Lunch Wrap: ASX on the front foot despite a Powell googly; gold hits record again

Gold has hit another record, sending the ASX up. Powell’s rate cut warning slammed Wall Street overnight but BHP and Santos have rallied.

ASX finds some surprising form on a tricky deck. Picture via Getty Images

• Gold hits a record, boosting the ASX

• Fed chief Powell’s rate cut warning sends Wall Street crashing

• BHP and Santos rally, Nvidia takes a hit

The ASX was up by 0.4% at lunch time, with gold miners leading the charge after bullion prices hit yet another record high.

But while gold was flexing, Wall Street copped a hiding as the market wakes up to the fact the Fed isn’t here to save the day.

Overnight, Fed boss Jerome Powell warned that tariffs and trade wars would fire up inflation, and that rate cuts are off the table for now.

“The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated,” Powell said.

“In all likelihood, inflation is likely to go up as well."

He added the Fed’s best play right now is to sit tight and wait for the data to show how the US economy is actually handling Trump’s tariff chaos.

After his comments, the S&P 500 closed the day down by 2.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq by over 3%.

The headline stock was Nvidia, which got belted 7% after fresh US export rules are expected to clip its chip sales to China, forcing the chips giant to flag a US$5.5 billion charge this quarter.

Rival chipmaker AMD also took a hit, down 7.35%.

Closer to home, ASX investors looked past Wall Street volatility and picked up a few local bargains.

Gold stocks, as mentioned, were the stars of the morning. Their run followed gold’s surge to the current price of $US3,332/oz, a new all-time high, as investors chased safe-haven assets.

Energy stocks were the biggest movers as Brent jumped 2% to above US$66 last night as the US slapped new sanctions on Iran.

Elsewhere, Aussie market added 32,200 new jobs in March, but the jobless rate nudged up to 4.1% from 4%.

“The Australian interest rate market is pricing in 31bp of RBA rate cuts for May, and a cumulative 122bp of RBA rate cuts this year,” said Tony Sycamore at IG.

Here’s where things stood at around lunch time, AEST:

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

In the large caps space, BHP (ASX:BHP) reported a surprising record iron ore and copper production for the quarter in the midst of tough market conditions.

Copper production was up 10%, with Escondida’s output jumping 20%, while WA iron ore operations are smashing it despite the heaviest rainfall in years. BHP’s shares were up 1%.

Santos (ASX:STO) had a cracker of a quarter, too, with free cash flow up 9% to US$465 million from sales of US$1.3 billion.

Santos’ production went up 2%, and it hit a new record output at Scotia. STO shares were up 2%.

And, investment manager Challenger (ASX:CGF) rallied 7% after it narrowed its FY25 profit guidance, now expecting between $450m and $465m, a slightly tighter range that signals more clarity on its outlook.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
AVM	Advance Metals Ltd	0.053	51%	38,676,345	$7,491,219
TTI	Traffic Technologies	0.003	50%	1,630,346	$2,514,294
SUH	Southern Hem Min	0.041	37%	2,928,775	$22,087,201
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.004	33%	750,000	$1,167,529
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.002	33%	172,883	$7,254,899
GBZ	GBM Rsources Ltd	0.009	29%	910,712	$8,197,490
VKA	Viking Mines Ltd	0.009	29%	2,832,073	$9,297,031
ANR	Anatara Ls Ltd	0.008	25%	24,764,790	$1,280,302
ALM	Alma Metals Ltd	0.005	25%	100,000	$6,345,381
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.005	25%	605,379	$6,296,765
ERL	Empire Resources	0.005	25%	75,000	$5,935,653
BUR	Burleyminerals	0.055	25%	282,551	$6,616,322
MEI	Meteoric Resources	0.135	23%	16,280,672	$257,054,906
IRX	Inhalerx Limited	0.022	22%	76,323	$3,842,068
ARC	ARC Funds Limited	0.110	21%	10,500	$4,207,362
LIN	Lindian Resources	0.120	20%	2,113,710	$115,317,224
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.006	20%	70,000	$5,890,381
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.003	20%	273,190	$4,159,399
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.006	20%	157,219	$27,111,136
TMS	Tennant Minerals Ltd	0.006	20%	3,868,864	$4,779,452
CDR	Codrus Minerals Ltd	0.019	19%	15,001	$2,646,200
LDX	Lumos Diagnostics	0.026	18%	8,864,930	$16,467,506
ASM	Ausstratmaterials	0.750	18%	1,279,401	$115,151,333
DTZ	Dotz Nano Ltd	0.067	18%	316,963	$32,280,652

Advance Metals (ASX:AVM) has announced another set of promising gold hits at Myrtleford. Drilling at the Happy Valley Prospect has returned up to 446g/t gold, with a standout intercept of 7.5 metres at 47.9g/t, including a red-hot 1.3m at 271.6g/t.

That’s now three straight diamond holes delivering high-grade results, proving Myrtleford isn’t just a one-off, it’s a system. Only about 1% of the full 13km Happy Valley trend has seen been drilled, and Advance is now pushing north to Twist Creek, where past hits have topped 40g/t.

Anatara Lifesciences (ASX:ANR) ’s GaRP-IBS trial has missed its main goal but delivered some wins. The Phase II trial didn’t hit statistical significance for reducing IBS symptoms versus placebo, but showed a clear trend of improvement and no safety concerns.

Anxiety scores improved significantly, and the “adequate relief” measure was a standout, with a strong result at the 10-week mark. The company now plans to tighten spending, explore commercial options for GaRP, and keep pushing ahead on its anti-obesity project.

InhaleRX (ASX:IRX) has locked in its clinical partner to kick off human trials for its panic disorder treatment, IRX-616a. The Study Order with iNGENū CRO puts the Phase 1 trial in motion, testing the safety and effects of its cannabidiol inhaler in healthy volunteers.

Backed by up to $38.5 million in funding from Clendon Biotech, IRX said it’s aiming to fast-track development through to Phase 3. The trial will run out of CMAX in Adelaide, with dosing planned for later this year.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
EGY	Energy Tech Ltd	0.019	-37%	12	$13,387,418
ASR	Asra Minerals Ltd	0.002	-33%	16,845,721	$7,119,380
NTM	Nt Minerals Limited	0.001	-33%	19,905,433	$1,816,354
SIS	Simble Solutions	0.003	-25%	30,000	$3,505,321
TAS	Tasman Resources Ltd	0.003	-25%	153,818	$3,220,998
BPM	BPM Minerals	0.028	-22%	2,889,564	$3,142,812
IPB	IPB Petroleum Ltd	0.004	-20%	1,484	$3,532,015
OLI	Oliver'S Real Food	0.004	-20%	1,624,887	$2,703,660
RAN	Range International	0.002	-20%	202,782	$2,348,226
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.004	-20%	154,000	$23,423,890
MEG	Megado Minerals Ltd	0.009	-18%	1,273,804	$4,616,516
AMS	Atomos	0.005	-17%	5,725	$7,290,111
ANX	Anax Metals Ltd	0.005	-17%	84,267	$5,296,845
FRX	Flexiroam Limited	0.005	-17%	80,000	$9,104,392
PFT	Pure Foods Tas Ltd	0.017	-15%	200,000	$2,708,512
MMR	Mec Resources	0.003	-14%	272,009	$6,474,180
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.006	-14%	1,300,779	$11,196,728
TSL	Titanium Sands Ltd	0.006	-14%	333,400	$16,357,230
NSB	Neuroscientific	0.045	-13%	1,624,619	$7,519,453
DRE	Dreadnought Resources	0.013	-13%	17,479,133	$70,047,500
CRR	Critical Resources	0.004	-13%	37,608	$9,856,885
KGD	Kula Gold Limited	0.007	-13%	1,017,732	$7,370,029
RIM	Rimfire Pacific	0.021	-13%	228,180	$60,429,453
AI1	Adisyn Ltd	0.052	-12%	502,760	$42,617,210

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

In a bid to streamline its Australian portfolio and sharpen focus on the Rio Grande Sur project in Argentina, Pursuit Minerals (ASX:PUR) has offloaded the Commando and Warrior projects for total consideration of $300,000. Pursuit has already begun lithium carbonate production at Rio Grande Sur.

“This transaction clears the path to accelerate that momentum, sharpen our development focus, and strengthen our position as an emerging lithium producer in Argentina,” PUR managing director and CEO Aaron Revelle said.

Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE) has added $5m to the war chest with a share placement with a private Australian investor. The funds will support the Phase 3 diabetic foot infection Registrational Topical Clinical Trial in Indonesia, and the Phase III acute bacterial skin and skin-structure infections (ABSSSI) Registrational Topical Clinical Trial in Australia.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Pursuit Minerals and Recce Pharmaceuticals 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.

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 on the front foot despite a Powell googly; gold hits record again