Closing Bell: Gold, utilities soar as A2 Milk sags; ASX 200 keeps winning streak alive

The Aussie benchmark closed marginally higher today, with goldies and Utilities doing the heavy lifting

- A2 Milk’s shares plummeted 20pc amid challenges in China. Picture Getty

• ASX flattish on Monday, with utilities and gold stocks leading

• A2 Milk’s shares plummeted 20pc amid challenges in China

• Westpac and Suncorp saw gains of nearly 2pc after results release

Trading on the ASX was relatively quiet on Monday as investors parsed through a series of profit reports. At the close of day, the benchmark ASX200 index was up 0.1%.

The ASX has now notched its 7th consecutive day of wins after posting a 1% gain on Friday. 

The local bourse has been rallying  after Wall Street ended last week with a winning streak that has fully erased  losses from the week before. 

Utilities led the pack with a 2% gain after sector heavyweights Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) added 3% and AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) 1%.

Gold stocks also rallied today, with the ASX All Ordinaries Gold (XGD) index lifting 2% after bullion prices surged above US$2,500 an ounce for the first time ever.

At the time of writing, the precious metal is trading at US$2,501 per ounce, down from a peak of around US$2,545.

Today’s earnings season highlights

A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) saw its share price plummet by 20% after it reported challenging trading conditions in China and forecasted a decline in market value for FY25, with mid-single-digit revenue growth and supply constraints.

The company, however, saw a 5.2% increase in revenue to NZ$1,675.5 million and a 7.7% rise in NPAT to NZ$167.6 million.

Westpac (ASX:WBC) rose by almost 2% after reporting that its Q3 net profit was similar to last year’s figures.

Compared to the first half of 2024, Westpac's unaudited net profit rose by 6%, with the central bank’s steady policy and high interest rates boosting the bank's returns on investments. 

Suncorp (ASX:ASX) also rose by almost 2% after the company reported a 12% rise in its full-year net profit to $1.2 billion. This  was driven by higher insurance premiums, allowing Suncorp to declare a fully franked annual dividend of 78¢.

Ampol (ASX:ALD) dropped 4% after cutting its interim dividend by over a third as it reported a 29% drop in profit to $233.7 million for the half-year.

And steel maker Bluescope (ASX:BLS) tumbled 4% after reporting NPAT of $805.7 million for FY24, down by $203.5 million from the previous year. 

CEO Mark Vassella, however, said that the company demonstrated resilience, with solid performance in US steelmaking helping to offset the challenges faced in Asia.

What else happened today?

Asian stocks mostly rose on Monday, led by a strong rally in Hong Kong's technology shares, with JD.com driving most of the gains, up 5%.

Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Asia Dollar Index hit its highest level since March this afternoon, and the yen strengthened by 1% against the dollar for the second day in a row.

The rally in currencies reflects easing worries about a US recession, and growing optimism about potential lower interest rates.

All eyes will now be on Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s upcoming speech on Friday for further clues on US monetary policy.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
VPR	Volt Group	0.002	100%	1,290,000	$10,716,208
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.002	50%	375,033	$1,298,147
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.003	50%	968,365	$9,673,198
LRV	Larvottoresources	0.260	44%	23,578,060	$55,431,803
CTQ	Careteq Limited	0.017	42%	2,804,452	$2,845,425
EXL	Elixinol Wellness	0.004	33%	500,000	$3,963,547
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.016	33%	37,157,270	$9,559,628
NRZ	Neurizer Ltd	0.004	33%	6,369,094	$6,513,358
NXL	Nuix Limited	4.430	27%	4,727,861	$1,130,860,072
CHR	Charger Metals	0.086	26%	1,957,324	$5,264,577
BML	Boab Metals Ltd	0.110	26%	594,000	$20,305,374
NVA	Nova Minerals Ltd	0.163	25%	430,095	$31,662,395
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.003	25%	6,606,860	$57,867,624
ACM	Aus Critical Mineral	0.090	25%	4,898,215	$2,543,490
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.005	25%	405,000	$3,175,257
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.003	25%	2,245	$2,086,565
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.003	25%	615,118	$4,235,549
PUR	Pursuit Minerals	0.003	25%	5,257,444	$7,270,800
RDS	Redstone Resources	0.005	25%	6,350,000	$3,701,514
RIL	Redivium Limited	0.005	25%	3,761,006	$10,923,419
GED	Golden Deeps	0.031	24%	571,894	$3,031,809
USL	Unico Silver Limited	0.200	21%	400,200	$50,168,513
LIO	Lion Energy Limited	0.023	21%	513,949	$8,302,577

Careteq (ASX:CTQ) was leading the way on Monday morning after the company announced the acquisition of the remaining 45% of Embedded Health Solutions for $2.4 million. The company says that the buyout is structured as a vendor-financed transaction, with payments spread over eight quarterly instalments, and with the Sofihub business now divested, it expects Careteq to be profitable at the group level.

Larvotto Resources (ASX:LRV) was up after providing the market with an explanation of why its price has been soaring recently. The short version is this: Larvotto acquired Australia’s largest antimony deposit at the Hillgrove project in New South Wales in December 2023. Since then, China has slapped export controls on antimony, which has driven the price up 2x to about US$23,000 – leaving Larvotto in the driver’s seat as a global supplier of the critical mineral.

Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) was climbing on news of high-grade niobium intercepts from its 100% owned Gifford Creek Carbonatite, part of the Mangaroon project located in the Gascoyne Region of Western Australia. Assays from four of the 19 holes drilled have returned intercepts including 50m @ 0.9% Nb2O5 from 49m, including 20m @ 1.3% Nb2O5 from 56m, and 38m @ 0.5% Nb2O5 from 58m, including 6m @ 1.2% Nb2O5 from 60m.

Prodigy Gold (ASX:PRX) was up on news that a 13 hole RC drilling program to commence in the coming weeks at the Hyperion gold deposit, which will will concentrate on targeting areas of Hyperion that have previously returned significant aircore drilling results, which were not included in the latest Mineral Resource estimate, which already boasts 8.64Mt @ 1.5g/t Au for 407,000 ounces at a cut-off grade of 0.6g/t Au.

Global software company Nuix (ASX:NXL) was up after releasing its earnings on Monday, which revealed a 20.9% rise in revenue to $220.6 million, which has contributed to a 60.2% rise in statutory EBITDA to $55.9 million and a complete turnaround in NPAT, from -$5.6 million to +$5 million.

Charger Metals (ASX:CHR) was rising on Monday after releasing a strategic update regarding its Bynoe Lithium Project in the Northern Territory, as well as merger and acquisition discussions at the corporate level. The headline news from the update is an unsolicited non-binding, conditional, indicative offer from Core Lithium for 100% of Charger, for scrip consideration coming in at around 0.9 Core shares per Charger share – which valued Charger at $0.08cm4 per share or $6.5 million.

Australian Critical Minerals (ASX:ACM) was up on news of positive results from a 46 rock-chip sampling program the company has completed across its Cooletha and Shaw Projects in the Pilbara, WA. ACM says its samples from Cooletha averaged 54.9% Fe, with the added bonus that includes a very low phosphorous content, which averages just 0.08% at Cooletha.

Control Bionics (ASX:CBL) was up on news that the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved a new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code for its NeuroNode product. This means it now qualifies for a US$4,300 reimbursement that wasn’t previously available.

Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) is up this morning, but that’s alongside news that CEO Christopher Gerteisen has been invited to present at the Emerging Growth Company Conference on 21 August 2024 – which is fantastic news for Christopher and Nova, but unlikely to be the reason behind Nova’s jump this morning.

Spenda (ASX:SPX) was climbing earlier on Monday morning on news that its acquiree company Limepay has executed an agreement to process Lessn’s entire payments volumes, currently about $50 million per annum, using Limepay’s white-labelled payment widget product, to enable payment services on Lessn’s platform.

In a boon for hydrogen-focused Frontier Energy (ASX:FHE), ex-WA Premier Mark McGowan has signed onto the board as non-exec chair to help drive the development of its Waroona renewables project in WA. Stage One of the Waroona will construct a 120MWdc (megawatts of direct current) solar facility with an integrated 4.5 hour duration, 80MW/360MWh lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) battery that will supply clean electricity into the South West Interconnected System.

“Frontier’s Waroona project stands out as a significant asset in Western Australia’s transition, at a time when energy security is paramount, and the state continues to experience new demand records,” McGowan says.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
SI6	SI6 Metals Limited	0.001	-33%	260,330	$3,553,289
CMD	Cassius Mining Ltd	0.005	-29%	5,174,833	$3,794,031
YAR	Yari Minerals Ltd	0.003	-25%	1	$1,929,431
ADY	Admiralty Resources.	0.008	-24%	1,850,574	$17,109,476
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.002	-20%	370,522	$1,529,054
AJX	Alexium Int Group	0.008	-20%	2,868,700	$15,620,585
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.004	-20%	34,615	$3,339,528
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.002	-20%	150,000	$2,524,913
PNT	Panthermetalsltd	0.029	-19%	294,365	$3,137,982
XGL	Xamble Group Limited	0.021	-19%	38,000	$7,700,085
A2M	The A2 Milk Company	5.690	-19%	13,003,245	$5,067,773,004
EOF	Ecofibre Limited	0.030	-17%	474,823	$13,639,460
RVT	Richmond Vanadium	0.250	-17%	40,959	$25,862,342
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.003	-17%	281,331	$3,634,296
AKN	Auking Mining Ltd	0.010	-17%	271,475	$3,824,244
AMD	Arrow Minerals	0.003	-17%	7,172,212	$31,618,095
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.003	-17%	6,313	$1,189,924
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.003	-17%	774,884	$3,715,461
RNE	Renu Energy Ltd	0.003	-17%	393	$2,178,402
HCT	Holista CollTech Ltd	0.011	-15%	568,960	$3,624,401
PAT	Patriot Lithium	0.042	-14%	16,081	$5,070,543
MCM	Mc Mining Ltd	0.090	-14%	218,256	$43,471,402
CRR	Critical Resources	0.006	-14%	70,112	$12,462,452

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX:BCM) has flagged a path to cost effective and environmentally friendly in-situ leaching at its Ema rare earths project in Brazil after testing showed a strong and rapid response to water permeability field trials.

Frontier Energy (ASX:FHE) has appointed former Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan as its non-executive chairman. The company is expected to benefit from his strong knowledge of Federal Government processes.

Javelin Minerals (ASX:JAV) has outlined eight priority targets in a review of geophysical data from the Coogee gold project near Kalgoorlie that was previously mined by Ramelius Resources until 2013.

Killi Resources (ASX:KLI) has raised $2m through a placement to fund a 10 hole drill program targeting the high-grade Kaa gold-copper target within the wider Mt Rawdon West project in Queensland.

Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM) has formed a joint venture that will allow Helix Resources (ASX:HLX) to earn up to 80% of the Central Cobar project by drilling into numerous untested targets. Deal allows Legacy to retain exposure while turning focus to copper prospectivity nearby.

Optican (ASX:OIL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine to trial clinical applications and develop clinical data around using the company’s digital confocal laser endomicroscopic imaging system in animal care.

Peregrine Gold (ASX:PGD) has completed mapping and sampling work that has enhanced the potential of the Epithermal prospect within its Newman gold project in WA’s Pilbara region to host mineralisation at depth.

Summit Minerals (ASX:SUM) says Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) surveys have identified previously unknown pegmatite trends across the Equador niobium project in Brazil. This will inform upcoming bulk sampling and drilling programs.

Further rock chip assays at White Cliff Minerals’ (ASX:WCN) Great Bear project have confirmed widespread and high-grade copper, gold and silver associated with multiple IOCG and epithermal systems.

Zeotech (ASX:ZEO) has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of veteran industrial metals executive and former Andromeda Metals managing director James Marsh as its new chief executive officer as it seeks to become Australia’s first large-scale producer of high reactivity metakaolin.

Strategic Energy Resources (ASX:SER) has begun drilling the Achilles 1 polymetallic prospect within its South Cobar project tenements in QLD.  A 3,000m reverse circulation drilling program is looking to test a strong soil anomaly and its relationship to the prospective Achilles Shear, host to the recent Achilles 3 polymetallic discovery by Australian Gold and Copper (ASX:AGC) just 7km to the north.

Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS) has raised $609,000 under a recent share purchase plan (SPP) to focus on its clay hosted rare earth discovery in WA. A diamond drill rig is set to start this week, providing the company with density measurements for a maiden resource estimate that is planned for the end of the year.

Charger Metals (ASX:CHR) has engaged with multiple companies expressing an interest in CHR and its Bynoe lithium project within the Northern Territory Litchfield pegmatite field. The project is enclosed by Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) and its Finniss lithium project, one of the companies CHR is in discussions with after it received an unsolicited non-binding, conditional offer from CXO to acquire Charger. The view of the CHR board is that the terms currently provided in the offer don’t fully reflect the company’s value and prospects.

Astral Resources (ASX:AAR) has confirmed the potential of its Kamperman prospect with the final three holes from a 26-hole program returning up to 10m at 5.04 g/t gold from 99m and 32m at 2.13 g/t gold from 125m. These infill results continue to support the interpretation of a very continuous, steeply west dipping zone of high-grade gold mineralisation in the southern part of the deposit.

TRADING HALTS

Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) – pending the release of an announcement regarding the Company’s response to Charger Metals (ASX: CHR) announcement lodged earlier today and titled Strategic Update and the non-binding indicative offer made by CXO to CHR as referenced in that announcement.

Grand Gulf Energy (ASX:GGE) – pending an announcement regarding a capital raising.

Fertoz (ASX:FTZ) – pending the release of an announcement by the Company in relation to a capital raising.

Toubani Resources (ASX:TRE) – pending an announcement regarding a proposed capital raising.

Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1) – pending an announcement regarding a strategic partnership and placement.

Auswide Bank (ASX:ABA) – pending an announcement in relation to completion of an  institutional placement.

Armada Metals (ASX:AMM) – pending the release of an announcement with respect to a material transaction and capital raising.

Terra Uranium (ASX:T92) – for the purposes of finalising the intended terms of a proposed material exploration arrangement and procuring commitments under a proposed material capital raising.

Zinc of Ireland (ASX:ZMI) –  an announcement to the market regarding a capital raising.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Strategic Energy Resources, Venture Minerals, Charger Metals, Astral Resources, Brazilian Critical Minerals, Frontier Energy, Javelin Minerals, Killi Resources, Legacy Minerals, Optiscan, Peregrine Gold, Summit Minerals, White Cliff Minerals and Zeotech are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

Originally published as Closing Bell: Gold, utilities soar as A2 Milk sags; ASX 200 keeps winning streak alive