Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning! Here’s everything you need to know, and some things you don’t, before the ASX flings open its doors and begins trading today.

Everything you need to know before the ASX opens. Pic: Getty Images.

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.

The ASX had a middling day, falling ever so slightly on Tuesday after a weak lead-in from Wall Street.

Two big news items: 1) Trump wants to place a 100% tariff on films produced outside the United States. Or he doesn’t. It was partly Jon Voight’s idea. We’re living in a weird reality and it was enough to get markets jittery about what else is on the 2025 bingo card.

2) Israel stepped up a ground offensive and could plan to seize all of Gaza as the conflict escalates again.

Gold climbed close to 2% heading back in the direction of US$3400/oz as investors fled for safe haven again, with traders anxious for the outcome of the US Fed meeting currently taking place amid a climate of hostility between Prez Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

ANYWAY.

On this day in 1912 Columbia University approved plans to establish the foremost prize in journalism, literature and music, the Pulitzer.

Named after the late publisher Jozsef Pulitzer, a Hungarian émigré who pioneered the sensationalist ‘yellow journalism’ of the late 1800s at the New York World, they weren’t awarded until five years later.

It was established, like all good prizes, with a number of juries of experts who could constitutionally be overridden by its shadowy board.

OK not so shadowy, we know who they are, but they have been prone to controversy over the years.

This year’s winners were announced yesterday, check them out.

Onto your markets info…

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

• Gold: US$3,362.9/oz (+1.48%)
• Silver: US$32.98/oz (+2.10%)
• Iron Ore: US$97.35/t (+0.79%)
• Nickel (3mth): US$15,480/t (+1.495%)
• Copper (3mth): US$9,365.5 (+1.733%)
• Zinc: US$2,607.5 (+1.164%)
• Lithium carbonate (99.5% Min China Spot): US$9,250.58 (-1.25%)
• Oil (WTI): US$58.18 (-1.5%)
• Oil (Brent): US$61.29 (-4.83%)
• AUD/USD: 0.6454 (-0.1161%)
• Bitcoin: US$94,498.99 (-0.35%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Tony Locantro returns to the desk after a pit stop in Sanur, Indonesia, where he has learned the art of riding the quarterly wave.#ASX #mining #gold #health @LocantroTonyhttps://t.co/2blkc9SkDo

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) May 5, 2025

Also in the news...

The topsy-turvy market has created some lucrative trading opportunities in our big name biotechs – but like a good joke it’s a case of getting the timing right.

The uranium sector has been shaken up after the world’s largest producer Kazatomprom failed to meet production expectations. It’s left about 70% of uranium demand over the next twenty years uncontracted, a recipe for some big price movements later down the line.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Tuesday's best performing small cap stocks:

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.035	59%	2.1E+08	$60,842,510
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.003	50%	190000	$2,101,969
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.01	43%	51496080	$31,932,702
AN1	Anagenics Limited	0.008	33%	1449899	$2,977,922
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.004	33%	1062981	$5,697,666
AEV	Avenira Limited	0.009	29%	7383898	$22,243,508
BGE	Bridgesaaslimited	0.019	27%	32000	$2,997,888
WTM	Waratah Minerals Ltd	0.295	26%	5747597	$47,717,729
GCM	Green Critical Min	0.015	25%	27338485	$23,540,140
NPM	Newpeak Metals	0.015	25%	260838	$3,864,861
GES	Genesis Resources	0.01	25%	42000	$6,262,730
IPB	IPB Petroleum Ltd	0.005	25%	1042715	$2,825,612
RML	Resolution Minerals	0.01	25%	2877525	$4,206,295
WCN	White Cliff Min Ltd	0.0285	24%	2.79E+08	$43,595,827
PHO	Phosco Ltd	0.07	23%	20527	$16,301,552
GRV	Greenvale Energy Ltd	0.054	23%	254320	$23,952,427
PRS	Prospech Limited	0.027	23%	59377	$7,234,170
EQX	Equatorial Res Ltd	0.14	22%	533211	$15,116,216
LKY	Locksleyresources	0.028	22%	5761797	$3,373,333
S66	Star Combo	0.14	22%	1500	$15,534,543
REC	Rechargemetals	0.017	21%	262117	$3,597,860
SMM	Somerset Minerals	0.017	21%	21798832	$5,918,271
YRL	Yandal Resources	0.17	21%	410253	$43,292,897
HIQ	Hitiq Limited	0.03	20%	1907479	$9,189,061
1AI	Algorae Pharma	0.006	20%	727214	$8,436,974

Making news…

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) has hit a very promising copper intercept at its Danvers project in Canada, drilling 175m at 2.5% copper from just 7.6m down. The hole ended in even higher grades, still open at depth.

The company says it’s one of the best copper hits globally in decades, and is planning more drilling to chase it further. More assays are on the way, with a maiden JORC resource in the works.

Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) fronted the RIU Resources Conference with a cracking pitch on its gold-copper hunt in NSW’s Lachlan Fold Belt, one of Australia’s hottest mineral districts.

It’s sitting on a big district-scale land position at its Spur project, 100% owned, right near majors like Newmont and Gold Fields, with solid hits already in the bag including 11m at 10.8g/t gold and nearly 200m at 0.54% copper equivalent.

Waratah reckons it’s only just getting started in what’s shaping up to be a prime gold-copper postcode.

Somerset Minerals (ASX:SMM) has just wrapped up the acquisition of the high-grade Coppermine Project in Nunavut, right next door to White Cliff’s monster copper hit at Danvers.

It now controls a massive 1,200km² landholding packed with historical copper finds, including grades up to 45.4% copper, and is gearing up to launch its maiden drill campaign in just a couple of weeks.

Early targets at Coronation are looking juicy, the company said, with reprocessed geophysics lighting up multiple anomalies, and old drill holes that ended in mineralisation.

Green Critical Minerals (ASX:GCM) is enjoying increased offtake attention around its very high density graphite technology, including formal requests for product samples from a leading European and UK based thermal management solutions provider.

The company says the uptick in attention is a validation of their product's commercial potential, aligning with market needs in electronics, defence, and high-efficiency manufacturing sectors.

TRADING HALTS

Adelong Gold (ASX:ADG) - cap raise
Echo IQ (ASX:EIQ) - cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While EZZ Life Sciences and White Cliff Minerals 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 Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens