Closing Bell: ASX ends week in decent nick; Trump-Putin talks lift spirits

The ASX ended Valentine’s Day in okay spirits after reaching a record high in morning trade. Staples and tech stocks, in particular, felt the love.

Pic via Getty Images

• ASX closes in green after reaching new record high in morning trade

• Staples and tech stocks felt the love on Valentine's Day

• Energy stocks and healthcare, however, got cold feet. Or the cold shoulder. Maybe both

The ASX leapt out of bed in a good mood on Valentine's Day. And while that vim and vigour  didn't quite last an entire trading day, the benchmark did at least close out Friday in the green, up 0.19%.

Earlier, the S&P/ASX 200 index hit a fresh record high at 8598.70 points at 10.15am AEDT, up 0.7% before some profit taking appeared to be coming through and dropping back.

The Aussie bourse followed the lead of Wall Street overnight, where the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes closed 1% and 0.8% higher, respectively, while the technology-focused Nasdaq gained 1.5%. The heavyweight tech stocks fuelled the US rally.

US futures are pointing to love being in the air for Valentine's Day trade. More key economic data is forecast to come through tonight for the world's largest economy for January including US retail sales, US import and export price indexes , US industrial production and US business inventories.

Meanwhile, across Asia today, stock markets were mostly mixed. At At 2.45pm (AEDT) Japan’s Nikkei was up down 0.44%,  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.65%, while Korea’s Kospi gained 0.36%.

Meanwhile, just three of the 11 indices finished down today, with financials slipping into red in afternoon trade. Staples and tech led the winners, while energy and healthcare led the laggards with hearing-tech giant Cochlear (ASX:COH) pulling down the sector at large, falling more than 13% on its H1 FY25 results.

Cochlear reported its implant revenue had grown 13% but that services growth had declined 12%.

This is how the ASX looked nearing closing time.

Source: Market Index

Trump-Putin talks help sentiment

Per DeVere Group CEO and founder Nigel Green:

Global markets have roared higher following President Donald Trump’s declaration that Washington and Moscow will enter negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

The US dollar, long the safe-haven of choice during geopolitical upheaval, has slipped, while Asian equities and European stock futures have climbed.

The message from investors? The potential for peace is too big to ignore.

Read more > here.

And… per David Rogers at The Australian:

Uncertainty over US trade policy remained high this week as US President Donald Trump announced steel and aluminium tariffs, as well as so-called reciprocal tariffs on its trading partners.

At the same time, the US President started talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Russia-Ukraine war, pushing European stocks to record highs as European gas prices dived.

As was the case last week, when 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico were delayed a month, investors were relieved the new tariffs didn’t start “immediately”, as Trump had said.

The White House has indicated the steel and aluminium tariffs will start on March 12 and reciprocal tariffs will start after a comprehensive review of US trade policy is completed on April 1.

Read more at The Australian > here

ASX small cap leaders 

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Code	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.027	80%	5,027,420	$6,141,843
FRS	Forrestaniaresources	0.025	67%	9,014,041	$3,659,452
M2R	Miramar	0.005	67%	6,001,197	$1,190,470
H2G	Greenhy2 Limited	0.003	50%	813,724	$1,196,368
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.003	50%	200,835	$1,556,978
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.003	50%	100,000	$4,114,895
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.002	33%	3,020,985	$43,400,718
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.002	33%	1,894,235	$1,634,591
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.004	33%	10,281,614	$1,449,924
MEL	Metgasco Ltd	0.004	33%	2,788,663	$4,372,760
MMR	Mec Resources	0.004	33%	276,987	$5,549,298
OB1	Orbminco Limited	0.002	33%	510,000	$3,249,885
TX3	Trinex Minerals Ltd	0.002	33%	282,361	$2,817,978
MRZ	Mont Royal Resources	0.041	28%	37,032	$2,720,953
LSA	Lachlan Star Ltd	0.075	25%	6,760	$15,154,392
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.0025	25%	852,961	$6,350,111
RLG	Roolife Group Ltd	0.005	25%	350,000	$5,684,125
XGL	Xamble Group Limited	0.02	25%	1,000	$5,424,228
TEE	Topendenergylimited	0.115	22%	2,799,620	$25,547,438
CLA	Celsius Resource Ltd	0.011	22%	3,611,101	$24,023,146
MKR	Manuka Resources.	0.028	22%	838,729	$18,647,656
AU1	The Agency Group Aus	0.023	21%	208,746	$8,351,955
MM1	Midasmineralsltd	0.15	20%	397,133	$15,516,210
AKN	Auking Mining Ltd	0.006	20%	6,388,983	$2,873,894
ALM	Alma Metals Ltd	0.006	20%	85,841	$7,931,727

ASX small cap losers 

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AVWDB	Avira Resources Ltd	0.009	-55%	150,000	$2,938,790
CR9	Corellares	0.002	-33%	60,455	$1,403,230
PFT	Pure Foods Tas Ltd	0.015	-29%	1,123	$2,843,938
SKK	Stakk Limited	0.005	-29%	2,332,169	$14,525,558
PKO	Peako Limited	0.003	-25%	203,176	$5,950,968
BPM	BPM Minerals	0.055	-24%	2,861,094	$6,218,799
RLL	Rapid Lithium Ltd	0.004	-20%	2,166,584	$5,162,223
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.004	-20%	51,111	$8,347,656
ZMM	Zimi Ltd	0.008	-20%	109,160	$3,869,441
MML	Mclaren Minerals	0.03	-19%	177,157	$5,236,148
ATS	Australis Oil & Gas	0.009	-18%	160,000	$14,305,573
IPB	IPB Petroleum Ltd	0.005	-17%	69,100	$4,238,418
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.0025	-17%	2,252,476	$7,330,908
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.005	-17%	3,485,227	$32,533,363
AMP	AMP Limited	1.4825	-15%	33,085,147	$4,430,544,718
CWX	Carawine Resources	0.09	-14%	79,970	$24,793,172
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.006	-14%	325,015	$4,186,389
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	0.006	-14%	3,783,046	$36,668,998
MGU	Magnum Mining & Exp	0.006	-14%	3,463,845	$5,665,530
OSL	Oncosil Medical	0.006	-14%	930,604	$32,246,061
PRO	Prophecy Internation	0.455	-13%	142,978	$38,697,190
COH	Cochlear Limited	264.57	-13%	519,913	$19,926,030,882
PHL	Propell Holdings Ltd	0.02	-13%	20,000	$6,401,777
RON	Roninresourcesltd	0.17	-13%	10,000	$7,873,127
CVL	Civmec Limited	1.065	-13%	1,216,908	$620,404,160

In case you missed it

Everest Metals Corporation (ASX:EMC) has produced 1.4t gold concentrate during the commissioning phase of the bulk sampling program at its Revere project in WA’s Murchison region. The concentrate contained visible gold grains, and its production is timely given the record-high gold price environment.

Suvo Strategic Minerals (ASX:SUV) has extended its hydrous kaolin offtake agreement with China’s Chaozhou Chengcheng Industrial for an additional five years. The extension includes a 24% increase in sales volumes, with a minimum order of 8750 tonnes over the period. Valued at approximately $6.56 million, the agreement follows SUV’s recent sales contract extension with Norske Skog in January.

Scorpion Minerals (ASX: SCN) has struck a deal to acquire a majority interest in the Jungar Flats gold project in WA’s Murchison region after finalising a binding agreement with E79 Gold Mines. The company can earn up to a 70% stake in the project by investing $3 million over five years. Scorpion also announced a $1.5 million capital raise at a 33% premium to the last traded price to drive exploration across its portfolio.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Everest Metals Corp, Suvo Strategic Minerals, Scorpion Minerals and Axel REE 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 ends week in decent nick; Trump-Putin talks lift spirits