ASX Lunch Wrap: Iron ore drags down miners; debutant Digico falls further
Iron ore drags ASX miners, Digico and Ventia slump, Chalmers announces RBA shake-up.
Iron ore drags miners lower, Digico hits a rough patch
Ventia plunges after ACCC charge
Treasurer Chalmers announces shake-up at RBA
The ASX continues to dip southward, slipping by a further 0.3% on Monday morning.
On Friday, the Dow posted its longest losing streak since 2020, falling for seven straight sessions.
Broadcom Inc, however, saw a massive 24% jump, pushing its market cap above $1 trillion after a strong AI sales guidance. Tesla surged 4% to hit a record high.
On the ASX today, iron ore dragged down the miners.
Hopes for more stimulus from China had been building, but those were dashed last week when the Communist Party’s Central Economic Work Conference revealed little support for a speedy recovery.
As a result, iron ore fell 1% over the weekend, adding to Friday's slump.
In the large caps space, Digico Infrastructure REIT (ASX:DGT), the data centre debutant on the ASX, has slipped again in its second session, with shares down 6% this morning to well below its IPO price of $5.
HMC Capital (ASX:HMC), David Di Pilla’s firm which pulled off the listing, also fell 7%.
Elsewhere, Ventia Services (ASX:VNT) dropped a further 7% after the infrastructure giant was linked to a price-fixing case brought by the ACCC last week.
Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR) managed a small win, up 2.5% after the CEO of The Star Gold Coast quit, its second CEO to resign in seven months.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed a major shake-up at the Reserve Bank of Australia, with two new appointments to its interest rate-setting board.
Professor Renée Fry-McKibbin, an economist at Australian National University, and former Bendigo and Adelaide Bank boss Marnie Baker, will join the revamped board.
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for December 16 :
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap ICE Icetana Limited 0.026 63% 7,488,902 $4,234,055 88E 88 Energy Ltd 0.002 50% 720,909 $28,933,812 MTL Mantle Minerals Ltd 0.002 50% 3,000,000 $6,197,446 SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.003 50% 1,418,330 $9,673,198 PAT Patriot Lithium 0.040 29% 122,918 $3,918,957 FHS Freehill Mining Ltd. 0.005 25% 1,200,000 $12,314,111 EPM Eclipse Metals 0.005 25% 1,393,884 $8,236,280 DTZ Dotz Nano Ltd 0.110 22% 731,004 $49,062,450 BCB Bowen Coal Limited 0.006 20% 1,458,239 $50,000,163 BLZ Blaze Minerals Ltd 0.006 20% 142,857 $6,267,791 RNX Renegade Exploration 0.006 20% 111,905 $6,420,017 SNT Syntara Limited 0.077 17% 13,519,315 $90,627,353 ICG Inca Minerals Ltd 0.007 17% 71,571 $6,160,335 YOJ Yojee Limited 0.145 16% 653,555 $34,450,482 ILT Iltani Resources Lim 0.185 16% 388,810 $7,041,681 BRN Brainchip Ltd 0.273 14% 12,765,250 $473,392,314 FLN Freelancer Ltd 0.180 13% 20,000 $72,146,381 ECS ECS Botanics Holding 0.018 13% 3,466,568 $20,616,793 LCY Legacy Iron Ore 0.009 13% 134,588 $78,096,341 POS Poseidon Nick Ltd 0.005 13% 309,398 $16,815,502 LGL Lynch Group Holdings 2.000 12% 10,767 $217,277,679
Tech stock Icetana (ASX:ICE) has secured its first Malaysian customer in a $465,000, three-year deal with AE Security System. The contract will see Icetana’s AI security software deployed at 1 Utama, the largest shopping mall in Malaysia. The sale adds $155,000 to the company’s annual recurring revenue.
BrainChip Holdings (ASX:BRN) has announced that Frontgrade Gaisler, a provider of radiation-hardened microprocessors for space, has licensed its Akida 1.0 Neuromorphic AI IP for integration into space-grade, fault-tolerant chips. BrainChip will receive royalties from Frontgrade.
Patriot Lithium (ASX:PAT) has signed a binding agreement to acquire an 80% interest in the Kitumba Copper Exploration Licence 27715 in Zambia. The licence covers 255 km² in Zambia's historic copper district, near the Kitumba Copper Deposit owned by Sinomine, which already invested US$600 million to develop the Kitumba mine.
Freehill Mining (ASX:FHS) saw strong sales at its Yerbas Buenas mine in Chile, with November gross sales hitting a record $363,000, up 27.8% from October. The company's sales in the December quarter have already reached $647,000, a 35.8% increase from the previous quarter.
Iltani Resources (ASX:ILT) reported high-grade silver equivalent results from its Orient East deposit in North Queensland. The best result came from drill hole ORR042, which intersected 1m at 1707.2 g/t Ag Eq., the highest grade to date at the site.
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for December 16 :
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap AXP AXP Energy Ltd 0.001 -50% 44,631,738 $11,649,361 IVR Investigator Res Ltd 0.025 -34% 26,873,681 $60,377,424 REC Rechargemetals 0.016 -33% 1,082,776 $6,155,759 ERG Eneco Refresh Ltd 0.010 -29% 556,999 $3,813,017 ALR Altairminerals 0.003 -25% 14,125 $17,186,310 H2G Greenhy2 Limited 0.003 -25% 100,000 $2,392,737 GR8 Great Dirt Resources 0.150 -23% 96,986 $5,723,496 AIV Activex Limited 0.007 -22% 236,206 $1,939,523 AJX Alexium Int Group 0.012 -20% 695,006 $23,647,671 AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.004 -20% 15,978,564 $9,289,380 BLU Blue Energy Limited 0.008 -20% 1,541,048 $18,509,736 CR9 Corellares 0.004 -20% 198,009 $2,325,462 ERA Energy Resources 0.002 -20% 564,454 $1,013,490,602 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.002 -20% 4,025,000 $6,125,968 MIO Macarthur Minerals 0.041 -20% 123,833 $10,182,941 ARV Artemis Resources 0.009 -18% 6,863,667 $21,085,707 MNB Minbos Resources Ltd 0.071 -17% 2,304,381 $77,536,360 BPP Babylon Pump 0.005 -17% 8,022,670 $14,997,294 DRE Dreadnought 0.010 -17% 12,831,613 $45,213,600 TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.003 -17% 42,973 $27,976,695 OPL Opyl Limited 0.026 -16% 100,700 $5,292,154 PPG Pro-Pac Packaging 0.021 -16% 20,525 $4,542,193 CLA Celsius Resource Ltd 0.011 -15% 2,450,177 $33,423,319
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN)has reported encouraging drill results from its Truncheon prospect, highlighting the potential for a gold-copper discovery similar to the neighbouring Highway-Reward Mine, which produced 3.9Mt at 5.3% copper and 1.1g/t gold. Standout results included 6m at 0.52g/t gold and 1m at 1.10% copper and 3.05% zinc. EM surveys are now being planned to refine the target zone for a potential massive sulphide body at Truncheon.
Tesoro Gold (ASX:TSO)is now listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker code 5D7, providing European investors with a convenient way to invest and gain exposure to its exploration and development projects in Chile. The company’s recent capital raise was well supported by UK and European institutional investors.
Eagle Mountain Mining (ASX:EM2) is committing to a fully underwritten renounceable entitlement offer to raise $6.4 million. The funds will be used to reduce debt, drive exploration initiatives, and provide flexibility to pursue new opportunities.
Javelin Minerals (ASX:JAV) has wrapped up a 2,921m RC drilling program ahead of schedule at its Coogee gold-copper project near Kalgoorlie. The program targeted extensions to known mineralisation, and assays are expected in the coming weeks
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Sunshine Metals, Tesoro Gold, Eagle Mountain Mining and Javelin 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 ASX Lunch Wrap: Iron ore drags down miners; debutant Digico falls further
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