Closing Bell: ASX bounces back as Fortescue jumps 3pc; Brainchip keeps soaring

Aussie shares moved up on Thursday. Energy stocks led, Lendlease dipped, Brainchip soared, and the AUD hit a two-year low.

Aussie shares bounce back on the first trading day of 2025. Picture via Getty Images

• Aussie shares bounce back, energy stocks lead the charge

• Lendlease dips, Brainchip surges again

• AUD hits two-year low, Chinese stocks slide on weak data

Aussie shares had a good start to 2025, bouncing back from a two-day losing streak despite a lacklustre lead from global markets. 

The S&P/ASX 200 opened higher, but spent a couple of hours in the red before closing up by 0.52% on Thursday.

Out of the 11 sectors, 10 were in the green.

Energy stocks led the charge thanks to a 1% bump in Brent crude as Russia halted gas flows to Europe.

Miners also made good gains, with Fortescue (ASX:FMG) leading the way, climbing by over 3%.

This is how things stood towards close on the first trading day of the year:

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

News flow was a bit thin today.

In the large end of town, Lendlease Group (ASX:LLC) fell 0.25% after agreeing to sell its UK construction business to Atlas Holdings for $70 million as part of a major restructure.

Chip stock BrainChip Holdings (ASX:BRN) surged once again, this time by 14%, bringing its one-month gains to around 80% despite no clear news driving the rally.

In other markets, national house prices fell for the first time in 22 months; while the Aussie dollar dipped to a two-year low below US62 cents.

“The fate of the AUD/USD in 2025 will largely depend on developments following Trump's inauguration on January 20,” wrote Tony Sycamore at IG. 

Overseas,  Chinese stocks dropped today, hit by weak economic data and fears of more US tariffs. Data shows that Chinese manufacturing growth slowed in December, spooking investors. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin rose 2% over the past 24 hours to about $US95,400 at the time of writing.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
LYN	Lycaon Resources	0.155	72%	3,345,236	$4,768,634
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.004	33%	4,265,768	$5,573,628
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.002	33%	3,400,000	$1,634,591
ERL	Empire Resources	0.004	33%	320,000	$4,451,740
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.004	33%	217,365	$2,335,467
GCM	Green Critical Min	0.018	29%	104,701,524	$26,705,746
MEL	Metgasco Ltd	0.005	25%	100,000	$5,830,347
MEM	Memphasys Ltd	0.010	25%	14,985,512	$14,168,118
HCT	Holista CollTech Ltd	0.016	23%	808,750	$3,714,967
HFY	Hubify Ltd	0.011	22%	149,155	$4,600,227
PER	Percheron	0.009	21%	8,409,222	$7,612,063
CY5	Cygnus Metals Ltd	0.120	20%	546,246	$53,349,000
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.003	20%	1,056,732	$7,923,243
GW1	Greenwing Resources	0.049	20%	185,184	$9,866,711
ESK	Etherstack PLC	0.260	18%	40,430	$29,011,154
MPA	Mad Paws	0.086	18%	163,407	$29,655,685
AYA	Artryalimited	0.620	17%	111,194	$48,484,245
SVY	Stavely Minerals Ltd	0.021	17%	5,750,526	$9,792,758
1AI	Algorae Pharma	0.007	17%	119,067	$10,124,368
AON	Apollo Minerals Ltd	0.014	17%	72,544	$9,425,311
CCO	The Calmer Co Int	0.007	17%	7,852,209	$15,245,117

Cygnus Metals (ASX:CY5) and Doré Copper have officially completed their merger, creating a dual-listed critical minerals company focused on copper and lithium in Quebec. With $14m cash in hand, the new entity will ramp up exploration, starting with a copper programme due for results early in 2025. The merger combines Doré’s Chibougamau copper-gold project with Cygnus’ James Bay lithium assets.

Lycaon Resources (ASX:LYN) has appointed Tony Rovira, a seasoned mining exec, to its board as a non-executive director from January 1. Rovira has more than 40 years of experience, and was most recently the MD of Azure Minerals, overseeing the discovery of the world-class Andover lithium deposit, which led to a $1.7 billion takeover. As part of his appointment, Rovira will invest $360k into Lycaon through a share placement.

Green Critical Minerals (ASX:GCM)has kicked off the wet commissioning phase, or second phase, of its VHD (very high density) graphite block pilot plant in NSW, well ahead of schedule. The company plans to roll out initial prototypes before the end of the month, with the blocks having applications across data centres, defence, semiconductor and nuclear industries.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
MTL	Mantle Minerals Ltd	0.001	-33%	15,529	$9,296,169
PKO	Peako Limited	0.002	-33%	2,588,352	$3,285,425
T88	Taitonresources	0.090	-33%	2,357	$10,051,746
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.003	-25%	1,664,982	$8,229,789
MOH	Moho Resources	0.004	-20%	125,000	$3,582,373
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.002	-20%	350,000	$23,313,913
PLG	Pearlgullironlimited	0.013	-19%	36,000	$3,272,669
5EA	5Eadvanced	0.108	-17%	1,586,895	$43,799,744
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.003	-17%	479,806	$4,622,496
ERA	Energy Resources	0.003	-17%	1,042	$1,216,188,722
LEG	Legend Mining	0.010	-17%	4,038	$34,913,726
RMI	Resource Mining Corp	0.005	-17%	2,113,777	$3,914,087
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.066	-16%	13,636	$26,190,710
AJL	AJ Lucas Group	0.006	-14%	1,520,034	$9,630,107
HE8	Helios Energy Ltd	0.012	-14%	218,833	$36,456,692
LM1	Leeuwin Metals Ltd	0.120	-14%	287,566	$6,559,234
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.006	-14%	26,516	$36,049,325
NME	Nex Metals Explorat	0.033	-13%	282,908	$10,346,562
BMH	Baumart Holdings Ltd	0.073	-13%	1	$12,158,560
CF1	Complii Fintech Ltd	0.020	-13%	437,932	$13,216,356
RDG	Res Dev Group Ltd	0.020	-13%	93,254	$67,869,737
FFF	Forbidden Foods	0.007	-13%	2,372	$4,577,788

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

QPM Energy (ASX:QPM)has completed the acquisition of the 12.8MW Moranbah Power Station, reducing costs by more than $500,000 per month and generating new revenue. The acquisition supports its QLD-based Moranbah gas project and marks the first step in building an electricity portfolio in the region.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Green Critical Minerals and QPM Energy 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 Closing Bell: ASX bounces back as Fortescue jumps 3pc; Brainchip keeps soaring