Closing Bell: ASX slides lower again; and long-awaited data centre REIT, DigiCo, slips on IPO debut

The ASX hits near 4-week low, led by losses in miners, as DigiCo Infrastructure REIT underwhelms in IPO debut today

ASX drops to 4-week low, miners lead losses. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX drops to 4-week low, miners lead losses

• Rio Tinto slumps after $2.5bn lithium investment, iron ore prices fall

• DigiCo REIT slips on IPO debut

The ASX has closed lower by 0.4% on Friday to near its lowest level in a month. For the week, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 1.5%.

Six out of 11 sectors retreated, with the mining sector leading the losses.  News of potential fiscal stimulus from Beijing this afternoon wasn’t enough to spark confidence in the mining sector.

This is where things stood at 15:45 AEDT:

Source: MarketIndex

Source: MarketIndex

At the large end of town, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) was under additional pressure after it committed to a hefty US$2.5 billion investment to expand its Rincon lithium project in South America. Rio’s shares tumbled by almost 3%. 

Meanwhile, in Singapore, the January iron ore futures contract fell almost 3%, further dampening investor sentiment towards Aussie miners.

The real estate sector also came under pressure, with sector leader Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) falling by over 1%.

DigiCo Infrastructure REIT (ASX:DGT), a data centre landlord, made its long-awaited $2.7bn IPO debut today. 

At the time of writing, DGT's shares were trading at $4.80, down from its initial price of $5 in what was the ASX's largest IPO of the year.

But while the broader market struggled, Iress (ASX:IRE), a technology provider, surged 9% after the company reaffirmed its earnings guidance of $126 million to $132 million for FY24 and announced the reinstatement of dividends.

Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL), the renewable energy and lithium miner, caught investor attention with a €500m  loan commitment from the European Investment Bank to fund its Lionheart Lithium Project. Shares slumped by 11%. 

Elsewhere in the region, the latest readout from China’s Central Economic Work Conference failed to provide much-needed clarity on policy measures to boost consumption and economic growth.

 As a result, Asian equities, including Australian stocks, continued to slide today. 

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.002	100%	492,140	$703,362
AUH	Austchina Holdings	0.002	50%	113,085	$2,400,384
ICU	Investor Centre Ltd	0.003	50%	1,012,100	$609,023
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.003	50%	4,438,644	$18,651,130
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.002	33%	735,756	$7,254,899
TTI	Traffic Technologies	0.004	33%	880,000	$3,356,454
TX3	Trinex Minerals Ltd	0.002	33%	2,500,000	$2,742,978
HRE	Heavy Rare Earths	0.034	31%	37,515	$2,191,154
XGL	Xamble Group Limited	0.026	30%	327,326	$5,923,142
RDN	Raiden Resources Ltd	0.014	27%	29,847,038	$37,959,806
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.005	25%	100,000	$7,431,504
CUL	Cullen Resources	0.005	25%	1,173,632	$2,773,607
ENL	Enlitic Inc.	0.090	23%	1,200	$42,017,655
KEY	KEY Petroleum	0.061	22%	100	$1,258,975
BGE	Bridgesaaslimited	0.042	20%	105,000	$6,995,072
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.003	20%	664,969	$2,504,457
AUK	Aumake Limited	0.006	20%	285,127	$15,053,461
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.003	20%	100,000	$1,919,764
PIL	Peppermint Inv Ltd	0.006	20%	1,412,166	$10,794,292
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.003	20%	1,000,000	$32,666,756
ION	Iondrive Limited	0.025	19%	22,642,620	$18,472,307

Marketing platform, Xamble Group (ASX:XGL), has secured a $1.5 million strategic investment from 7-Eleven Malaysia’s subsidiary, Convenience Shopping (Sabah). The investment, which involves the issuance of 42.8 million new shares, will help Xamble enhance its influencer marketing platform and expand its operations.

Base metals explorer Cullen Resources (ASX:CUL) said RC drilling has started to test strong IP anomalies at the Wongan and Rupert Prospects. The drilling program, which involves 4-6 holes over 600-800m, will begin at Wongan, where harvesting has been completed, and then move to Rupert, following additional harvesting and weather considerations. 

OzAurum Resources (ASX:OZM) has raised $1 million through a share placement of 38.46 million shares at $0.026 each. The funds will be used to continue exploration at its Mulgabbie and Patricia gold projects in Western Australia and progress work at the Brazil Niobium project. The placement was supported by both existing and new investors, and is expected to settle by 20 December.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
NC6	Nanollose Limited	0.017	-43%	1,552,667	$5,160,191
PNT	Panthermetalsltd	0.010	-33%	11,641,203	$3,530,230
IBX	Imagion Biosys Ltd	0.025	-31%	8,109,596	$1,815,767
MKR	Manuka Resources.	0.029	-28%	5,403,604	$32,430,707
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.002	-25%	1,964,426	$57,867,624
CYQ	Cycliq Group Ltd	0.003	-25%	11,867	$1,842,067
LNU	Linius Tech Limited	0.002	-25%	1,595,997	$12,302,431
OB1	Orbminco Limited	0.002	-25%	707,758	$4,333,180
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.003	-25%	55,000	$8,229,789
SKN	Skin Elements Ltd	0.003	-25%	78,340	$3,424,611
YAR	Yari Minerals Ltd	0.003	-25%	603,108	$1,929,431
HE8	Helios Energy Ltd	0.010	-23%	461,940	$33,852,643
BCB	Bowen Coal Limited	0.006	-21%	13,047,626	$70,000,228
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.002	-20%	1,055	$3,852,080
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.002	-20%	170,666	$4,511,258
TSL	Titanium Sands Ltd	0.004	-20%	222,333	$11,058,736
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.002	-20%	306,650	$14,737,667
EQN	Equinoxresources	0.105	-19%	818,532	$16,100,500
NWM	Norwest Minerals	0.017	-19%	1,044,747	$10,187,510
CMB	Cambium Bio Limited	0.440	-19%	44,267	$6,442,743
OLI	Oliver'S Real Food	0.009	-18%	312,500	$5,948,051
APC	APC Minerals	0.019	-17%	141,285	$2,349,981
BSN	Basinenergylimited	0.015	-17%	222,594	$1,878,293

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

ADX Energy (ASX:ADX) has brought the Anshof-2A oil well into production at an initial rate of ~70 barrels per day, increasing total output to 170bpd, with 100bpd net to the company. The company is assessing long-term production potential while exploring further appraisal and nearby exploration opportunities.

Uvre (ASX:UVA)is looking to sure up multiple paleochannel targets ahead of drilling as it kicks off a second-phase exploration program at its highly prospective uranium assets in South Australia. If all goes to plan, the company aims to begin drilling in the March quarter of the new year.

Golden Mile Resources (ASX:G88) is expanding its planned maiden drilling program at the Pearl copper project in Arizona to include the Ford and Odyssey prospects. Drilling is expected to begin in early 2025, with Ford being a historical mine that produced grades of up to 31.3% lead, 10.6% copper, and 16.7g/t gold.

Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX:BCM)has attracted further interest from brokers and sophisticated investors, raising $1.44 million through the placement of 144 million shares at 1 cent each. The funds will support ongoing studies and an updated MRE for BCM’s Ema project in northern Brazil.

Javelin Minerals (ASX:JAV) shareholders have approved the acquisition of the Eureka gold project in WA from Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI), which has a MRE of 2.45Mt at 1.42 g/t gold for 112,000oz. The company plans to begin its first drill program in early 2025 and has appointed experienced finance professional Peter Gilford as a non-executive director.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While ADX Energy, Uvre, Golden Mile Resources, Brazilian Critical Minerals and Javelin Minerals 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.