Lunch Wrap: ‘Trump slump’ hits ASX again as pharma, China tariffs send stocks tumbling

ASX cops a 1.4pc beating as the US-China trade spat rocks markets, pharma faces tariff pain, oil dives, and Aussie miners take a hit.

• ASX hits rough patch again – very rough, with more than $30b wiped out

• US-China trade clash sends markets reeling, as pharma about to get tariff hit

• Oil slumps, Aussie dollar dives, ASX miners routed

The ASX dropped over 1% pretty quickly on Wednesday, practically wiping out over $30 billion in market value as the US-China trade war tensions escalated. It's now down 1.48% at the time of publishing this article.

In the US overnight, the S&P 500 dropped 1.57%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell by 2.15%.

This comes after the White House dropped the hammer with a 104% tariff on Chinese goods, all because China fired back with a 34% tariff on US imports earlier.

China isn’t backing down... at this stage.

Premier Li Qiang’s been pretty vocal, saying China has all the right tools to absorb these shocks, and said the Chinese economy will keep growing in 2025.

But it’s hard to shake the feeling that something’s about to break when two economic powerhouses are butting heads this hard.

The bad news, though, doesn’t end there.

Trump’s on the verge of pushing another round of tariffs, this time targeting pharmaceuticals.

Experts reckon Aussie pharmaceutical exporters could take a hit of around $1.6 billion a year, with CSL (ASX:CSL) already feeling the sting as its stock price plummeted 4% this morning.

And let’s not forget about oil. The price of crude took another massive dive last night, with crude prices sliding to four-year lows.

The Aussie dollar, meantime, is now trading at just under US60c, its lowest level in years as iron ore prices tumbled to a seven-month low.

Back home, the impact of this trade war is hitting the ASX’s big miners especially hard this morning.

Investors were pulling out of big names like BHP (ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), CSL (ASX:CSL) and Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS).

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

In large caps news, fund manager Regal Partners (ASX:RPL) fell 7% after its funds under management (FUM) dropped to $16.5 billion from $18 billion in the March quarter.

Fellow fundie GQG Partners (ASX:GQG), however, saw a nice uptick of 4%, with net flows climbing by 64% in March, showing that some fundies are still holding their ground despite the chaos.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
OSX	Osteopore Limited	0.045	181%	36,618,975	$1,933,897
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.003	50%	333,333	$2,356,635
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.003	50%	1,265,416	$11,790,134
AJL	AJ Lucas Group	0.007	40%	2,641,039	$6,878,648
PVT	Pivotal Metals Ltd	0.009	38%	5,704,797	$5,896,968
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.002	33%	450,000	$1,966,820
GGE	Grand Gulf Energy	0.002	33%	508,000	$3,675,581
JAY	Jayride Group	0.002	33%	3,000,000	$2,117,588
NNL	Nordicresourcesltd	0.115	24%	131,173	$13,706,698
BMM	Bayan Mining	0.043	23%	13,700,273	$3,366,631
CND	Condor Energy Ltd	0.028	22%	25,878,575	$16,139,521
OD6	Od6Metalsltd	0.035	21%	135,500	$4,618,126
ATG	Articore Group Ltd	0.175	21%	1,144,513	$41,307,145
GAS	State GAS Limited	0.030	20%	200,647	$9,815,022
LM1	Leeuwin Metals Ltd	0.180	20%	1,770,234	$12,644,957
FBR	FBR Ltd	0.006	20%	2,961,166	$28,178,159
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.006	20%	1,958,647	$27,111,136
CTQ	Careteq Limited	0.014	17%	14,501	$2,845,425
EE1	Earths Energy Ltd	0.007	17%	902,602	$3,179,785
FCT	Firstwave Cloud Tech	0.014	17%	49,999	$20,562,224
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	0.007	17%	12,615,696	$31,430,570
SHN	Sunshine Metals Ltd	0.007	17%	22,029,731	$11,905,869
SPX	Spenda Limited	0.007	17%	81,269	$27,691,293
EMD	Emyria Limited	0.029	16%	97,162	$12,281,104
GED	Golden Deeps	0.022	16%	11,782,681	$3,365,388

Osteopore's (ASX:OSX) shares skyrocketed after the company secured European Union Medical Device Regulation (EU MDR) approval for its custom orthopaedic and cranial implants, marking a huge milestone in its expansion into Europe. This approval allows Osteopore to offer its custom-made implants alongside its already approved off-the-shelf neurosurgical and craniofacial products.

With the European orthopaedic market set to grow at 3.3% annually and the cranial implant market at 9.4%, Osteopore said it was well-positioned to take advantage of this demand. The company’s exclusive distribution deal with Zimmer Biomet further strengthens its presence, creating an opportunity for Osteopore to broaden its reach across Europe.

Bayan Mining and Minerals (ASX:BMM) has just secured an exclusive deal with Macquarie University for a solar panel recycling tech that uses microwave heating to separate valuable materials like silver and silicon. The new method makes recycling way easier by avoiding the high heat and harsh chemicals used in traditional methods, which is a big win for both the environment and the economy. With the global market for solar cell recycling booming, Bayan believes this tech positions it at the forefront of a major growth opportunity in critical mineral recovery.

Condor Energy (ASX:CND) has got the green light on a 3 billion barrel oil potential across five prospects in the Tumbes Basin off Peru. The Bonito prospect alone holds a billion barrels, with the majority of the resources in a proven oil zone. This independent estimate from leading consultants shows big exploration potential, and builds on Condor’s already discovered gas field. The company’s now in talks with multiple parties as it moves forward with the farm-out process.

Red Sky Energy (ASX:ROG) reported some solid numbers coming out of its Block 6/24 offshore Angola, with a net 5.1 million barrels of contingent resources from the Cegonha oil field. There's also an additional 11 million barrels of potential across three other prospects in the area. Red Sky said it’s got its sights set on rapid production and cash flow. The company’s also eyeing a promising pre-salt structure under the Ibis prospect, with plenty of room for more exploration and growth.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.001	-50%	719,849	$3,467,332
CDT	Castle Minerals	0.002	-33%	771,452	$5,783,469
RAS	Ragusa Minerals Ltd	0.016	-30%	592,667	$3,279,772
MEG	Megado Minerals Ltd	0.011	-27%	1,609,543	$6,295,249
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.002	-25%	1,000,000	$2,003,566
ABE	Ausbondexchange	0.031	-23%	26,333	$4,506,725
PKD	Parkd Ltd	0.028	-20%	9,445	$3,640,486
AMS	Atomos	0.004	-20%	1,800	$6,075,092
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.004	-20%	112,489	$15,846,485
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.004	-20%	280,000	$7,870,957
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.002	-20%	39,285	$3,790,655
IPB	IPB Petroleum Ltd	0.004	-20%	75,000	$3,532,015
OVT	Ovanti Limited	0.004	-20%	3,000,000	$13,507,739
APC	APC Minerals	0.009	-18%	3,065,222	$1,288,904
ENL	Enlitic Inc.	0.046	-18%	516,105	$32,234,120
PBL	Parabellumresources	0.035	-17%	670,638	$2,616,600
BTC	BTC Health Ltd	0.050	-17%	9,092	$19,519,398
ADO	Anteotech Ltd	0.010	-17%	1,301,812	$32,463,604
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.005	-17%	1,870,857	$27,370,887
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.003	-17%	203,588	$1,824,924
EMU	EMU NL	0.020	-17%	137,300	$4,646,434
W2V	Way2Vatltd	0.005	-17%	75,000	$5,604,001
SPN	Sparc Tech Ltd	0.135	-16%	142,129	$15,339,672
PCL	Pancontinental Energ	0.006	-14%	8,456,193	$56,956,101

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Leveraging petrophysics, Riversgold (ASX:RGL) has confirmed the high chargeability and low resistivity of a sulphide copper-silver sample from the Saint John project in Canada, which also graded at 10.15% copper and 65.8 g/t silver. The results give RGL a strong geophysical signature to find more mineralisation via airborne surveys.

Caprice Resources (ASX:CRS) has gained a wealth of commodity and exploration expertise in the form of incoming non-executive director Robert Waugh, who played a pivotal role in bringing Musgrave Minerals from IPO, through several gold discoveries, until it was acquired by Ramelius Resources for more than $200 million.

In one of the last steps before producing battery-grade lithium carbonate, Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) has begun “polishing” 43,500 gallons of highly purified lithium chloride eluate produced at the Green River lithium project in the US.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Riversgold, Caprice Resources, and Anson Resources 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 Lunch Wrap: ‘Trump slump’ hits ASX again as pharma, China tariffs send stocks tumbling