Lunch Wrap: NextDC surges on OpenAI deal, Saluda Medical stumbles on IPO
The ASX inched up at lunch as tech rode an OpenAI-fuelled surge. Meanwhile, gold shone on Fed-cut hopes and Saluda dropped 40pc on IPO debut.
Tech pops on OpenAI hype
Gold glitters on rate cut bets
Premier sinks as Saluda stumbles on IPO debut
The ASX was up around 0.15% on Friday lunchtime in the east.
Before that, Wall Street did absolutely nothing overnight – the Dow and Nasdaq went sideways, and the S&P barely gained 0.1%.
US jobless claims fell to their lowest level since 2022, normally a red flag for rate cuts, but holiday volatility means nobody really trusts the data.
Back home, ASX tech and gold supplied the only real momentum this morning.
Tech rallied on NextDC's (ASX:NXT) 6% surge after confirming a sovereign AI partnership with OpenAI – a plan to build a massive GPU supercluster at its new S7 data campus in Western Sydney. It’s exactly the kind of headline investors want in an AI-hungry world.
Gold miners climbed as bullion traded near six-week highs, helped by growing confidence in a Fed cut in a few days time.
But retail weakness remains a familiarity.
Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) plunged 13%. It announced a $100m buyback, but sales are soft and 1H26 earnings look to be below consensus.
In the large caps space, Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) says drilling continues to unlock organic growth across its portfolio, so it's holding firm on a $225 million exploration spend for FY26 to keep extending mine life.
On the tech front, Megaport (ASX:MP1) rotated its board as Lisa Hennessy joined – a nod to deep sector expertise as AI traffic accelerates.
Meanwhile, Saluda Medical (ASX:SLD) suffered an IPO reality check this morning.
Despite a $775m valuation and an FDA-approved device with FY26 revenue forecast at US$81.9m, the stock plunged ~40% within the first hour of trading.
Saluda develops spinal cord stimulation devices that read and respond to nerve signals in real time to treat chronic pain.
ASX LEADERS
Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:
| Security | Description | Last | % | Volume | MktCap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOM | Moab Minerals Ltd | 0.003 | 50% | 635,000 | $4,031,405 |
| 1AI | Algorae Pharma | 0.018 | 29% | 11,951,217 | $23,642,627 |
| AKN | Auking Mining Ltd | 0.005 | 25% | 170,000 | $3,600,124 |
| NTM | Nt Minerals Limited | 0.003 | 25% | 1,138,751 | $2,421,806 |
| CKA | Cokal Ltd | 0.070 | 23% | 3,810,855 | $61,500,092 |
| PKY | Pathkey.Ai Ltd | 0.018 | 20% | 404,153 | $4,602,586 |
| VAR | Variscan Mines Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 1,000,000 | $6,235,795 |
| MEG | Megado Minerals Ltd | 0.031 | 19% | 348,739 | $16,787,765 |
| AHE | Adheris Health Ltd | 0.025 | 19% | 25,024 | $13,366,953 |
| AYT | Austin Metals Ltd | 0.007 | 18% | 8,805,138 | $8,713,052 |
| BEL | Bentley Capital Ltd | 0.020 | 18% | 825,600 | $1,294,175 |
| PLC | Premier1 Lithium Ltd | 0.007 | 17% | 455,248 | $4,826,558 |
| RB6 | Rubixresources | 0.115 | 16% | 245,766 | $6,083,550 |
| AGR | Aguia Res Ltd | 0.022 | 16% | 3,860,105 | $31,313,763 |
| BOC | Bougainville Copper | 0.645 | 15% | 461,939 | $224,595,000 |
| CPN | Caspin Resources | 0.115 | 15% | 816,332 | $24,145,462 |
| MOH | Moho Resources | 0.008 | 14% | 5,568,087 | $7,101,993 |
| PL9 | Prairie Lithium Ltd | 0.008 | 14% | 5,785,267 | $39,062,201 |
| WBE | Whitebark Energy | 0.008 | 14% | 1,038,115 | $5,974,589 |
| NVA | Nova Minerals Ltd | 1.315 | 14% | 2,513,900 | $478,371,336 |
| AVL | Aust Vanadium Ltd | 0.250 | 14% | 346,222 | $76,292,273 |
| VFXDB | Visionflex Group Ltd | 0.090 | 13% | 6,000 | $5,406,637 |
| AON | Apollo Minerals Ltd | 0.009 | 13% | 50,000 | $7,427,655 |
Algorae Pharmaceuticals (ASX:1AI) has clocked a major milestone, with independent preclinical validation of its AlgoraeOS v1 platform at the Peter Mac Cancer Centre confirming that AOS1 can correctly pick which CBD-drug combinations are actually worth pursuing.
With that validation in hand, Algorae has rolled out a more powerful v2 model, which has outperformed benchmark AI systems and will deliver new predictions this month to guide future preclinical studies.
Austin Metals (ASX:AYT) has uncovered new BIF-hosted gold targets at its Austin Project in the Murchison, showing the same geological style as Caprice Resources’ high-grade Vadrians discovery immediately to the north.
Austin is now shifting to a high-grade discovery strategy, guided by technical consultant Gary Harvey, who helped find Vadrians. Drill testing of the newly ranked targets is set to kick off shortly.
ASX LAGGARDS
Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MGU | Magnum Mining & Exp | 0.005 | -29% | 14,239,577 | $19,628,890 |
| DMG | Dragon Mountain Gold | 0.008 | -27% | 1,267,081 | $4,341,388 |
| MAY | Melbana Energy Ltd | 0.009 | -25% | 35,686,123 | $45,383,626 |
| GGE | Grand Gulf Energy | 0.002 | -20% | 14,438,909 | $7,051,062 |
| RLG | Roolife Group Ltd | 0.004 | -20% | 200,000 | $9,392,478 |
| VEN | Vintage Energy | 0.004 | -20% | 100,000 | $10,434,568 |
| TEG | Triangle Energy Ltd | 0.003 | -17% | 13,313 | $6,603,702 |
| PBL | Parabellumresources | 0.075 | -16% | 123,456 | $5,544,700 |
| MNB | Minbos Resources Ltd | 0.027 | -16% | 3,424,984 | $31,201,588 |
| VBS | Vectus Biosystems | 0.140 | -15% | 132,594 | $8,800,000 |
| CTN | Catalina Resources | 0.003 | -14% | 5,500 | $10,020,567 |
| HHR | Hartshead Resources | 0.006 | -14% | 2,000,000 | $19,660,775 |
| PRM | Prominence Energy | 0.003 | -14% | 21,539 | $3,112,117 |
| ROG | Red Sky Energy. | 0.003 | -14% | 2,258,000 | $18,977,795 |
| CPO | Culpeominerals | 0.013 | -13% | 2,768,729 | $7,809,933 |
| PMV | Premier Investments | 15.770 | -13% | 1,168,595 | $2,892,229,164 |
| FCT | Firstwave Cloud Tech | 0.007 | -13% | 1,221,244 | $15,220,514 |
| GLL | Galilee Energy Ltd | 0.007 | -13% | 5,129,258 | $5,657,543 |
| LPM | Lithium Plus | 0.140 | -13% | 13,216 | $21,254,400 |
| NXN | Nexsen Limited | 0.140 | -13% | 146,632 | $11,610,575 |
| EQR | Eq Resources Limited | 0.058 | -12% | 40,810,178 | $246,703,281 |
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Austin Metals (ASX:AYT) has found potential BIF-hosted gold targets with similarities to Caprice Resources’ adjoining high-grade Vadrians discovery.
West Wits Mining (ASX:WWI) officially opens the Qala Shallows Underground Mine, South Africa’s first new underground gold mine in 15 years.
Pure One (ASX:PH2) has taken another step toward building a US-based hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market by signing a MoU with Hago Energetics.
Octava Minerals (ASX:OCT) has the diamond drill bit turning at the Sweeney’s prospect just four months after its acquisition.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
Originally published as Lunch Wrap: NextDC surges on OpenAI deal, Saluda Medical stumbles on IPO
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