Lunch Wrap: ASX runs out of puff, but Life360 keeps rocketing higher

Wall Street’s flying but the ASX skids this morning. Life360 rockets again, while stocks like Macquarie and Aristocrat stumble.

ASX cools off after five-day sprint. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX cools off after five-day sprint

• Wall Street tech stocks roar back to life

• Life360 rockets again, CBA reports solid quarter

The ASX ran out of puff this morning, snapping a five-day winning streak with a small 0.05% dip by lunchtime, AEST.

The local slump stood in contrast to a cracking session on Wall Street last night, where tech stocks took off on the back of easing trade tensions.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and, in a bit of a milestone, finally wiped out all its 2025 losses.

Nvidia led the charge, up 6%, pushing the Nasdaq deeper into bull market territory.

CEO Jensen Huang announced Nvidia will be shipping more than 18,000 of its flash new GB300 AI chips to Saudi firm Humain. The deal was unveiled during a Trump-led CEO tour of the region.

Cyber firm Palantir also soared 9% after news of a monster US$142 billion defence deal with the Saudis.

Microsoft, on the other hand, announced 6000 job losses as it reshuffles to stay lean in a shifting tech landscape.

April’s US CPI reading came in softer than expected, cooling inflation jitters and pushing Fed rate cut bets back to September.

Back home, the spotlight was on wages this morning.

The Aussie Wage Price Index came in at 0.9% for the quarter, just a touch above forecasts. It’s solid, but not scorching.

Enough for the RBA to take a breath, but not enough to slam the door on rate cuts altogether, experts said.

Over to the ASX, energy stocks were running hot after Brent and WTI both surged 2.5% overnight.

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

In large caps news, Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) dropped 2% after ASIC launched legal action over its short-selling disclosures. Not the headline you want when you're the country’s top investment bank.

Gaming giant Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL) took an even bigger hit, down 13% after missing half-year revenue targets, dragging down the discretionary sector.

Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) moved the other way, rising 3.5% after flagging that Saudi giant Aramco might take a stake in its Louisiana LNG project.

Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) lifted 0.6% after posting a 6% jump in quarterly profit. Margins are holding, lending’s up, and while Aussie households are still doing it tough, the bank said its numbers are holding firm.

And finally, Life360's (ASX:360) stock price is still going vertical. After jumping 14% yesterday, it was up another 10% by late morning, riding a wave of new users and fattened-up revenues in Q1. Investors are clearly liking 360’s direction, and its speed.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for May 14 :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
CRB	Carbine Resources	0.007	75%	3,813,685	2,206,951.02
RMI	Resource Mining Corp	0.009	50%	4,346,709	3,992,434.42
ERA	Energy Resources	0.002	50%	20,902,963	405,396,240.82
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.002	50%	800,000	7,254,898.77
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.003	50%	25,000	4,497,113.20
CP8	Canphosphateltd	0.025	39%	13,771	5,521,689.49
HFR	Highfield Res Ltd	0.150	36%	1,043,191	52,148,474.73
MRQ	Mrg Metals Limited	0.004	33%	20,043,674	8,179,555.88
OSL	Oncosil Medical	0.004	33%	539,205	16,123,037.83
CXO	Core Lithium	0.096	32%	66,896,706	156,440,134.71
VMT	Vmoto Limited	0.099	25%	669,530	30,722,291.12
CAV	Carnavale Resources	0.005	25%	3,250,520	16,360,873.58
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.005	25%	3,141,990	4,792,222.31
TFL	Tasfoods Ltd	0.005	25%	1,103,013	1,748,382.06
OIL	Optiscan Imaging	0.120	20%	374,805	83,534,080.30
EAT	Entertainment	0.006	20%	23,005	6,543,930.08
EM2	Eagle Mountain	0.006	20%	100,000	6,242,705.09
IPB	IPB Petroleum Ltd	0.006	20%	36,557	3,532,015.30
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.006	20%	5,029,166	19,247,483.08
SPX	Spenda Limited	0.006	20%	1,539,635	25,383,685.14
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.006	20%	333,333	23,423,889.92
PUA	Peak Minerals Ltd	0.019	19%	25,360,278	44,917,140.64
MIO	Macarthur Minerals	0.020	18%	81,374	3,394,313.67
HVY	Heavymineralslimited	0.235	18%	148,859	13,513,718.40

Carbine Resources (ASX:CRB) has just locked in a mining lease for its Muchea West Silica Sand Project in WA. The lease (M70/1433) covers part of the project’s 110Mt high-grade silica resource, and runs for 21 years. It’s a big step forward, but it doesn’t mean mining can start just yet. Carbine still needs environmental and defence-related approvals, including green lights around the Muchea Air Weapons Range.

MRG Metals (ASX:MRQ) has been granted the Linhuane heavy mineral sands licence in Mozambique’s Gaza Province. The 56km² site sits right near the coast, and covers an 18km stretch of promising palaeodune. Old Rio Tinto drilling shows high-grade mineral sands close to surface, with standout hits like 10.5m at 15.6% THM and 10m at 17.9% THM. No drilling has gone deeper than 10.5m yet, so there’s still plenty of potential to uncover.

Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) has updated the numbers at its Finniss Lithium Project in the NT, locking in 10.73Mt at 1.29% Li₂O in Ore Reserves, enough to cover the first 10 years of its mine plan. The Grants Reserve has doubled to 1.15Mt with a shift to underground mining, which is expected to lower costs and unlock more tonnes. Overall Mineral Resources have edged up slightly to 48.5Mt, with an extra 310kt added from old tailings and stockpiles. CXO reckons there’s still more life to squeeze out of the broader tenement package, too.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for May 14 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.001	-50%	200,000	1,553,413
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.001	-33%	38,727,750	2,600,499
OLH	Oldfields Holdings	0.029	-26%	371,923	8,309,306
ADY	Admiralty Resources.	0.004	-20%	126,000	13,147,397
FHS	Freehill Mining Ltd.	0.004	-20%	2,650,000	16,167,639
RLL	Rapid Lithium Ltd	0.002	-20%	100,000	3,112,362
TYX	Tyranna Res Ltd	0.004	-20%	1,237,939	16,442,127
G11	G11 Resources Ltd	0.013	-19%	1,114,626	15,465,954
TG1	Techgen Metals Ltd	0.022	-19%	55,049	4,283,974
PIL	Peppermint Inv Ltd	0.003	-17%	102,484	6,712,918
NPM	Newpeak Metals	0.011	-15%	58,500	4,186,933
IFL	Insignia Financial	3.385	-15%	3,666,851	2,682,904,572
OEQ	Orion Equities	0.145	-15%	3,532	2,660,369
ARV	Artemis Resources	0.006	-14%	67,822	17,699,705
LM1	Leeuwin Metals Ltd	0.155	-14%	1,006,444	18,145,149
NZK	NZK Salmon Ltd	0.195	-13%	728	121,091,011
REE	Rarex Limited	0.026	-13%	2,437,172	24,025,375
AEI	Aeris Environmental	0.040	-13%	237,000	11,315,749
TAS	Tasman Resources Ltd	0.020	-13%	88,486	3,704,157
ALL	Aristocrat Leisure	59.470	-13%	2,433,840	42,614,449,136
MYX	Mayne Pharma Ltd	5.940	-13%	1,085,076	551,659,165
AHK	Ark Mines Limited	0.210	-13%	83,467	15,878,568
AVL	Aust Vanadium Ltd	0.012	-12%	2,902,196	112,250,555
ATS	Australis Oil & Gas	0.008	-11%	6,519,912	11,862,562

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA) is drilling for more high-grade gold at the Minos gold deposit in South Australia with a reverse circulation rig already onsite. The company plans to drill about 6600m, looking for extensions to gold hits of up to 21m at 8.43 g/t gold and 38m at 6.54 g/t gold.

DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) has exploration imminent over a pair of recently acquired rutile and mineral sands projects in Cameroon. Watch StockTake for more.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Indiana Resources and DY6 Metals 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.