ASX Lunch Wrap: Xero lifts ASX higher; Selfwealth skyrockets after attracting another suitor

The ASX has risen on Thursday, thanks to positive US inflation news. Meanwhile, Xero has ticked up 5 per cent and Selfwealth has attracted  off a second suitor.

Selfwealth attracts another suitor. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX rises on US inflation data

• Xero up 5pc, Mesoblast jumps 18pc, Selfwealth attracts AxiCorp

• Aussie dollar drops, Bitcoin hits $US93k before retreating

The ASX opened higher on Thursday following a mixed session on Wall Street overnight. At about 1pm AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was up by 0.3 per cent.

The rally came in the wake of US inflation data for October released last night, which showed that consumer prices had risen by nearly 0.50 per cent as expected, bringing the annual inflation rate to 3.6 per cent.

The data has reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates next month.

On the ASX, technology stocks led after Xero's (ASX:XRO) 5 per cent jump. Xero reported strong half-year earnings, a 51 per cent increase in EBITDA along with a 76 per cent rise in net profit.

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) surged by almost 18 per cent on no specific news.

Still in large caps, Nufarm (ASX:NUF), a manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, saw its share price jump by 9 per cent despite a sharp decline in earnings.

Another company facing challenges is Graincorp (ASX:GNC), which saw its net profit slump 75 per cent, from $250 million last year to $62 million for FY24. The company declared a final dividend of 24 cents per share, and shares fell 4 per cent on Thursday morning.

In other news, Cleanaway (ASX:CWY) rose by 5 per cent after the ACCC said the company's proposed acquisition of the City of Melbourne’s waste business, Citywide, could further increase Cleanaway’s already dominant position in the Melbourne market.

NOT THE ASX

The Aussie dollar also saw some movement this morning, sliding below US65¢ during the session as investors continued to digest the US dollar’s strength following the US inflation report.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin reached another milestone, climbing above $US93,000 for the first time before paring gains and trading at $US90,239 at the time of writing,

Wall Street saw mixed trading last night, with stocks fluctuating as investors weighed the potential for further Federal Reserve rate cuts.

The S&P 500 closed flat, while the Nasdaq 100 fell by 0.2 per cent, and the Dow Jones rose 0.1 per cent.

The market appeared to lose momentum in the final hours of trading, as some traders questioned whether the rally had gone too far.

This was partly offset by data showing inflation in line with expectations, which offered some relief for investors fearing a hotter-than-expected reading.

The Fed remains a focal point as swap traders raised the probability of a rate cut in December to 80 per cent.

The big corporate news on Wall Street came from Cisco, which offered an optimistic outlook but a more cautious long-term forecast.

Investors are also focused on other upcoming events, such as Nvidia's earnings report, which is expected to be a major market mover next week.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for November 14:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AUH	Austchina Holdings	0.002	100%	137,500	$2,400,384
MWY	Midway Ltd	1.225	60%	1,634,721	$66,812,210
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.002	50%	2,063,753	$1,298,147
MTL	Mantle Minerals Ltd	0.002	33%	900,000	$9,296,169
ATV	ActivePort Group Ltd	0.026	30%	12,122,742	$9,673,488
VAR	Variscan Mines Ltd	0.009	29%	12,396,459	$4,610,032
MEM	Memphasys Ltd	0.005	25%	8,363,894	$7,052,326
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.005	25%	472,000	$3,571,435
VML	Vital Metals Ltd	0.003	25%	587,656	$11,790,134
XPN	Xpon Technologies	0.016	23%	1,034,764	$4,711,739
SWF	Selfwealth	0.250	22%	6,097,227	$47,300,000
FSG	Field Solu Holdings Ltd	0.030	20%	1,361,902	$19,336,114
ADG	Adelong Gold Ltd	0.006	20%	17,314	$5,589,945
MDR	Medadvisor Ltd	0.295	18%	801,677	$137,826,909
FFG	Fatfish Group	0.020	18%	31,892,066	$23,911,741
E79	E79 Gold Mines Ltd	0.027	17%	480,803	$2,349,741
MSB	Mesoblast Ltd	1.790	17%	9,800,615	$1,741,220,774
QPM	Queensland Pacific	0.048	17%	12,793,554	$103,368,333
CDX	Cardiex Ltd	0.140	17%	273,966	$35,300,948
MKR	Manuka Resources.	0.028	17%	670,089	$18,714,424
RGL	Riversgold	0.004	17%	153,040	$4,882,388
UNT	Unith Ltd	0.015	15%	5,220,398	$15,974,210
WHK	Whitehawk Ltd	0.015	15%	4,233,928	$6,733,731

Forest products supplier, Midway (ASX:MWY), surged after the company announced it had entered into a binding agreement with River Capital for the acquisition of all its shares.

Under the deal, Midway shareholders will receive $1.19 per share in cash, which includes a special dividend of $0.38 per share.

This offer represents a 56 per cent premium over Midway's closing price the day before the announcement. Also, shareholders have the option to receive the offer in cash or a combination of cash and shares.

ActivePort Group (ASX:ATV) and Radian Arc have signed a binding agreement for a $4m licence deal.

Under the agreement, Radian Arc will acquire a perpetual licence for cloud gaming software, paying Activeport a one-time upfront fee of $4m. This will also offset other agreements between the two companies.

Activeport will use the funds to focus on expanding its network orchestration software in the telecommunications and data centre sectors. Activeport said the deal marks a shift, allowing it to concentrate on its core business, while Radian Arc takes cloud gaming development in-house.

Variscan Mines (ASX:VAR) announced the start of underground drilling at the Udias Mine in northern Spain, marking the first drilling at the site.

The mine is connected to the San Jose Mine along the 12km Novales-Udias Trend, and historical data shows high-grade zinc-lead mineralisation, much of which is outside the current resource estimate.

Drilling is targeting new areas, including parts of the mine never drilled before, with the aim of expanding the mineral resource.

Variscan recently secured an exploration licence for the central Udias area, and said it was optimistic about unlocking additional high-grade zinc resources. The company expects to update its resource inventory following the drilling programme.

Immutep (ASX:IMM) rose after two major announcements showing promising data from its clinical trials.

Firstly, the company revealed INSIGHT-003 trial results in non-small cell lung cancer, which demonstrated that its drug eftilagimod alpha (efti), combined with immunotherapy treatment KEYTRUDA and chemotherapy, significantly improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival compared to historical controls.

The median OS was 32.9 months, and the 24-month survival rate was 81 per cent, both impressive outcomes for a population that traditionally responds less well to immunotherapy.

Secondly, Immutep presented positive phase II data from the EFTISARC-NEO trial in soft tissue sarcoma.

The trial showed that combining efti with radiotherapy and KEYTRUDA led to a three-fold increase in tumour hyalinisation (a key predictor of survival) compared to standard radiotherapy.

SelfWealth (ASX:SWF) rose another 20 per cent on Thursday after Wednesday's 70 per cent jump, following a non-binding proposal from AxiCorp to acquire the company for $0.23 per share.

This follows a similar proposal from Bell Financial at $0.22 per share. Both offers are contingent on conditions, including approval from the Selfwealth board and no major changes to the business.

Axi has expressed a willingness to move quickly and bypass due diligence or financing conditions. Selfwealth shareholders don't need to take any action yet, and there's no certainty that either proposal will proceed.

MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) rose after announcing it is reviewing strategic options to maximise shareholder value, believing its current market valuation doesn't reflect the full value of its Australian and US businesses.

The review will consider various initiatives to address this, but there is no guarantee of any changes.

MedAdvisor intends to continue with its current plans, including the Transformation 360° project, during the review, which is expected to take up to three months. The company does not plan to make acquisitions or raise capital during this period.

And, per the resolution passed at the recent annual general meeting on Thursday, Queensland Pacific Metals' (ASX:QPM) name has now been formally changed to QPM Energy Limited (ASX:QPM).

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for November 13:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
SCP	Scalare Partners	0.250	-77%	171,053	$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
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%	5,000,000	$4,007,132
EE1	Earths Energy Ltd	0.012	-25%	2,014,087	$8,479,427
AJL	AJ Lucas Group	0.007	-22%	895,708	$12,381,567
RDG	Res Dev Group Ltd	0.014	-22%	1,966,795	$53,115,446
STG	Straker Limited	0.370	-22%	145,265	$30,561,167
PGD	Peregrine Gold	0.120	-20%	112,944	$10,181,763
SRN	Surefire Rescs NL	0.004	-20%	1,015,519	$9,931,539
DUB	Dubber Corp Ltd	0.023	-18%	8,279,381	$58,662,610
LPM	Lithium Plus	0.115	-18%	179,230	$18,597,600
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.028	-18%	502,007	$18,814,212
HMD	Heramed Limited	0.019	-17%	2,328,982	$18,113,933
ERA	Energy Resources	0.003	-17%	467,176	$66,444,898
FIN	FIN Resources Ltd	0.005	-17%	452,270	$3,895,612
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.005	-17%	3,071,555	$2,335,058
PUA	Peak Minerals Ltd	0.005	-17%	894,000	$14,982,662
LEG	Legend Mining	0.011	-15%	300,000	$37,823,203
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.018	-14%	476,739	$2,160,273
ALM	Alma Metals Ltd	0.006	-14%	500,000	$10,965,656

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

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 Prodigy Gold, Recce Pharmaceuticals, Suvo Strategic Minerals and Queensland Pacific Metals Ltd (now QPM Energy Limited) are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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

Originally published as ASX Lunch Wrap: Xero lifts ASX higher; Selfwealth skyrockets after attracting another suitor