Closing Bell: ASX stumbles through a forgettable week as banks drag; Austal at five-year high

The ASX dipped on Friday, with banks and GYG down. Domain jumped on takeover, Bullock admitted to slow rate hikes, while Alibaba rebounded.

It was a forgettable week for the ASX. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX hovers near one-month low, dragged by GYG and banks

• Domain soars on takeover bid

• RBA’s bullock admits slow rate hikes, while Alibaba rebounds

The ASX had a rough afternoon on Friday, with the market closing near its one-month low.

Despite an upbeat start at the opening bell, the benchmark ASX 200 index finished the day 0.32% lower, and for the week, it lost around 3%. 

A broad sell-off in consumer stocks and big names like Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) – which fell 2.5% – dragged the index lower today. 

Bank stocks have been facing a bit of turmoil after National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's (ASX:ANZ) less-than-stellar updates earlier this week.

“So, is this market shake-up a warning sign, or a golden opportunity?” asked Dale Gillham at Wealth Within.

“If history has taught us anything, it’s that when fear takes hold, smart money isn’t far behind.”

Meanwhile, Domain Holdings Australia (ASX:DHG) was the standout today, surging nearly 40% after US real estate giant CoStar lobbed a bid to buy the platform at $4.20, sending shares in Domain’s parent, Nine Entertainment Company (ASX:NEC), also up by 20%. 

But REA Group (ASX:REA), Domain's biggest competitor, fell by more than 11% on the news.

Earnings reports from Aussie companies also played a big role in today’s market moves, with some big names hitting it big while others stumbled. 

Ship builder Austal's (ASX:ASB) shares jumped 15% to a five-year high after posting strong earnings for the half, with revenue up 15% to $825.7 million and net profit more than doubling to $25.1 million. 

The company’s cash position improved massively too, hitting $353.9 million thanks to a couple of big US contracts.

Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) was another standout, jumping by 13% after posting impressive earnings; while Accent Group (ASX:AX1), the footwear retailer behind Platypus and Hoka, gained 2% despite cutting its dividend to preserve cash.

Market darling Guzman y Gomez (ASX:GYG), however, was in the bad books, down by almost 12%, even though the Mexican food chain announced it was on track to beat its full-year profit forecast. 

And, iron ore stocks, like BHP (ASX:BHP), Fortescue (ASX:FMG) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) made gains as the iron ore price crept up, helping keep the ASX from falling too deep in the red.

This is where we stood leading up to Friday's close:

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

Meanwhile, at the House of Representatives Economics Committee this morning, RBA boss Michele Bullock shared some interesting thoughts about the current state of the economy. 

She admitted that the Reserve Bank had been a bit slow to lower interest rates to tackle inflation, but said that if the bank had eased too quickly, inflation might not come down as hoped.

And elsewhere in Asia today, Alibaba is bouncing back big time. 

The Chinese giant posted its fastest revenue growth in over a year, driven by e-commerce and cloud services, including AI. Shares jumped around 8% in HK and NY, adding US$24 billion to its market value.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Code	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
TX3	Trinex Minerals Ltd	0.002	50%	1,000,000	$1,878,652
CVR	Cavalier Resources	0.21	45%	1,776,992	$8,387,121
DHG	Domain Holdings Aus	4.37	40%	4,100,976	$1,970,770,317
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.004	33%	77,762	$13,588,180
MYX	Mayne Pharma Ltd	7.21	33%	4,936,106	$439,539,924
UCM	Uscom Limited	0.021	31%	47,000	$4,007,632
ALC	Alcidion Group Ltd	0.11	29%	14,614,221	$114,150,979
CDT	Castle Minerals	0.003	25%	588,686	$3,793,628
CRR	Critical Resources	0.005	25%	55,102	$9,856,885
NEC	Nine Entertainment	1.795	25%	10,359,696	$2,283,497,457
JAT	Jatcorp Limited	0.54	20%	276,198	$37,469,997
14D	1414 Degrees Limited	0.024	20%	102,650	$5,700,025
1AI	Algorae Pharma	0.006	20%	263,845	$8,436,974
TYX	Tyranna Res Ltd	0.006	20%	145,352	$16,439,627
KGL	KGL Resources Ltd	0.115	20%	73,168	$62,218,853
DES	Desoto Resources	0.125	19%	630,466	$9,721,530
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.019	19%	907,279	$12,852,838
EOL	Energy One Limited	8.5	18%	69,132	$225,877,180
IGN	Ignite Ltd	1.073	18%	2,125	$14,849,878
FBR	FBR Ltd	0.021	17%	32,768,427	$91,077,458
BNL	Blue Star Helium Ltd	0.007	17%	141,418	$16,169,312
FIN	FIN Resources Ltd	0.007	17%	1,172,089	$3,895,612
IPB	IPB Petroleum Ltd	0.007	17%	605,000	$4,238,418
OSL	Oncosil Medical	0.007	17%	500,000	$27,639,481

Cavalier Resources (ASX:CVR) rose on yesterday’s announcement, where the company signed a non-binding US$11-million stream finance deal with Raptor to fund the development of its Crawford gold project. This will cover Stage 1 open-pit development and drilling to upgrade resources. The deal is non-dilutive, meaning no new shares will be issued, and Cavalier won’t need to raise more equity. 

Mayne Pharma (ASX:MYX) shares jumped after it announced a deal with Cosette Pharmaceuticals to be acquired for $7.40 a share, a 37% premium to the pre-announcement price. The Mayne Pharma board is backing the scheme, subject to shareholder and court approvals. Cosette, a US pharma company, is fully funding the acquisition.

Castle Minerals (ASX:CDT) said its Kpali gold prospect is a major find with some impressive gold intercepts from its drilling in Ghana. Eight holes hit strong shallow mineralisation, with standout results like 12m at 8.29g/t Au, and a peak 1m intercept of 20.43g/t Au. Castle is now looking to expand its drilling program to explore even more prospects in the area, aiming to confirm a 1Moz gold resource.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.001	-50%	185,045	$3,133,999
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.0015	-25%	306,097	$57,867,624
MMR	Mec Resources	0.003	-25%	1,407,278	$7,399,063
OLI	Oliver'S Real Food	0.006	-25%	890,311	$4,325,855
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.003	-25%	5,873	$1,556,706
BIT	Biotron Limited	0.0085	-23%	13,021,275	$9,926,210
LBL	Laserbond Limited	0.465	-22%	1,550,264	$69,812,250
4DX	4Dmedical Limited	0.44	-20%	3,165,034	$227,774,217
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.004	-20%	349,000	$6,620,957
ERA	Energy Resources	0.002	-20%	166,631	$1,013,490,602
SIS	Simble Solutions	0.004	-20%	1,546,600	$4,181,652
SPK	Spark New Zealand	2.15	-19%	13,582,142	$4,868,405,837
RSH	Respiri Limited	0.045	-18%	2,572,317	$82,633,613
AUR	Auris Minerals Ltd	0.005	-17%	56,400	$2,859,756
LAU	Lindsay Australia	0.71	-15%	3,031,018	$264,465,847
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.022	-15%	1,932,557	$10,645,861
GNM	Great Northern	0.018	-14%	816,658	$3,247,211
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.006	-14%	317,606	$22,185,079
BLZ	Blaze Minerals Ltd	0.003	-14%	36,621	$5,484,317
MEM	Memphasys Ltd	0.006	-14%	835,052	$12,397,103
MGU	Magnum Mining & Exp	0.006	-14%	995,316	$5,665,530
IXC	Invex Ther	0.065	-13%	48,500	$5,636,539
SP3	Specturltd	0.013	-13%	516,645	$4,622,252
3PL	3P Learning Ltd	0.645	-13%	14,901	$201,950,826

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

With antimony prices surging to US$50,000/t this week, the timing couldn’t be better for Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) as it targets production at its Estelle project by late 2025. Located in Alaska’s Tintina Belt, the Estelle gold and critical minerals project holds a JORC resource of 9.9Moz gold, with further drilling planned this year to grow the resource.

With a scoping study due for release this quarter, Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX:BCM) has further increased confidence in the Ema indicated resource tonnage by 97% to 248Mt at 759ppm TREO. The company says the updated starter zone is sufficient enough to underpin a long-life scoping study and Ema project economics.

Horseshoe Metals (ASX:HOR)has secured a native title agreement for its Glenloth gold project in South Australia, clearing the way for a strategic review of the Old Well target area, along strike from Barton Gold’s (ASX:BGD) 1.5Moz Tunkillia project. While aiming to commercialise the asset, the company remains focused primarily on its copper assets in WA.

Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1)has delivered an optimised Preliminary Economic Assessment, outlining the potential to deliver robust economics. After-tax NPV and IRR are estimated at ~US$251m and 33% respectively, while the company has slashed capex to US$182m. GT1 is eyeing a FID in 2026, before delivering first production the year after.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Nova Minerals, Brazilian Critical Minerals, Horseshoe Metals and Green Technology 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.

Originally published as Closing Bell: ASX stumbles through a forgettable week as banks drag; Austal at five-year high