Closing Bell: Bank and tech stocks power ASX as copper gains momentum

The ASX posted a 0.56pc gain in today’s trade, lifted by upward momentum in banking, tech and copper stocks.

The ASX has been energised by wins in the financial and tech sector, as well as building momentum in copper stocks. Pic: Getty Images

• ASX lifts 0.56pc on tech and financials strength

• Mine closure, takeover offer perks up copper stocks

• Lucrative software contracts boost tech sector

The ASX gained momentum throughout the day, lifting from just 0.14% at lunchtime to add 0.56% by the end of the day.

The Info Tech and Financials sectors led the bourse higher, with some added support from copper stocks. More on that in a moment.

Source: Market Index

Several software companies made big moves on the ASX today.

Infocus Group (ASX:IFG) rocketed up 60% alongside I Synergy (ASX:IS3),up 33%, and OpenLearning (ASX:OLL) gained 28%.

You can read more about IFG and OLL in our ASX Winners section below.

Our ASX 200 Bankers put in a solid effort as well, lifting the index 1.04%.

Source: Market Index

Bendigo Bank (ASX:BEN) gained 1.44%, Westpac (ASX:WBC) 1.7% and ANZ (ASX:ANZ) 1.4%.

Copper on the rise

Despite a lacklustre performance from the Resources sector today, the ASX Small Ords is up 0.22%, in no small part due to rising copper stocks.

The bellwether metal has been in the spotlight since Ivanhoe Mines was forced to suspend operations at its Kakula copper mine in the DRC earlier this month. Seismic activity in the region has made it too dangerous to continue operations.

Between the mine closure, a mystery offshore suitor reportedly making a bid for Mac Copper (ASX:MAC) – and its Eva copper mine – and an 18.72% increase in the price of copper in the year to date, things are heating up in the copper sector.

New Frontier Minerals (ASX:NFM) jumped 8.33%, Capstone Copper Corp (ASX:CSC) 6.84% and Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) gained 3.09%.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Security	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.005	67%	15213082	$6,379,103
IFG	Infocusgroup Hldltd	0.008	60%	67667183	$1,312,134
BLZ	Blaze Minerals Ltd	0.003	50%	2000000	$3,133,896
BMO	Bastion Minerals	0.0015	50%	3500000	$903,628
HCD	Hydrocarbon Dynamics	0.003	50%	3272	$2,156,219
CVR	Cavalierresources	0.24	45%	215576	$9,543,966
HIO	Hawsons Iron Ltd	0.023	44%	15472718	$16,264,022
SHN	Sunshine Metals Ltd	0.01	43%	21162190	$14,613,514
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.004	33%	16546044	$3,594,167
IS3	I Synergy Group Ltd	0.004	33%	9982	$1,502,190
TKL	Traka Resources	0.002	33%	500000	$3,188,685
VPR	Voltgroupltd	0.002	33%	650000	$16,074,312
WYX	Western Yilgarn NL	0.027	29%	221901	$2,888,783
AMS	Atomos	0.005	25%	117861	$4,860,074
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.005	25%	3883451	$21,688,909
TOU	Tlou Energy Ltd	0.02	25%	208928	$20,777,349
G50	G50Corp Ltd	0.155	24%	199011	$20,074,707
RCE	Recce Pharmaceutical	0.355	20%	647981	$77,290,529
OLL	Openlearning	0.018	20%	1109582	$7,240,120
FG1	Flynngold	0.03	20%	1573084	$9,782,912
GGE	Grand Gulf Energy	0.003	20%	484002	$7,051,062
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.006	20%	1535016	$19,776,650
RC1	Redcastle Resources	0.006	20%	4245850	$3,717,835
WBE	Whitebark Energy	0.006	20%	2799435	$3,436,668
ARC	ARC Funds Limited	0.115	20%	25098	$4,939,409

Making news…

InFocus Group Holdings (ASX:IFG) has locked in a juicy US$3.25 million contract to build an end-to-end iGaming platform for Taiwanese outfit TG Solutions. It’s the second big win for InFocus in the digital gaming space. The platform will be white-labelled for TG’s customers and packed with features like real-time odds (inspired by Polymarket), crypto payments, tokenised rewards, digital collectibles, and AI-powered analytics.

A software-as-a-service agreement with one of the largest private universities in the Philippines will net OpenLearning (ASX:OLL) a minimum of $400k over 5 years, with potential for up to $250k per year in SaaS fees.

National University has indicated its intention to roll out OLL’s learning management system to its 85,000 students across all campuses in the coming years.

Antilles Gold (ASX:AAU) has signed two offtake deals for all the gold and copper-gold concentrate from its Nueva Sabana mine in Cuba. The buyer is a major global commodities trader, and the gold pricing has come in 12% above what was in the original feasibility study. The contracts run for the mine’s 4.5-year life, with shipments expected every two weeks and fast payments based on global metal prices.

Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN) is picking up the high-grade Sybil gold project in Queensland, locking in a $1.225 million deal from an unrelated, private party. Sybil is near Charters Towers and has strong early hits, including 7m at 10.6g/t gold and rock chips grading up to 907g/t. It hasn’t seen much action in 20 years, but SHN reckons it looks a lot like the nearby 4Moz Pajingo system.

Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX) has secured exploration licences for two new bauxite projects which have demonstrated high-grade bauxite averaging more than 35% aluminium and 4% reactive silica content.

The company says the Cardea 1 and 2 projects provide scalability, with a resource within trucking distance of a multi-user railway at a time of record high alumina and bauxite prices.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worse performing small cap stocks:

Security	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.001	-50%	113750	$4,887,272
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.001	-50%	247068	$4,114,895
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.002	-33%	726153	$3,005,349
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.001	-33%	460000	$1,776,858
RNX	Renegade Exploration	0.002	-33%	1000000	$3,865,090
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.002	-33%	1319010	$17,685,201
FCT	Firstwave Cloud Tech	0.013	-24%	628457	$29,129,818
CXU	Cauldron Energy Ltd	0.007	-22%	36424475	$13,152,641
AW1	Americanwestmetals	0.04	-22%	6894360	$30,382,869
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.004	-20%	2914029	$7,870,957
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.004	-20%	1521029	$4,349,768
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.004	-20%	2912253	$9,929,183
HLX	Helix Resources	0.002	-20%	465000	$8,410,484
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.002	-20%	100000	$15,115,373
MOH	Moho Resources	0.004	-20%	289645	$3,727,070
NRX	Noronex Limited	0.013	-19%	1287388	$8,934,163
SRK	Strike Resources	0.036	-18%	8950	$12,485,000
RON	Roninresourcesltd	0.16	-18%	50000	$7,873,127
AUR	Auris Minerals Ltd	0.005	-17%	300141	$2,859,756
MEL	Metgasco Ltd	0.0025	-17%	373000	$4,372,760
PCL	Pancontinental Energ	0.01	-17%	1639004	$97,639,030
PGY	Pilot Energy Ltd	0.005	-17%	14753090	$11,898,450
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.005	-17%	3325339	$11,982,791
NHE	Nobleheliumlimited	0.011	-15%	895267	$7,793,825
FGR	First Graphene Ltd	0.028	-15%	2149856	$24,710,847

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

RareX (ASX:REE) has tapped global advisory firm WSP to lead environmental and social planning for the Mrima Hill Critical Minerals Project in Kenya, with the support of local teams and experts.

The company has embedded socio-economic priorities in the fundamentals of the rare earth and niobium project, with a keen focus on delivering on social and environmental stewardship expectations using local knowledge, local teams and local companies.

Lumos Diagnostics’ (ASX:LDX) continues to grow US Medicare coverage for FebriDx, its rapid point-of-care diagnostic test to differentiate between bacterial and non-bacterial acute respiratory infections.

Optiscan (ASX:OIL) has also turned heads in the biotech world today, having progressed its cloud-based telepathology streaming software project to a minimum viable product stage.

Trading halts

Agrimin (ASX:AMN) – cap raise
ALS (ASX:ALQ) – cap raise
Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) – rights issue update
Loyal Lithium (ASX:LLI) – ASX query & proposed acquisition
MAC Copper (ASX:MAC) – potential control transaction
Prospech (ASX:PRS) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While RareX, Lumos Diagnostics, Western Yilgarn and Optiscan 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: Bank and tech stocks power ASX as copper gains momentum