$17,685,201
CHM	Chimeric Therapeutic	0.005	-25%	3,925,333	$10,904,117
MDR	Medadvisor Limited	0.100	-23%	2,592,777	$77,703,033
LEG	Legend Mining	0.007	-22%	5,295	$26,203,295
PXX	Polarx Limited	0.007	-22%	3,380,592	$21,379,509
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.004	-20%	208,393	$15,867,318
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.004	-20%	4,002,978	$3,438,820
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.002	-20%	1	$2,945,793
AVH	Avita Medical	2.460	-18%	1,630,856	$204,451,715
CRB	Carbine Resources	0.005	-17%	1,084,828	$3,310,427
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.003	-17%	3,073,602	$18,138,447
MEM	Memphasys Ltd	0.005	-17%	636,752	$11,901,589
MRQ	Mrg Metals Limited	0.003	-17%	2,684,167	$8,179,556
HAW	Hawthorn Resources	0.051	-16%	26,269	$20,435,952
MDI	Middle Island Res	0.018	-14%	765,825	$5,786,248
EAT	Entertainment	0.006	-14%	219,890	$9,161,502
WBE	Whitebark Energy	0.006	-14%	20,000	$2,799,347
BSN	Basinenergylimited	0.014	-13%	50,000	$1,965,269
PSL	Paterson Resources	0.014	-13%	190,854	$7,296,606
VKA	Viking Mines Ltd	0.007	-13%	717,906	$10,751,590
VR1	Vection Technologies	0.014	-13%	1,347,270	$28,275,550
CXU	Cauldron Energy Ltd	0.008	-11%	12,204	$13,152,641

Avita Medical (ASX:AVH) copped a brutal 17% sell-off, even after posting a cracking 67% jump in Q1 revenue to $18.5 million with a juicy 84.7% profit margin.

It rolled out the RECELL GO mini in February for smaller wounds and hit the go button on Cohealyx nationwide in April, stretching its market from $455 million to $3.5 billion.

But the market clearly wasn’t overly impressed. Perhaps investors are not convinced enough the new products will deliver quick enough to justify the spend.

Originally published as Lunch Wrap: ASX edges up as Trump says ‘buy’; Bitcoin roars back above US$102k