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Lunch Wrap: ASX runs out of puff, but Life360 keeps rocketing higher

Wall Street’s flying but the ASX skids this morning. Life360 rockets again, while stocks like Macquarie and Aristocrat stumble.

ASX cools off after five-day sprint. Picture via Getty Images
ASX cools off after five-day sprint. Picture via Getty Images

The ASX ran out of puff this morning, snapping a five-day winning streak with a small 0.05% dip by lunchtime, AEST.

The local slump stood in contrast to a cracking session on Wall Street last night, where tech stocks took off on the back of easing trade tensions.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and, in a bit of a milestone, finally wiped out all its 2025 losses.

Nvidia led the charge, up 6%, pushing the Nasdaq deeper into bull market territory.

CEO Jensen Huang announced Nvidia will be shipping more than 18,000 of its flash new GB300 AI chips to Saudi firm Humain. The deal was unveiled during a Trump-led CEO tour of the region.

Cyber firm Palantir also soared 9% after news of a monster US$142 billion defence deal with the Saudis.

Microsoft, on the other hand, announced 6000 job losses as it reshuffles to stay lean in a shifting tech landscape.

April’s US CPI reading came in softer than expected, cooling inflation jitters and pushing Fed rate cut bets back to September.

Back home, the spotlight was on wages this morning.

The Aussie Wage Price Index came in at 0.9% for the quarter, just a touch above forecasts. It’s solid, but not scorching.

Enough for the RBA to take a breath, but not enough to slam the door on rate cuts altogether, experts said.

Over to the ASX, energy stocks were running hot after Brent and WTI both surged 2.5% overnight.

Source: Market Index
Source: Market Index
Source: Market Index
Source: Market Index

In large caps news, Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) dropped 2% after ASIC launched legal action over its short-selling disclosures. Not the headline you want when you're the country’s top investment bank.

Gaming giant Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL) took an even bigger hit, down 13% after missing half-year revenue targets, dragging down the discretionary sector.

Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) moved the other way, rising 3.5% after flagging that Saudi giant Aramco might take a stake in its Louisiana LNG project.

Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) lifted 0.6% after posting a 6% jump in quarterly profit. Margins are holding, lending’s up, and while Aussie households are still doing it tough, the bank said its numbers are holding firm.

And finally, Life360's (ASX:360) stock price is still going vertical. After jumping 14% yesterday, it was up another 10% by late morning, riding a wave of new users and fattened-up revenues in Q1. Investors are clearly liking 360’s direction, and its speed.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

Security Description Last % Volume MktCap
CRB Carbine Resources 0.007 75% 3,813,685 2,206,951.02
RMI Resource Mining Corp 0.009 50% 4,346,709 3,992,434.42
ERA Energy Resources 0.002 50% 20,902,963 405,396,240.82
SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.002 50% 800,000 7,254,898.77
TMX Terrain Minerals 0.003 50% 25,000 4,497,113.20
CP8 Canphosphateltd 0.025 39% 13,771 5,521,689.49
HFR Highfield Res Ltd 0.150 36% 1,043,191 52,148,474.73
MRQ Mrg Metals Limited 0.004 33% 20,043,674 8,179,555.88
OSL Oncosil Medical 0.004 33% 539,205 16,123,037.83
CXO Core Lithium 0.096 32% 66,896,706 156,440,134.71
VMT Vmoto Limited 0.099 25% 669,530 30,722,291.12
CAV Carnavale Resources 0.005 25% 3,250,520 16,360,873.58
DTM Dart Mining NL 0.005 25% 3,141,990 4,792,222.31
TFL Tasfoods Ltd 0.005 25% 1,103,013 1,748,382.06
OIL Optiscan Imaging 0.120 20% 374,805 83,534,080.30
EAT Entertainment 0.006 20% 23,005 6,543,930.08
EM2 Eagle Mountain 0.006 20% 100,000 6,242,705.09
IPB IPB Petroleum Ltd 0.006 20% 36,557 3,532,015.30
IPT Impact Minerals 0.006 20% 5,029,166 19,247,483.08
SPX Spenda Limited 0.006 20% 1,539,635 25,383,685.14
VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.006 20% 333,333 23,423,889.92
PUA Peak Minerals Ltd 0.019 19% 25,360,278 44,917,140.64
MIO Macarthur Minerals 0.020 18% 81,374 3,394,313.67
HVY Heavymineralslimited 0.235 18% 148,859 13,513,718.40

Carbine Resources (ASX:CRB) has just locked in a mining lease for its Muchea West Silica Sand Project in WA. The lease (M70/1433) covers part of the project’s 110Mt high-grade silica resource, and runs for 21 years. It’s a big step forward, but it doesn’t mean mining can start just yet. Carbine still needs environmental and defence-related approvals, including green lights around the Muchea Air Weapons Range.

MRG Metals (ASX:MRQ) has been granted the Linhuane heavy mineral sands licence in Mozambique’s Gaza Province. The 56km² site sits right near the coast, and covers an 18km stretch of promising palaeodune. Old Rio Tinto drilling shows high-grade mineral sands close to surface, with standout hits like 10.5m at 15.6% THM and 10m at 17.9% THM. No drilling has gone deeper than 10.5m yet, so there’s still plenty of potential to uncover.

Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) has updated the numbers at its Finniss Lithium Project in the NT, locking in 10.73Mt at 1.29% Li₂O in Ore Reserves, enough to cover the first 10 years of its mine plan. The Grants Reserve has doubled to 1.15Mt with a shift to underground mining, which is expected to lower costs and unlock more tonnes. Overall Mineral Resources have edged up slightly to 48.5Mt, with an extra 310kt added from old tailings and stockpiles. CXO reckons there’s still more life to squeeze out of the broader tenement package, too.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for May 14 :

Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.001 -50% 200,000 1,553,413
MOM Moab Minerals Ltd 0.001 -33% 38,727,750 2,600,499
OLH Oldfields Holdings 0.029 -26% 371,923 8,309,306
ADY Admiralty Resources. 0.004 -20% 126,000 13,147,397
FHS Freehill Mining Ltd. 0.004 -20% 2,650,000 16,167,639
RLL Rapid Lithium Ltd 0.002 -20% 100,000 3,112,362
TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.004 -20% 1,237,939 16,442,127
G11 G11 Resources Ltd 0.013 -19% 1,114,626 15,465,954
TG1 Techgen Metals Ltd 0.022 -19% 55,049 4,283,974
PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.003 -17% 102,484 6,712,918
NPM Newpeak Metals 0.011 -15% 58,500 4,186,933
IFL Insignia Financial 3.385 -15% 3,666,851 2,682,904,572
OEQ Orion Equities 0.145 -15% 3,532 2,660,369
ARV Artemis Resources 0.006 -14% 67,822 17,699,705
LM1 Leeuwin Metals Ltd 0.155 -14% 1,006,444 18,145,149
NZK NZK Salmon Ltd 0.195 -13% 728 121,091,011
REE Rarex Limited 0.026 -13% 2,437,172 24,025,375
AEI Aeris Environmental 0.040 -13% 237,000 11,315,749
TAS Tasman Resources Ltd 0.020 -13% 88,486 3,704,157
ALL Aristocrat Leisure 59.470 -13% 2,433,840 42,614,449,136
MYX Mayne Pharma Ltd 5.940 -13% 1,085,076 551,659,165
AHK Ark Mines Limited 0.210 -13% 83,467 15,878,568
AVL Aust Vanadium Ltd 0.012 -12% 2,902,196 112,250,555
ATS Australis Oil & Gas 0.008 -11% 6,519,912 11,862,562

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA) is drilling for more high-grade gold at the Minos gold deposit in South Australia with a reverse circulation rig already onsite. The company plans to drill about 6600m, looking for extensions to gold hits of up to 21m at 8.43 g/t gold and 38m at 6.54 g/t gold.

DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) has exploration imminent over a pair of recently acquired rutile and mineral sands projects in Cameroon. Watch StockTake for more.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Indiana Resources and DY6 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 Lunch Wrap: ASX runs out of puff, but Life360 keeps rocketing higher

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/stockhead/lunch-wrap-asx-runs-out-of-puff-but-life360-keeps-rocketing-higher/news-story/8b300b0acbc83f7b0eaa66c28b7d1469