Closing Bell: ASX slips as banks bleed on February rates cut speculation
The ASX dipped on Friday as banks slid and Star tanked. Meanwhile, all eyes (well, plenty of them anyway) are on the incoming US jobs data.
ASX drops as banks take a hit
Star Entertainment tanks, future in doubt
US jobs data set to move the Fed
The ASX fell for the second day in a row as the S&P/ASX 200 tumbled by 0.42%. For the week, though, the index was up by about 0.5%.
Banks bore the brunt of the losses this afternoon as experts brought forward the RBA rate cut forecast to February, citing weaker-than-expected retail sales data.
As we know, banks' stock prices tend to fall when rates are cut because lower rates reduce the profit margin they make on loans.
Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) dropped 1.5%, and Westpac (ASX:WBC) tanked 2% after a downgrade from Morgan Stanley.
Mining stocks, meanwhile, held things together, rising on the back of a jump in iron ore prices.
Goldies also gained traction, with stocks like Emerald Resources (ASX:EMR) seeing decent gains of 1%.
This is how things stood at 15:45 AEDT:
The biggest large caps mover today was Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR), which has lost 40% in two sessions as concerns over its future grow.
Lenders are warning that the embattled casino group could be heading for voluntary administration unless a lifeline deal is secured soon.
Novonix (ASX:NVX) inked a deal with Harper International for exclusive rights to tech that'll ramp up synthetic graphite for batteries – but its shares slipped 2%.
Add biotech giant CSL (ASX:CSL), which also fell 0.75%, and it’s clear the local market is struggling to find its footing.
Across the region, Asian markets slid, too, as investors played it cautious ahead of tonight’s US jobs report.
All eyes are on the US non-farm payroll data, expected to reveal a slowdown in hiring – setting the stage for the next move from the Fed Reserve.
ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS
Today’s best performing small cap stocks:
Security Description Last % Volume MktCap NRZ Neurizer Ltd 0.002 100% 5,457,542 $2,964,861 RAD Radiopharm 0.036 50% 76,536,326 $52,815,523 TM1 Terra Metals Limited 0.032 39% 1,097,273 $9,136,081 RAN Range International 0.004 33% 1,260,688 $2,817,871 ADD Adavale Resource Ltd 0.003 25% 299,974 $3,081,664 VEN Vintage Energy 0.005 25% 204,614 $6,678,125 NTD Ntaw Holdings Ltd 0.210 24% 1,002,286 $28,510,294 MRZ Mont Royal Resources 0.037 23% 27,054 $2,550,894 REZ Resourc & En Grp Ltd 0.028 22% 1,245,620 $15,447,700 PTR Petratherm Ltd 0.380 21% 1,626,506 $97,396,926 FGR First Graphene Ltd 0.042 20% 378,896 $23,449,633 1TT Thrive Tribe Tech 0.003 20% 170,000 $5,079,308 ASO Aston Minerals Ltd 0.012 20% 342,035 $12,950,643 MTB Mount Burgess Mining 0.006 20% 348,334 $1,697,687 STM Sunstone Metals Ltd 0.006 20% 5,277,575 $25,749,518 TAS Tasman Resources Ltd 0.006 20% 21,400 $4,026,248 PGD Peregrine Gold 0.155 19% 47,341 $8,824,195 ZMM Zimi Ltd 0.013 18% 34,314 $4,256,385 PGM Platina Resources 0.021 17% 1,586,361 $11,217,246 THB Thunderbird Resource 0.021 17% 1,344,437 $6,555,625
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 LAGGARDS
Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap ESK Etherstack PLC 0.225 -25% 89,297 $39,560,665 AYT Austin Metals Ltd 0.004 -20% 100,000 $6,620,957 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% 108,450 $15,466,248 FTZ Fertoz Ltd 0.025 -17% 282,484 $8,893,816 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% 5,410,200 $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 NES Nelson Resources. 0.003 -17% 9,783,076 $6,515,783 SIS Simble Solutions 0.005 -17% 250,000 $5,017,982 BSN Basinenergylimited 0.016 -16% 125,303 $1,982,643 MGU Magnum Mining & Exp 0.011 -15% 200,724 $10,521,698 ALY Alchemy Resource Ltd 0.006 -14% 91,070 $8,246,534 DM1 Desert Metals 0.024 -14% 66,573 $7,487,919 PLC Premier1 Lithium Ltd 0.006 -14% 250,000 $2,576,424 SRN Surefire Rescs NL 0.003 -14% 18,500 $8,457,077 HLX Helix Resources 0.004 -13% 1,590,000 $13,456,775 ID8 Identitii Limited 0.014 -13% 858,564 $12,387,417
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 Closing Bell: ASX slips as banks bleed on February rates cut speculation
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