Closing Bell: ASX dragged down by iron ore miners despite China’s market push

ASX drops with iron ore miners hit by weaker commodities, tech stocks soar, Myer merger gets the green light.

Iron ore miners dragged the ASX lower. Pic: Getty Images

• ASX falls as iron ore miners hit

• Fortescue reports bumper shipments

• Myer merger approved, while China gets a lift from officials

The ASX was down in the dumps on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falling by 0.7%. 

The index was dragged lower by weaker commodity prices, which weighed on miners, particularly iron ore mining stocks.

Both BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) were down almost 2%.

Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) also fell by over 2% despite hitting record iron ore shipments for FY25’s first half, moving 97.1 million tonnes. Weaker cash flow was blamed on rising working capital, though analysts expect earnings upgrades in H2 with the Aussie dollar tailwind.

Trump’s tariff threats have been hitting iron ore miners hard, with a 10% tariff on China and more duties on the EU possibly coming.

Meanwhile, there was a bit of positive action in the retail space.

Myer (ASX:MYR)’s proposed merger with Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments (ASX:PMV)’s fashion brands got a green light from shareholders, sending Myer’s shares up 5%. Premier, however, dropped 0.7%.

Across the region, Asian markets were seeing a bit of a lift, with China’s CSI 300 Index jumping 2% after Chinese officials pushed local insurers to increase their stock market investments. 

But some experts reckon this is just a sugar hit until China sorts its bigger economic mess.

“This is like stacking the firewood to build a campfire,” said Tai Hui at JPMorgan.  “We are setting up for a more constructive environment, but you need a spark.”

Nine out of 11 ASX sectors were in the red leading up to the close of day:

Source: MarketIndex

Source: MarketIndex

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
AQD	Ausquest Limited	0.023	188%	131,273,494	$9,039,478
HYD	Hydrix Limited	0.027	170%	51,853,639	$2,727,688
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.003	50%	355,428	$946,616
IFG	Infocusgroup Hldltd	0.023	44%	29,114,949	$2,627,389
NIM	Nimy Resources	0.150	36%	3,611,567	$20,484,064
NTM	Nt Minerals Limited	0.004	33%	3,394,371	$3,632,709
PKO	Peako Limited	0.004	33%	8,439,461	$3,285,425
AX8	Accelerate Resources	0.012	33%	6,184,089	$5,595,785
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0.006	33%	6,865,414	$9,253,168
CDX	Cardiex Limited	0.130	31%	415,246	$40,117,823
AIV	Activex Limited	0.009	29%	27,787	$1,508,518
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.009	29%	7,950,915	$3,309,760
ICE	Icetana Limited	0.019	27%	6,246,011	$3,969,427
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.003	25%	718,934	$4,063,446
ERA	Energy Resources	0.003	25%	1,432,741	$810,792,482
FGH	Foresta Group	0.011	22%	7,619,150	$23,662,069
ADG	Adelong Gold Limited	0.006	20%	4,150,033	$5,589,945
FRX	Flexiroam Limited	0.006	20%	102,006	$3,928,219
A1G	African Gold Ltd.	0.069	19%	1,006,870	$22,138,427
RDG	Res Dev Group Ltd	0.019	19%	239,462	$47,213,730

AusQuest (ASX:AQD) shares surged close to 200% after announcing a major copper-gold discovery at its Cangallo project in Peru. The first drill results show broad zones of copper and gold, with thick porphyry intercepts including 348 metres at 0.26% copper and 0.06ppm gold. The mineralisation starts near surface and is open in all directions, suggesting the potential for a shallow copper oxide resource.

Hydrix (ASX:HYD), a provider of engineering solutions for the medical and tech sectors, has announced a $2.8m contract extension with European medical device company Paul Hartmann AG. Total revenue from the project will now be around $6.5m, following on from previous stages. Shares almost tripled on the news.

BPH Global (ASX:BP8) has wrapped up its Indonesian seaweed joint venture. The company has acquired assets from local partners in Indonesia and is now focused on expanding into Asian markets with raw seaweed sales and developing bio-stimulant products for India.

InFocus Group Holdings (ASX:IFG) has received $500k in cash from its digital gaming project, VigoBet, as it nears the end of the first phase. The full phase is expected to bring in $1.2 million, with the remaining balance due once completed this quarter. Positive feedback from GBO Assets suggests the project will move into the second phase soon.

NT Minerals (ASX:NTM) has just dropped some exciting news from its Twin Peaks project in WA. During a recent field trip, the team found high-grade copper rock chips, with one sample showing a massive 25.6% copper from the Ringing Bell Lode. The company also spotted copper levels as high as 24.6% along a 330m stretch of the Main Shaft trend. On top of that, the samples showed elevated levels of other metals like silver, cobalt, and tungsten, all pointing to potential for a discovery.

And, Peregrine Gold (ASX:PGD) jumped after selling off its West Australian gold project to Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) in an equity-and-cash deal. Upfront consideration totalled $1.5 million in Capricorn’s shares. 

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.002	-33%	509,221	$17,685,201
CTO	Citigold Corp Ltd	0.003	-25%	3,287,984	$12,000,000
HLX	Helix Resources	0.003	-25%	3,150,000	$13,456,775
LNU	Linius Tech Limited	0.002	-25%	645,024	$12,302,431
OB1	Orbminco Limited	0.002	-25%	1	$4,333,180
TX3	Trinex Minerals Ltd	0.002	-25%	2,315,189	$3,757,305
PRS	Prospech Limited	0.021	-22%	148,549	$8,878,299
BNL	Blue Star Helium Ltd	0.004	-20%	782,802	$13,474,426
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.002	-20%	48,000	$4,531,258
GMN	Gold Mountain Ltd	0.002	-20%	184,026	$11,448,058
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.002	-20%	5,750,499	$3,917,498
OCT	Octava Minerals	0.105	-19%	1,409,952	$7,931,210
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.003	-17%	242,689	$4,622,496
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.003	-17%	532,000	$3,005,349
NHE	Nobleheliumlimited	0.040	-17%	4,289,283	$27,689,692
CPO	Culpeominerals	0.017	-15%	308,724	$4,399,244
E25	Element 25 Ltd	0.290	-15%	1,183,629	$74,770,216
BUY	Bounty Oil & Gas NL	0.003	-14%	103,258	$5,244,753
SKK	Stakk Limited	0.006	-14%	2,320,423	$14,525,558
PL3	Patagonia Lithium	0.085	-13%	816,927	$6,409,274
EQR	Eq Resources Limited	0.033	-13%	13,558,990	$88,731,233
AUQ	Alara Resources Ltd	0.034	-13%	875,193	$28,005,414

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) has offloaded rights at one of its non-core assets to Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) so it can inject more cash into exploring the Skyline copper project in Canada.

Firetail will receive $275,000 from Spartan for the lithium rights at its Yalgoo, Egerton and Dalgaranga projects in Western Australia. The Canadian-focused explorer is also open to leveraging its ownership at the Paterson copper-gold-uranium project and Mt Slopeway nickel-cobalt project to further bolster its position at Skyline.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Firetail Resources and Spartan Resources 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 dragged down by iron ore miners despite China’s market push