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Closing Bell: Market weathers tariff gloom to finish in the green

The ASX found some momentum in the energy sector today, rising 0.08pc despite general anxieties over US tariff impacts.

The ASX managed to find a bright spot amongst the gloom, finishing an overall negative session in the green after lifting late in trade. Pic: Getty Images.
The ASX managed to find a bright spot amongst the gloom, finishing an overall negative session in the green after lifting late in trade. Pic: Getty Images.

ASX lifts as clouds part for energy sector

The ASX was in a decidedly bad mood today, hanging out in negative territory for the majority of the trading session before recovering in the last half hour.

The market closed up 0.08%, crossing into positive territory on a last-minute rally in energy stocks.

A 2% uptick in oil prices had the sector yoyo-ing through the day before finally settling in the green to provide some much-needed support for the broader market.

Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) lifted 1.57% and Santos (ASX:STO) added 2%. A little further down the pecking order, alternative energy companies were also moving higher.

Green hydrogen firm Provaris Energy (ASX:PV1) climbed 4.55%, and natural hydrogen plays HyTerra (ASX:HYT) and Gold Hydrogen (ASX:GHY) added 5.56% and 1.79% each.

The real estate sector was the biggest drag, shedding 0.44% with lesser losses in consumer staples, financials and materials.

Source: Market Index
Source: Market Index

The EU-US trade deal also applied pressure to the gold price overnight, sliding 0.8% to US$3310 an ounce before recovering most of that in today’s session.

The ASX All Ords Gold index still fell 0.28%, mirroring the larger materials sector despite a small uptick in resource stocks.

Source: Market Index
Source: Market Index

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
BEO Beonic Ltd 0.32 49% 219661 $15,235,117
HLX Helix Resources 0.002 33% 2745339 $5,046,291
NAE New Age Exploration 0.004 33% 6000000 $8,117,734
B4P Beforepay Group 2.18 33% 204334 $79,383,074
NOX Noxopharm Limited 0.125 29% 2317923 $28,347,081
SCP Scalare Partners 0.16 28% 293110 $5,229,378
EVG Evion Group NL 0.038 27% 3075443 $13,047,599
HFR Highfield Res Ltd 0.195 26% 625545 $73,481,942
D3E D3 Energy Limited 0.335 24% 565977 $21,458,252
BSA BSA Limited 0.09 23% 15510313 $5,496,919
HCT Holista CollTech Ltd 0.089 22% 1138344 $24,458,551
BDG Black Dragon Gold 0.06 20% 722759 $15,898,303
EE1 Earths Energy Ltd 0.006 20% 100000 $2,649,821
FBR FBR Ltd 0.006 20% 7267046 $28,447,261
SKK Stakk Limited 0.006 20% 83333 $10,375,398
1TT Thrive Tribe Tech 0.0095 19% 791210 $812,691
BM8 Battery Age Minerals 0.07 19% 6584846 $8,956,308
CHM Chimeric Therapeutic 0.0035 17% 4244892 $9,747,370
ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.007 17% 407721 $8,745,600
TON Triton Min Ltd 0.007 17% 607569 $9,410,332
TSL Titanium Sands Ltd 0.007 17% 228039 $14,068,483
GRV Greenvale Energy Ltd 0.051 16% 371924 $23,952,427
AUZ Australian Mines Ltd 0.008 14% 1314681 $11,977,085
AX8 Accelerate Resources 0.008 14% 506793 $5,720,321
BLU Blue Energy Limited 0.008 14% 125000 $12,956,815

In the news…

LiDAR-based logistics company Beonic (ASX:BEO) has secured a contract to deploy its passenger flow management technology across seven major international airports in north Africa.

BEO reckons the contract is worth about $10.6m over its 2.5-year term, with an option to extend for another three years. The company is already operating in the London Heathrow, JFK Terminal 4, Narita and Abu Dhabi airport hubs.

Evion Group’s (ASX:EVG) Maniry graphite project has joined an exclusive group of 13 non-EU projects acknowledged by the European Commission’s Strategic Projects initiative under the Critical Raw Materials Act.

It’s a big nod to the project’s chops, confirming it as a strategic source of natural graphite at a time when China – the world’s number one producer – is throttling international supply.

Technical services company BSA (ASX:BSA) delivered $286.8m in revenue for FY2025, a 7% uptick compared to last year. While that’s a solid performance by anyone’s standards, the company is warning of some serious headwinds on the horizon.

BSA was unsuccessful in a new bid on a contract with the NBN, and its smart metering contracts with Intellihub and Bluecurrent are winding down to just about nothing by next year.

As those contracts represented 92% of BSA’s yearly revenue, the company is aggressively restructuring in an effort to keep the ship afloat, but it’s not going to be an easy road.

Direct-to-consumer lending firm Beforepay (ASX:B4P) has grown in leaps and bounds this quarter, achieving a 113% increase in quarterly net profit after pulling in $2.4m.

Year-on-year revenue is also up 15% to $10.4m and active users have increased 12% to just under 270,000. CEO Jamie Twiss said he "couldn’t be happier with this result; it’s the perfect way to end a strong financial year.”

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.2 -3333% 70167018 $12,046,306
DTM Dart Mining NL 0.3 -2500% 9197764 $4,792,222
EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.15 -2500% 1100500 $8,219,762
SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.15 -2500% 400001 $9,673,198
LM1 Leeuwin Metals Ltd 11 -2414% 1202325 $14,616,926
ANR Anatara Ls Ltd 0.7 -2222% 5143866 $1,920,454
GLA Gladiator Resources 0.7 -2222% 1100000 $6,824,671
PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.2 -2000% 1421349 $15,875,278
QXR Qx Resources Limited 0.4 -2000% 936755 $6,551,644
RDN Raiden Resources Ltd 0.4 -2000% 3275000 $17,254,457
VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.4 -2000% 1716667 $23,424,247
KZR Kalamazoo Resources 9.1 -1727% 7641683 $24,133,287
1AI Algorae Pharma 0.5 -1667% 2991398 $10,124,368
BYH Bryah Resources Ltd 0.5 -1667% 139990 $6,171,195
TMX Terrain Minerals 0.25 -1667% 3666666 $7,595,443
IFG Infocusgroup Hldltd 1.6 -1579% 3441552 $5,546,844
GRL Godolphin Resources 1.1 -1538% 100000 $5,835,353
RPG Raptis Group Limited 20.5 -1458% 271844 $84,164,365
KOB Kobaresourceslimited 3.6 -1429% 181858 $8,344,207
AKN Auking Mining Ltd 0.6 -1429% 1379280 $4,816,814
ATV Activeportgroupltd 1.2 -1429% 1621803 $9,617,679
FCT Firstwave Cloud Tech 1.5 -1429% 105900 $29,986,577
NES Nelson Resources. 0.3 -1429% 300000 $7,601,747
RKT Rocketdna Ltd. 1.2 -1429% 1189554 $12,817,325
SP3 Specturltd 1.2 -1429% 205778 $4,436,602

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) has delivered a 30kg bulk sample from its Araxá project to a Brazilian government-backed supply chain program.

CuFe (ASX:CUF) has unveiled a scoping study highlighting the strong economics of the Orlando open pit cutback within its 55%-owned Tennant Creek copper-gold project in the Northern Territory.

Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) recorded its third consecutive quarter of positive net cash flow since listing on the ASX in July 2020 and has reaffirmed FY26 revenue guidance.

DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) has kicked off a soil sampling program to guide maiden auger drilling at its Central rutile project in Cameroon.

Pancontinental Energy (ASX:PCL) has increased both the potential scale and geological chance of successfully finding oil at its PEL 87 project in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia.

Loyal Metals (ASX:LLM) is using modern exploration including a high-tech geophysics drone survey to identify new copper-gold targets.

Victory Metals (ASX:VTM) has produced a high-value, mixed rare earth oxide at its North Stanmore project in Western Australia.

Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML) has enlisted two Trump-affiliated firms to back its Horse Heaven antimony-tungsten project in proposed Nasdaq listing.

Trading Halts

Astute Metals (ASX:ASE) – cap raise
Catalina Resources (ASX:CTN) – exploration results
IRIS Metals (ASX:IR1) – cap raise
Noviqtech (ASX:NVQ) – quantum computing deal and cap raise
Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) – cap raise
Sequoia Financial Group (ASX:SEQ) – price query response
Strategic Energy Resources (ASX:SER) – cap raise
TechGen Metals (ASX:TG1) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While HyTerra is a Stockhead advertiser, it 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: Market weathers tariff gloom to finish in the green

Original URL: https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/business/stockhead/closing-bell-market-weathers-tariff-gloom-to-finish-in-the-green/news-story/6318092a93e107100703ad246eb4e514