Lunch Wrap: ASX jumps higher, but Boss Energy smoked and coal gets legal smack

The ASX has inched up on Monday as Trump cooled his tariff tantrum. Coal stocks took a hit from a Hunter Valley court ruling.

The ASX took a small jump as Trump dialled down his tariff tantrum. Picture via Getty Images

• Trump eases off trade war with EU

• WA flexes as national economic top dog again

• Coal cops a legal blow as ASX edges higher

At Monday lunchtime in the east, the ASX was edging higher by 0.25%.

And fair enough, because the spat that nearly boiled over between the US and Europe has been defused, at least for now.

Donald Trump and EU boss Ursula von der Leyen have announced a fresh trade pact, but still slaps 15% tariffs on most European exports.

But hey, at least it’s not 50%, which is where Trump was originally pointing the bazooka.

Markets loved the clarity, with Wall Street futures rising and the S&P 500 chalking up yet another record last Friday.

Back to the ASX, and it was the steady-Eddie sectors doing the heavy lifting – telcos, healthcare, banks.

Energy, meanwhile, was one of the market’s laggards after a court overturned approval for a coal project in the Hunter Valley.

MACH Energy’s big coal expansion at Mount Pleasant has hit a wall after NSW’s court of appeal overturned its approval.

It’s a major legal shift that could put the brakes on future coal and gas projects across the state.

The ruling rattled coal stocks, with Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) down 3.5% and Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL) off 1.5%.

Source: Market Index

In other large cap news, WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) has officially named Zubin Appoo as permanent CEO.

He’s no stranger to the company, having worked alongside founder Richard White back in the early days and returning now after stints at InLoop, Flexischools and HICAPS. WTC’s shares were down 0.4%.

And, The Lottery Corporation (ASX:TLC) has named Wayne Pickup as its next CEO, taking over from Sue van der Merwe in November. Shares edged down 0.5%.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for July 28 :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
AUK	Aumake Limited	0.004	100%	10,943,487	$6,046,718
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.002	100%	2,000,000	$3,253,779
JCS	Jcurve Solutions	0.046	53%	755,433	$9,910,303
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.003	50%	16,815	$2,369,145
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.004	33%	185,000	$4,113,952
DGR	DGR Global Ltd	0.009	29%	1,491,125	$7,305,872
MIO	Macarthur Minerals	0.019	27%	2,631	$2,994,983
WBE	Whitebark Energy	0.005	25%	1,652,800	$2,802,231
TR2	Tali Resources Ltd	0.635	25%	485,994	$19,127,550
HTG	Harvest Tech Grp Ltd	0.017	21%	838,520	$12,726,256
CMB	Cambium Bio Limited	0.320	21%	47,773	$4,844,906
SIX	Sprintex Ltd	0.054	20%	5,656,968	$28,289,066
ZNC	Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.036	20%	364,165	$15,883,665
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.006	20%	178,623	$11,895,340
ADG	Adelong Gold Limited	0.006	20%	25,356,918	$11,243,383
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.006	20%	100,000	$5,890,381
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.006	20%	5,968,892	$5,508,975
BDG	Black Dragon Gold	0.051	19%	808,996	$13,672,541
CLA	Celsius Resource Ltd	0.007	17%	220,101	$18,812,931
FRX	Flexiroam Limited	0.007	17%	238	$9,104,392
VKA	Viking Mines Ltd	0.007	17%	50,000	$8,063,692
PL3	Patagonia Lithium	0.044	16%	131,441	$4,537,594
IFG	Infocusgroup Hldltd	0.019	16%	1,351,167	$4,671,027
RR1	Reach Resources Ltd	0.012	15%	7,280,085	$8,744,313

Cloud ERP provider JCurve Solutions (ASX:JCS) has locked in a $1 million strategic placement, issuing 20 million shares at 5 cents each to US-based investor Adam Riches. Riches is the founder of Netgain Solutions and a known name in the Oracle NetSuite space. As part of the deal, Riches can nominate a director, expected to be Chris Miller, pending approvals.

Tali Resources (ASX:TR2) is gearing up to kick off drilling in August across five key targets at its West Arunta Project. Fresh geophysical modelling has confirmed strong anomalies at each site, with heritage and drilling approvals already locked in. The prospects show signs of potential copper and IOCG-style systems, especially near the known Pokali copper zone.

Meanwhile, Bubs Australia (ASX:BUB) has tapped Joe Coote, ex-Darigold and Fonterra heavyweight, as its new CEO. Coote has more than 20 years in the dairy and infant nutrition game, and over $2 billion in regional sales under his belt. He replaces Reg Weine, who exits stage left after two years. Bubs’ shares rose 1%.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for July 28 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
BOE	Boss Energy Ltd	1.955	-43%	53,930,006	$1,410,733,137
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.001	-33%	44,000	$2,811,999
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.002	-33%	352,454	$7,595,443
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.005	-29%	2,887,613	$2,979,468
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.002	-25%	4,330,025	$2,622,427
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.002	-25%	2,625,071	$8,219,762
HLX	Helix Resources	0.002	-25%	2,140,006	$6,728,387
NIM	Nimyresourceslimited	0.070	-23%	3,341,865	$21,883,752
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.007	-22%	5,018,025	$48,422,830
REZ	Resourc & En Grp Ltd	0.015	-21%	3,357,968	$14,201,979
ERA	Energy Resources	0.002	-20%	128,350	$1,013,490,602
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.002	-20%	100,000	$1,946,223
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.002	-20%	5,125,666	$25,555,958
DAF	Discovery Alaska Ltd	0.013	-19%	20,001	$3,747,755
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.013	-19%	3,323,194	$9,084,127
IS3	I Synergy Group Ltd	0.009	-18%	1,768,680	$18,769,299
ASM	Ausstratmaterials	0.593	-18%	2,489,026	$145,689,194
SMM	Somerset Minerals	0.015	-17%	10,316,361	$11,611,449
UNT	Unith Ltd	0.005	-17%	2,643,048	$8,872,713
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.005	-17%	94,260	$12,521,482
ALB	Albion Resources	0.096	-17%	4,075,427	$15,172,333
SUM	Summitminerals	0.041	-16%	1,055,178	$4,340,228
FTI	Fortifai Ltd	0.140	-15%	150,871	$24,203,497

Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) got absolutely smoked, down 42% after waving a red flag over its Honeymoon uranium project. Recent drilling revealed patchy mineralisation and leachability issues, which could throw a spanner in its production targets. That overshadowed what was otherwise a decent finish to the financial year: 349,000 pounds of U₃O₈ produced (above guidance), $224 million in cash and inventory, and steady costs of US$36/lb.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) has submitted a formal response to the US FDA addressing a clinical hold on its investigational new drug application for lead drug NUZ-001.

Octava Minerals (ASX:OCT) has an option to acquire the Federation copper-silver-zinc project in Tasmania where historical drilling returned significant intersections.

Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) has strengthened ties with key Alaskan lawmakers and other stakeholders during a board visit to its 9.9Moz Estelle gold and critical minerals project.

Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) is entering a critical stage with clinical progress, regulatory tailwinds and commercial opportunity converging.

LAST ORDERS

QPM Energy (ASX:WPM) has applied for debt financing for the 112MW Isaac Power Station from the Australian government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. The NAIF has completed the strategic assessment phase and has moved to the due diligence stage of the process.

Magnetic Resources (ASX:MAU) has secured a new mining lease covering the entire area of the Lady Julie North 4 Deposit, the main 1.94Moz resource at the Lady Julie North gold project.

Titanium Sands (ASX:TSL) is advancing environmental studies at the Mannar heavy mineral project in Sri Lanka, with the company’s environmental consultants moving to complete field investigations, technical assessments and data collection on site.

ClearVue Technologies (ASX:CPV) has promoted interim CEO Douglas Hunt to official global CEO, positioning him to lead the company’s global commercialisation strategy. CPV also promoted Tao Zhang to chief operating officer, welcomed Lisa Dreher as global marketing director and tapped Christopher Cole as head of research and development.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While QPM Energy, Magnetic Resources, Titanium Sands and ClearVue Technologies 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: ASX jumps higher, but Boss Energy smoked and coal gets legal smack