Lunch Wrap: ASX up, but energy stocks sink after IEA says we’re swimming in oil

ASX kicked off strong this morning, while Wall Street stayed wary. WiseTech climbed but energy stocks were pummelled after IEA report.

Energy stocks sink after IEA says we're swimming in oil. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX starts strong, despite cautious session on Wall Street

• WiseTech rises after signing up founder for 10 years

• Gold soars, but oil demand slumps

ASX had a solid start on Wednesday, ticking up 0.3% by lunchtime AEST.

But traders opened the day with one eye on Wall Street, and the other on the economic tea leaves, trying to figure out which way the wind's blowing.

Overnight in the US, President Trump signalled he’s open to striking a trade deal with China. Sounds promising, except the White House wants Beijing to make the first move.

The mood across Wall Street stayed cautious, with the S&P 500 closing lower by 0.17%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq by 0.05%.

Meanwhile, US banks like Citi are still showing signs of a strong economy underneath all the noise, with decent trading results and signs consumers are still spending.

And just for good measure, Nvidia rose 1.35% after Trump threw his weight behind the company's US$500b AI plans in the US, promising fast-tracked approvals.

In total, Big Tech has now pledged over US$1.6 trillion to US AI, some serious coin.

But many fundies are still pulling back from US stocks, spooked by the economic outlook.

ANZ chimed in, too, saying there’s a 40% chance we’ll see a recession here at home (yes, here in Australia).

On the ASX, it was a tug-of-war between consumer staples and bank gains, and losses from energy.

Defensive plays like Woolworths (ASX:WOW), communications, and utilities all held their ground; all safe bets when the market’s looking rattled.

But energy was a different story.

Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) and Santos (ASX:STO) both slipped over 2% after the International Energy Agency (IEA) took a machete to its oil demand forecasts, not just for this year, but all the way through to 2026.

The IEA reckons the world’s swimming in oil and has too much supply, with demand growth slowing sharply thanks to EVs and a sluggish global economy.

Elsewhere, gold hit another record high this morning, blowing past Monday’s peak and getting comfy above $US3,250 an ounce, taking gold stocks higher with it.

As you may recall, Goldman Sachs has been calling a $US4000 price for gold by mid-2026.

Here’s where things stood at about 12:45pm AEST:

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

In the large caps space, WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) rose 1% after locking in founder Richard White for another 10 years as its executive chair and chief innovation officer on the same $1m salary, no pay rise.

The company has also brought back old hand Zubin Appoo as deputy chief innovation officer to help drive the next phase.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for April 16 :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
NSB	Neuroscientific	0.062	77%	8,186,195	$5,061,170
WMG	Western Mines	0.190	73%	504,362	$9,938,868
PGY	Pilot Energy Ltd	0.008	50%	33,691,885	$8,293,300
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.002	50%	528,735	$4,109,881
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.003	50%	2,793,151	$4,114,895
NWM	Norwest Minerals	0.012	33%	2,442,274	$4,366,076
REE	Rarex Limited	0.033	32%	15,825,763	$20,021,146
WIN	WIN Metals	0.018	29%	4,003,958	$7,700,813
CCO	The Calmer Co Int	0.005	25%	12,798,367	$10,215,485
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0.005	25%	128,500	$8,225,038
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.005	25%	80,000	$18,739,112
DXN	DXN Limited	0.037	23%	326,754	$8,961,109
TG6	Tgmetalslimited	0.120	22%	268,955	$7,302,392
MDX	Mindax Limited	0.090	22%	875,330	$169,736,652
PTX	Prescient Ltd	0.051	21%	3,400,276	$33,823,431
ASM	Ausstratmaterials	0.685	21%	1,191,829	$102,457,485
AMS	Atomos	0.006	20%	1,000,000	$6,075,092
LU7	Lithium Universe Ltd	0.006	20%	1,700,303	$3,929,898
PBL	Parabellumresources	0.050	19%	10,000	$2,616,600
ZIP	ZIP Co Ltd..	1.750	18%	25,070,610	$1,932,274,477
AGH	Althea Group	0.021	17%	304,108	$9,393,060
BNL	Blue Star Helium Ltd	0.007	17%	516,539	$16,169,312
SPX	Spenda Limited	0.007	17%	2,081	$27,691,293
LGM	Legacy Minerals	0.285	16%	380,136	$30,603,765

NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuticals (ASX:NSB) skyrocketed after sealing a deal to acquire StemSmart, a patented stem cell tech from Isopogen WA, giving it full rights to produce next-gen cell therapies using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Early trial results in Crohn’s patients are looking promising, showing the treatment is safe, effective, and potentially life-changing. To fund the move, NSB has raised $3.5 million and lined up fresh board talent, including industry veterans and a new chief scientific adviser.

Pilot Energy (ASX:PGY) has pulled in $5 million through a heavily oversubscribed placement at 1 cent a share, double its last trading price. The fresh cash will go toward wrapping up the recently announced Korean deal. The deal is a proposed investment by a Korean consortium into Pilot’s Mid-West Clean Energy Project, aiming to develop a large-scale clean hydrogen and ammonia operation in WA.

Norwest Minerals (ASX:NWM) has just secured a key mining lease for its 100%-owned Bulgera gold project, a historic site with a 217,600-ounce gold resource. The project sits just 50km from Catalyst Metals’ 1.8Mtpa gold plant, making it ripe for a potential restart. With the gold price surge breathing new life into Bulgera’s economics, Norwest will be holding off on any capital raise for now while it reworks its models.

WIN Metals (ASX:WIN) has updated its Butchers Creek Gold resource, now sitting at 5.23Mt at 1.91g/t Au for 321,000oz of gold, with a big boost to the indicated resource, up 86% to 258,000oz. This increase sets the stage for development studies, as WIN eyes low-cost open-pit mining in the current high gold price environment. WIN’s also planning more drilling in 2025, targeting high-priority areas like Golden Crown, which recently returned 6m at 10.85g/t Au.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for April 16 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
TMS	Tennant Minerals Ltd	0.005	-38%	20,556,631	$7,647,123
RLL	Rapid Lithium Ltd	0.002	-33%	500,000	$3,734,834
PIL	Peppermint Inv Ltd	0.003	-25%	78,000	$8,950,558
GLE	GLG Corp Ltd	0.130	-24%	6,000	$12,597,000
GR8	Great Dirt Resources	0.100	-23%	100,000	$3,815,664
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.004	-20%	602,939	$15,846,485
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.002	-20%	300,000	$4,159,399
ICG	Inca Minerals Ltd	0.004	-20%	431,858	$6,381,950
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.004	-20%	50,000	$1,697,687
RLG	Roolife Group Ltd	0.004	-20%	1,011,286	$7,480,156
GNM	Great Northern	0.014	-18%	133,334	$2,628,694
EM2	Eagle Mountain	0.005	-17%	150,000	$6,810,224
SER	Strategic Energy	0.005	-17%	500,017	$4,026,200
SHP	South Harz Potash	0.005	-17%	23,608	$6,495,472
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.003	-17%	80,000	$6,010,670
WBE	Whitebark Energy	0.005	-17%	1,900	$2,399,441
ASE	Astute Metals NL	0.021	-16%	60,003	$15,453,506
NTI	Neurotech Intl	0.029	-15%	160,162	$35,687,145
AJL	AJ Lucas Group	0.006	-14%	691,527	$9,630,107
IMI	Infinitymining	0.012	-14%	243,965	$5,922,221
RFA	Rare Foods Australia	0.006	-14%	774,477	$1,903,883
ORD	Ordell Minerals Ltd	0.600	-13%	311,554	$24,831,492
SHV	Select Harvests	4.715	-13%	787,248	$768,802,327
FFF	Forbidden Foods	0.007	-13%	500,000	$5,696,816

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

With an eye to growing the mineral reserves at the Minyari Dome gold project, Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY) has kicked-off a 35,000-metre drilling program incorporating air core, reverse circulation and diamond core drilling. The drill bit will test the Parklands target, Minyari Dome deposit and GEO-01 south prospect over the three-month program, designed to increase the existing 2.3-million-ounce gold resource.

At the Kasiya natural rutile and graphite project in Malawi, Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) has initiated several geotechnical drilling programs. The results will inform infrastructure layout and engineering design for the project’s definitive feasibility study, scheduled to be released in Q4 2025.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Antipa Minerals and Sovereign Metals 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.

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

Originally published as Lunch Wrap: ASX up, but energy stocks sink after IEA says we’re swimming in oil