Lunch Wrap: Miners, energy stocks rally as China gears up to announce fresh stimulus today

ASX kicks off strong with tech stocks soaring, Wall Street rebounding but still in correction, and Spartan merging with Ramelius.

ASX kicks off strong with mining stocks leading the charge. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX kicks off strongly with tech stocks leading the charge

• Wall Street rallies but still in correction, analysts cautious

• Spartan and Ramelius merge, energy stocks get a boost

The ASX was looking pretty good this morning, kicking off the week with a nice lift of 0.6%.

Mining stocks were the top performers after China promised a bunch of new measures to ramp up consumption.

Wall Street also had a decent rally on Friday, but its main index, the S&P 500, still ended up in correction territory, down 10% from its recent peak.

“Any day without a Trump tariff comment is a good day for the market,” said Ed Yardeni at Yardeni research firm.

“We will be more inclined to call a bottom when we see the stock market move higher on a day or days when Trump blusters about tariffs again.”

Analysts at Macquarie also remain cautious, warning that unless Trump eases up on trade wars, the US economy could slow further, which would likely drag equity markets down another 20%.

Back on the ASX, China's plans to boost real incomes fired up the market, with Aussie miners leading the charge.

The announcement of new measures (set for later today) to ramp up domestic consumption also added to the positive sentiment.

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), Fortescue (ASX:FMG)and BHP (ASX:BHP) were all up on the news.

Energy stocks were also boosted, with Brent trading 2% higher at US$71.75 at the time of writing.

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

In the large caps space, Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) surged 9% after confirming its merger with Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS).

Spartan believes merging with Ramelius makes perfect sense because it will create a top-tier Aussie gold producer with plenty of exploration upside. The combined group will have 12.1 million ounces of gold in resources and 2.6 million ounces in reserves, with plans to boost production to over 500,000 ounces by FY30.

Watch later: Break it Down: Spartan and Ramelius to tie the knot on $2.4b deal

Elsewhere, National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) announced a leadership shake-up, with its CFO Nathan Goonan resigning and moving over to Westpac (ASX:WBC). NAB's shares were down 1%, and Westpac were up 1%.

In the mining sector, Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) was up by 8.5% after UBS upgraded it to a "buy" rating, with a price target of $28.60, which implies a 20% upside from where it’s trading now.

UBS pointed out that despite some ongoing governance issues with founder Chris Ellison, the company had addressed those concerns well.

And finally, Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) had some good news, too, as it was granted an exemption by the Canadian government to maintain a controlling stake in its Patterson Lake South project.

This was a significant development, as non-Canadian mining companies typically need an exemption to control uranium projects in the country.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for March 17th :

Code	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.00	100%	6,012,779	$28,933,812
TOU	Tlou Energy Ltd	0.01	75%	2,798,034	$10,388,675
ALR	Altair Minerals	0.00	50%	4,015,610	$8,593,488
SMP	Smartpay Holdings	0.78	46%	603,947	$128,230,036
DNA	Donaco International	0.04	42%	14,741,474	$37,061,681
BUX	Buxton Resources Ltd	0.03	36%	1,127,955	$5,557,062
ALM	Alma Metals Ltd	0.00	33%	443,875	$4,759,036
ASP	Aspermont Limited	0.00	33%	700,000	$7,410,035
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.00	33%	1,000,000	$1,167,529
SCP	Scalare Partners	0.22	30%	58,497	$5,755,662
ICE	Icetana Limited	0.02	29%	183,223	$6,133,997
BEZ	Besragoldinc	0.05	27%	1,732,276	$15,373,091
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.01	25%	1,080,292	$2,751,056
HLX	Helix Resources	0.00	25%	1,764,891	$6,728,387
ID8	Identitii Limited	0.01	25%	465,750	$6,193,708
PNT	Panthermetalsltd	0.02	25%	30,294,004	$4,814,473
CAE	Cannindah Resources	0.09	21%	3,648,051	$52,421,757
NMG	New Murchison Gold	0.02	20%	19,397,288	$124,342,951
ECT	Env Clean Tech Ltd.	0.00	20%	85,000	$9,117,026
OVT	Ovanti Limited	0.01	20%	1,424,929	$13,507,739
SER	Strategic Energy	0.01	20%	6,666	$3,355,167
TON	Triton Min Ltd	0.01	20%	20,300	$7,841,944
ASV	Assetvisonco	0.04	19%	917,128	$23,659,570

Altair Minerals (ASX:ALR) has made an exciting discovery at Irka Sur, part of its Venatica West project. The company found high-grade copper across a massive 700m strike, with samples showing copper grades up to 2.9%, plus significant gold and silver. This confirms that the area has huge potential, Altair said, and it's all open for further exploration. The 16m outcrop of exposed porphyry averaged 1.8% copper, with the mineralisation continuing below surface.

Payments fintech SmartPay (ASX:SMP) said it has received two non-binding takeover offers, one from Tyro Payments and another from an international company. Tyro’s offer is to buy all of Smartpay’s shares for NZ$1.00 each, with most of the payment in Tyro shares and some in cash. Both proposals are still early stages and depend on due diligence and final agreements. Smartpay’s board is letting both parties do some due diligence to figure out which offer’s best, but there's no guarantee a deal will go ahead.

Gaming and hospitality stock Donaco International (ASX:DNA) has entered into a deal with On Nut Road Limited (ONR) for a takeover where ONR’s offering $0.045 per share in cash. ONR’s been an investor since 2019 and already holds nearly 13% of Donaco. This offer is a 50% premium on the recent share price. Donaco’s board said it’s all for it and recommends shareholders vote for the deal, but it still depends on an independent expert’s opinion and approval from shareholders and the court.

And Buxton Resources (ASX:BUX) has brought on Gervaise Heddle as non-executive chair. Heddle has a solid track record, having led Greatland Gold through the discovery of the Havieron gold-copper deposit in WA, which saw its share price shoot up over 10,000%. He’ll be bringing his expertise in leading exploration companies and engaging investors to Buxton, which is focused on developing its own early-stage exploration projects like Centurion and Madman in WA.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for March 17 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
RFA	Rare Foods Australia	0.014	-33%	361,739	$5,711,648
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.001	-33%	178,620	$9,862,021
VFX	Visionflex Group Ltd	0.002	-33%	130,227	$10,103,581
CR9	Corellares	0.003	-25%	2,058,706	$1,870,974
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.003	-25%	41,227	$5,265,048
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.004	-20%	15,000,075	$10,601,880
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.002	-20%	2,184	$2,961,431
RLT	Renergen Limited	0.615	-18%	46,884	$22,744,482
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.005	-17%	586,560	$9,597,195
VMT	Vmoto Limited	0.078	-15%	631,038	$35,777,858
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	0.006	-14%	2,169,500	$36,668,998
MEL	Metgasco Ltd	0.003	-14%	5,234,830	$5,101,554
PV1	Provaris Energy Ltd	0.012	-14%	100,173	$9,703,871
SPQ	Superior Resources	0.006	-14%	2,028,999	$15,189,047
PFT	Pure Foods Tas Ltd	0.025	-14%	11,000	$3,927,343
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.007	-13%	7,544,843	$9,845,149
SHN	Sunshine Metals Ltd	0.007	-13%	500,001	$12,701,158
SHP	South Harz Potash	0.007	-13%	302,901	$8,660,630
VAR	Variscan Mines Ltd	0.007	-13%	988,768	$6,262,862
RB6	Rubixresources	0.080	-11%	3,353	$5,530,500
SWP	Swoop Holdings Ltd	0.120	-11%	97,800	$28,742,845
RMX	Red Mount Min Ltd	0.008	-11%	1,893,799	$4,184,620
1MC	Morella Corporation	0.017	-11%	122,941	$6,275,045
AON	Apollo Minerals Ltd	0.017	-11%	886,000	$17,640,681

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC) is expanding the exploration program at its Itinga tin project in Brazil after recent sampling confirmed high-grade tin mineralisation, with results exceeding 20% tin. The program will include geological mapping, trenching, and soil sampling to identify priority drill targets amid rising global tin prices.

US midwest natural hydrogen explorer Top End Energy (ASX:TEE) has kicked off an independent assessment of prospective resources at its Serpentine project in Kansas. The company has engaged Teof Rodrigues & Associates to lead the evaluation, which will help guide well site selection and communicate the project's resource potential to stakeholders.

Bubalus Resources (ASX:BUS) has appointed a drilling contractor for its upcoming maiden program at the Crosbie South gold project in Victoria, with drilling set to begin by late April. The 1000-metre campaign will target high-grade rock chip trends (up to 19.1 g/t) and geophysical anomalies, with results expected in the coming months.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Perpetual Resources, Top End Energy and Bubalus 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 Lunch Wrap: Miners, energy stocks rally as China gears up to announce fresh stimulus today