ASX Lunch Wrap: ASX wobbles despite mining gains, and Goldman warns of correction

The ASX has dipped on Friday, while mining holds. Meanwhile Goldman sees 30% chance of crash in 2025, and the Aussie dollar has hit a two-year low.

ASX wobbles again on Friday morning. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX wobbles but mining bucks the trend

• Goldman warns: 30% chance of market crash in 2025

• Aussie dollar slumps to two-year low after retail sales flop

The ASX seesawed at the start of Friday’s morning session. The S&P/ASX 200 index started strong, but it was deep in the red by 12:40pm AEDT, down 0.6%.

On Wall Street overnight, it was a mixed bag, too, as traders took some comfort in US jobless claims coming in better than expected.

But investors were given a wake-up call by Goldman Sachs, who warned of a 30% chance of a major Wall Street correction in 2025.

With sky-high valuations, inflation still lingering, and Trump’s political wildcard, Goldman believes US stocks are "priced for perfection" – leaving little room for error.

Back to the ASX, ten of the 11 sectors were in the negative this morning.

The bright spot today was mining, which rose thanks to the rise in iron ore prices; while goldies also saw decent gains.

The Aussie dollar, meanwhile, hit a fresh two-year low at US61.80 cents.

Weak retail sales data, which landed yesterday, has effectively raised expectations the RBA could cut rates soon, which spells trouble for the AUD/USD currency pair.

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

In the large caps space, Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR) tanked a further 14%, extending yesterday's 27% loss. The casino operator’s future is looking grim, with fears it could go into voluntary administration unless it can get a deal to save itself pretty soon.

And Novonix (ASX:NVX), the battery tech company, has struck a licensing deal with Harper International for exclusive rights to its graphitisation furnace tech, aimed at boosting production of synthetic graphite for lithium-ion batteries. Shares, however, were down 0.7%. 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for January 10th :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
NRZ	Neurizer Ltd	0.002	100%	4,405,894	$2,964,861
RAD	Radiopharm	0.037	54%	53,783,449	$52,815,523
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.002	33%	500,000	$6,164,814
RAN	Range International	0.004	33%	591,428	$2,817,871
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.003	25%	299,974	$3,081,664
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.003	25%	270,000	$18,651,130
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.005	25%	204,614	$6,678,125
WGR	Westerngoldresources	0.046	21%	3,820,972	$6,473,492
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.003	20%	170,000	$5,079,308
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.006	20%	140,628	$1,697,687
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.006	20%	3,497,575	$25,749,518
TAS	Tasman Resources Ltd	0.006	20%	21,400	$4,026,248
HCT	Holista CollTech Ltd	0.026	18%	311,153	$6,286,868
TM1	Terra Metals Limited	0.027	17%	538,404	$9,136,081
PGM	Platina Resources	0.021	17%	1,226,861	$11,217,246
AIV	Activex Limited	0.007	17%	200	$1,293,015
OLL	Openlearning	0.022	16%	304,853	$9,170,818
AUZ	Australian Mines Ltd	0.015	15%	20,640,102	$18,180,658
T3D	333D Limited	0.015	15%	622,625	$2,290,385
NTD	Ntaw Holdings Ltd	0.195	15%	524,189	$28,510,294

Radiopharm Theranostics (ASX:RAD) surged after securing a US$5 million private placement with Lantheus, a leader in the radiopharmaceutical industry. Lantheus is now the largest shareholder, holding 12.16% of the company after buying 133 million shares at $0.060 each – a 150% premium on the last closing price. The funds will support Radiopharm’s clinical pipeline.

Western Gold Resources (ASX:WGR) has completed an above-market placement, raising $720,000 before costs to advance its Gold Duke project in Western Australia. The placement was priced at 4 cents per share, a 28% premium to the 30-day VWAP of 3.12 cents. The funds will be used for general working capital and to support Gold Duke toward production, including metallurgical work, grade control and infill planning, securing approvals, and covering corporate costs.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for January 10th :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AGD	Austral Gold	0.023	-30%	58,625	$20,206,275
CDT	Castle Minerals	0.002	-20%	250,000	$4,742,035
DMG	Dragon Mountain Gold	0.004	-20%	80,720	$1,973,358
GES	Genesis Resources	0.004	-20%	100,000	$3,914,206
RLT	Renergen Limited	0.420	-18%	85,195	$15,466,248
ABE	Ausbondexchange	0.020	-17%	43,192	$2,704,035
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.005	-17%	100,000	$5,909,576
ERA	Energy Resources	0.003	-17%	5,220,667	$1,216,188,722
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.005	-17%	249,523	$16,852,093
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.003	-17%	584,647	$7,330,908
SIS	Simble Solutions	0.005	-17%	250,000	$5,017,982
SGR	The Star Ent Grp	0.110	-15%	79,432,854	$372,928,514
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.006	-14%	91,070	$8,246,534
PLC	Premier1 Lithium Ltd	0.006	-14%	250,000	$2,576,424
SRN	Surefire Rescs NL	0.003	-14%	18,500	$8,457,077
SPQ	Superior Resources	0.007	-13%	674,000	$17,358,910
SPN	Sparc Tech Ltd	0.250	-12%	219,277	$27,323,790
KLI	Killiresources	0.047	-11%	215,003	$7,431,858
LU7	Lithium Universe Ltd	0.008	-11%	3,928	$7,073,817
PER	Percheron	0.008	-11%	858,718	$9,786,939
LOM	Lucapa Diamond Ltd	0.018	-10%	1,329,490	$6,672,806
UBN	Urbanise.Com Ltd	0.390	-9%	2,222	$27,738,872

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Belararox (ASX:BRX) is about to kick off drilling at the high-priority Malambo and Tambo South targets within its TMT project in San Juan, Argentina. Despite minor setbacks causing delays, drilling is planned to begin in the second half of January, with completion by April.

Mithril Resources (ASX:MTH) has called on the expertise of highly experienced technical consultants Daniel Kunz and Associates to aid in the advancement of its Copalquin property in Mexico. Drilling is already underway, with a target of 35,000 metres by year’s end. Kunz is the former CEO of Ivanhoe Mines and founding CEO of TSX-listed Prime Mining Corp, which operates a property in the same geologic region as Copalquin.

In Argentina, Challenger Gold (ASX:CEL) has finalised a $6.6 million strategic placement with Eduardo Elsztain, making him the company’s largest shareholder with a 12.7% stake. The company aims for Elsztain to step into the role of non-executive chair, with Saul Zang joining as a non-executive director. Challenger also confirmed it has received the US$2 million upfront payment as part of its recently announced toll processing agreement with Casposo Argentina Mining.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Belararox, Mithril Silver and Gold, Western Gold Resources and Challenger Gold 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 ASX Lunch Wrap: ASX wobbles despite mining gains, and Goldman warns of correction