Lunch Wrap: ASX jumps, Bitcoin nears record, Monash IVF tanks on new blunder

The ASX was up as investors piled into energy and tech, while bitcoin rallied and another mix-up prompted Monash IVF’s latest stumble.

Bitcoin hals leapt close to a record high again. Pic: Getty Images

• ASX edges up as energy and tech rally

• Monash IVY dives on another embryo mishap

• Bitcoin nears record again

The ASX kicked off Tuesday with a bit of bounce, rising 0.75% by lunch time, AEST.

Local investors shrugged off Wall Street’s quiet session overnight, and pounced on retail, bank and energy stocks while keeping one eye on Bitcoin’s rally.

Traders were also glued to US-China trade talks unfolding in London. Six hours of negotiations ended last night with vague optimism.

Trump called the talks “positive but not easy”, while his team labelled them “fruitful”. The Chinese delegation stayed quiet.

“There’s this growing optimism again that the negotiations will ultimately reach an agreement,” said Takeru Ogihara at Asset Management One.

If China agrees to release rare earths in volume as part of a deal, experts believe it could send tailwinds through the semiconductor, data centre, and battery metal sectors.

Elsewhere, Bitcoin’s back on the charge, smashing through US$110k for the first time in nearly two weeks.

It’s now less than 2% off its all-time high of $111,814, with traders eyeing a possible run to $120K if momentum holds.

Back to the ASX, and this is where things stood at about 12.40 pm, AEST:

Source: MarketIndex

In the large caps space, NextDC (ASX:NXT) soared nearly 7% after announcing its move into Malaysia, a step that signals it’s serious about extending its data centre reach into Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, there’s growing optimism around IPO activity, with whispers that ASIC might loosen the process to help bring more listings to market.

Virgin Australia’s ASX return on June 24 is the big test case, and if retail investors pile in, analysts say it could open the floodgates for more public debuts.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for June 10 :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
ICE	Icetana Limited	0.027	69%	5,585,810	$7,010,282
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.003	50%	1,875,851	$2,369,145
KTA	Krakatoa Resources	0.014	40%	28,438,375	$6,201,340
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.002	33%	1,757,415	$1,576,477
HLX	Helix Resources	0.002	33%	6,075,136	$5,046,291
MKL	Mighty Kingdom Ltd	0.018	29%	3,345,192	$6,805,984
FRE	Firebrickpharma	0.085	27%	157,319	$15,046,622
ASR	Asra Minerals Ltd	0.003	25%	1,533,343	$5,533,072
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.003	25%	1,101,963	$8,219,762
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.003	25%	277,400	$1,556,978
OVT	Ovanti Limited	0.003	25%	7,788	$5,587,030
TFL	Tasfoods Ltd	0.005	25%	100,000	$1,748,382
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.005	25%	959,170	$18,739,112
YAR	Yari Minerals Ltd	0.010	25%	5,201,318	$4,437,692
EXL	Elixinol Wellness	0.016	23%	1,427,802	$2,982,090
FCT	Firstwave Cloud Tech	0.016	23%	3,216,703	$22,275,743
ADO	Anteotech Ltd	0.009	21%	6,510,770	$18,937,102
BSN	Basinenergylimited	0.023	21%	701,461	$2,333,757
EPM	Eclipse Metals	0.018	20%	21,881,585	$42,987,285
NTU	Northern Min Ltd	0.036	20%	13,928,218	$250,714,675
AUR	Auris Minerals Ltd	0.006	20%	85,000	$2,383,130
FHS	Freehill Mining Ltd.	0.006	20%	4,051,939	$16,167,639

icetana (ASX:ICE) has just signed its biggest deal yet, a $3.6 million strategic partnership with SoftBank Robotics to take its surveillance AI tech deeper into Japan and beyond. The deal includes a $1.87 million equity investment, giving SoftBank a 17.6% stake, and makes it icetana’s exclusive distributor in Japan, with a minimum sales commitment of $693,000 a year.

The two are also teaming up on a three-year, $1.08 million joint development program to plug icetana’s AI into SoftBank’s security and automation platforms.

Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA) is gearing up for its first-ever drill program at the Zopkhito antimony-gold project in Georgia. Drilling is set to kick off in early July, targeting 7000-10,000m of diamond drilling. Geophysical surveys will help map out potential extensions of the current foreign resource estimate, which includes 26,000 tonnes of antimony and over 815,000 ounces of gold.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for June 10 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.001	-33%	431,800	$3,665,454
MVF	Monash IVF Group Ltd	0.565	-24%	28,943,852	$290,277,956
BIT	Biotron Limited	0.002	-20%	222,000	$3,318,115
CHM	Chimeric Therapeutic	0.004	-20%	128,813	$10,075,971
ERL	Empire Resources	0.004	-20%	532,001	$7,419,566
PKO	Peako Limited	0.002	-20%	18,817,123	$3,719,355
RDS	Redstone Resources	0.004	-20%	4,008,107	$5,171,337
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.004	-20%	1,032,551	$3,672,649
LAT	Latitude 66 Limited	0.036	-18%	345,133	$6,309,631
AZI	Altamin Limited	0.024	-17%	375,302	$16,660,584
NGX	Ngxlimited	0.120	-17%	1,090	$13,138,717
BLZ	Blaze Minerals Ltd	0.003	-17%	1,000,000	$4,700,843
FBR	FBR Ltd	0.005	-17%	2,279,656	$34,136,713
GLL	Galilee Energy Ltd	0.005	-17%	135,000	$4,243,157
MGU	Magnum Mining & Exp	0.005	-17%	50,000	$6,729,905
HCT	Holista CollTech Ltd	0.051	-15%	22,875	$17,146,003
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.006	-14%	621,216	$2,829,195
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.003	-14%	20,034	$4,193,195
EM2	Eagle Mountain	0.006	-14%	1,416,198	$7,945,261
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.003	-14%	215,182	$7,251,976
M2R	Miramar	0.003	-14%	500,000	$3,488,881
SHP	South Harz Potash	0.003	-14%	3,088,888	$3,859,550
S2R	S2 Resources	0.074	-13%	941,975	$38,492,929

At Monash IVF Group (ASX:MVF), things went from bad to worse.

The company’s shares sank 24% this morning after confirming another embryo mix-up; this time at its Clayton lab, where an embryo was incorrectly transferred to the patient rather than her partner, in contrast to the treatment plan.

This comes just months after a separate incident in Brisbane, where the embryo of one patient was mistakenly implanted into another, resulting in a birth with the wrong biological parent.

Monash says it’s expanding its internal review.

Coal stock Coronado Global Resources (ASX:CRN) fell despite sealing a deal with Queensland government-owned power provider Stanwell, which will tip in US$150 million in liquidity in return for up to 800,000 tonnes of thermal coal per year starting 2027.

LAST ORDERS

Star Minerals (ASX:SMS) has inked a drill for equity agreement with Impact Drilling, contracting them to undertake a drilling program at the Tumblegum South gold project in WA.

Under the agreement up to 25% of the direct drilling costs will be paid in SMS shares, with the program designed to test for extensions of structural gold targets and infill the current pit boundary.

HyTerra (ASX:HYT) has completed the Blythe 13-20 well at the Nemaha project on time and within budget with no health, environment or safety incidents, targeting hydrogen and helium.

Mud gas log readings have indicated the presence of both gases in the area – HYT has sent mud gas samples from the surface of the well for independent verification and compositional analysis.

Aura Energy (ASX:AEE) has reshuffled its executive board in an effort to expand options and efforts to secure project financing. Non-executive chair Philip Mitchell will transition to an executive role to leverage his extensive business development expertise, while Andrew Grove will continue as managing director and CEO.

EZZ Life Science (ASX:EZZ) has signed a three-year, $21 million distribution deal with ROFA Enterprises to sell its products in Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore starting June. ROFA will handle all marketing and logistics, while EZZ retains full brand control. The deal blocks ROFA from selling competing products and marks a key step in EZZ’s Southeast Asia growth strategy.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Mid-tier gold producer St Barbara is set to take a substantial shareholding in Geopacific Resources (ASX:GPR), as the junior releases more encouraging exploration news and a positive analyst report from its flagship Woodlark Project.

Titanium Sands (ASX:TSL) has made significant progress at the Mannar heavy mineral sands project in Sri Lanka in recent months and will present the project and provide an overview of the next steps to finalise approval of the key Industrial Mining Licence at a promotional roadshow.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While EZZ Life Science, Star Minerals, HyTerra and Aura Energy 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.