Lunch Wrap: Tech stocks rally, Andromeda nails ultra-pure alumina as shares double

ASX continues winning streak, Tesla quietly preps for life after Elon, and Andromeda hits ultra-pure alumina breakthrough.

Andromeda hits alumina milestone, shares soar. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX holds the line as Wall Street flips

• Tesla apparently looking for Musk replacement 

• Andromeda hits alumina milestone, shares soar

The ASX 200 is eyeing a sixth straight win, with the index cruising 0.2% higher by Thursday lunch time, AEST.

Overnight in the US, it was a rollercoaster. The S&P 500 crashed by 2% out the gates before coming back to life to close in the green, up 0.15%. The Nasdaq wobbled its way to a 0.1% loss.

The trigger was a mixed bag of US economic data.

First, a GDP shocker: the US economy shrank in Q1, the first time since 2022, thanks to (surprise!) an import surge, and slowing spending.

But then US inflation data came in flat, and word leaked that Washington had been quietly reaching out to Beijing to cool the tariff heat.

Behind closed doors, the US had reportedly been chatting with China to restart trade talks, with state-run Chinese media, CCTV, confirming Washington has made contact “through various channels”.

Trump, meanwhile, admitted that his big tariff play might be rattling the political fence, maybe even costing the Republicans a few votes in the mid-term, but told a town hall he’s not about to cut deals just to calm the voters.

“Yeah , but I’m an honest guy, and we have to save the country,” Trump said.

Elsewhere, the Tesla’s board is reported to be quietly started hunting for Elon Musk’s successor as CEO, according to a story from the Wall Street Journal.

They’ve apparently tapped a top search firm, though no one’s quite sure if Elon’s even been told.

Investors are getting twitchy about his side hustle in politics, and reckon someone needs to keep both hands on Tesla’s steering wheel.

Back home on the ASX, tech stocks rode the coattails of that US optimism.

WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) climbed 6%, and NextDC (ASX:NXT) popped 5%.

But that glow was dimmed by a familiar drag, miners doing what miners do when China sneezes.

China’s factory data faded again, dragging iron ore prices lower and taking the heat out of the big miners. BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) gave up more than 1%.

Gold lost some of its shine, too, sliding for the third straight day to around $US3,240/oz. Traders reckon any real shot at US-China trade talks could dull demand for safe-haven assets.

Source: Market Index

Source: Market Index

In large caps news, mining services stock Worley (ASX:WOR) has locked in a tidy win, scoring a two-year contract extension with Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) to keep running the show on brownfield engineering work at the Karratha and Pluto gas sites.

Worley has been in the trenches with Woodside for over two decades, and it’s been working on these same plants since 2018. Worley’s shares, however, were down 0.5%.

And, Pantoro (ASX:PNR) is about to wipe the slate clean, telling the market it will knock off its loan debt to Nebari Partners by May 12, which will save $1.5 million in interest. Shares were still down 3%.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for May 1 :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
ADN	Andromeda Metals Ltd	0.027	89%	82,149,686	$48,002,188
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.002	50%	1,037,767	$4,109,881
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.002	50%	4,910,073	$3,253,779
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.003	50%	170,000	$4,114,895
DXB	Dimerix Ltd	0.685	43%	26,142,136	$268,540,866
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.004	33%	401,000	$6,379,103
C7A	Clara Resources	0.005	25%	115,402	$2,046,417
CAV	Carnavale Resources	0.005	25%	176,000	$16,360,874
RLL	Rapid Lithium Ltd	0.003	25%	501,948	$2,489,889
ADG	Adelong Gold Limited	0.006	20%	464,910	$6,987,431
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.012	20%	26,588,544	$27,655,686
FRX	Flexiroam Limited	0.006	20%	81,250	$7,586,993
NES	Nelson Resources.	0.003	20%	10,676,742	$5,429,819
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.006	20%	2,585	$7,997,663
RLG	Roolife Group Ltd	0.006	20%	837,877	$7,480,156
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.003	20%	629,590	$25,555,958
VAR	Variscan Mines Ltd	0.006	20%	288,271	$3,914,289
AMA	AMA Group Limited	0.073	18%	54,251,811	$296,520,922
RAC	Race Oncology Ltd	1.220	17%	187,535	$181,539,342
PPG	Pro-Pac Packaging	0.021	17%	476,424	$3,270,379
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.007	17%	95,230	$16,852,093
SHP	South Harz Potash	0.007	17%	7,769	$6,495,472
SGA	Sarytogan	0.043	16%	208,868	$6,696,383
GW1	Greenwing Resources	0.030	15%	515,889	$6,256,939

Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN) has pulled off a major breakthrough, with lab tests showing it can produce ultra-high purity 4N HPA (99.9985%) using its own low-cost process and kaolin from the Great White Project in SA. The results have been confirmed by top labs in the US and CSIRO.

What sets this apart is the process. No high-pressure acid, no extreme heat, and no expensive aluminium metal. It’s cleaner, cheaper, and slashes carbon emissions by over two-thirds, ADN said.

Andromeda is now heading into a scoping study and will start working with customers to fine-tune the product for everything from semiconductors to batteries. After seven years of R&D, this could put it in the box seat as global HPA (high purity alumina) demand heats up, it said.

Dimerix (ASX:DXB) has just inked a big-ticket deal, handing over exclusive US rights to its kidney drug DMX-200 to Amicus Therapeutics for US$30 million up front, with another US$560 million on the table in milestone payments plus royalties down the track.

DMX-200 is currently in a pivotal Phase 3 trial for FSGS, a rare and deadly kidney disease with no approved treatments. The FDA has already agreed that proteinuria - a marker of excess protein in urine and a key sign of kidney damage – can be used in the primary measure for approval. Full trial enrolment is expected by the end of 2025.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for May 1 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.001	-50%	68,648	$4,063,446
DY6	Dy6Metalsltd	0.100	-39%	5,847,707	$8,317,787
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.001	-33%	45,000	$7,254,899
XPN	Xpon Technologies	0.005	-29%	1,666,660	$2,537,090
ARN	Aldoro Resources	0.350	-26%	1,321,672	$84,270,788
BLG	Bluglass Limited	0.012	-25%	5,843,960	$29,448,965
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	0.003	-25%	50,000	$5,241,315
WOA	Wide Open Agricultur	0.027	-24%	17,677,229	$18,945,875
ADY	Admiralty Resources.	0.004	-20%	443,615	$13,147,397
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.004	-20%	1,097,213	$15,867,318
RMI	Resource Mining Corp	0.004	-20%	100,010	$3,327,029
SPN	Sparc Tech Ltd	0.170	-19%	413,688	$20,133,319
KNO	Knosys Limited	0.035	-19%	644,342	$9,293,964
EG1	Evergreenlithium	0.040	-18%	371,093	$9,534,337
1AD	Adalta Limited	0.005	-17%	3,686,373	$3,859,337
AUR	Auris Minerals Ltd	0.005	-17%	3,995	$2,859,756
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.003	-17%	41,636	$2,239,454
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.003	-17%	170,000	$17,685,201
PFT	Pure Foods Tas Ltd	0.018	-14%	22,319	$2,843,938
NWM	Norwest Minerals	0.012	-14%	2,244,755	$6,791,673
RNX	Renegade Exploration	0.003	-14%	2,000,832	$4,509,272
SKK	Stakk Limited	0.006	-14%	306,897	$14,525,558
BUR	Burleyminerals	0.043	-14%	289,363	$8,118,547
VR1	Vection Technologies	0.016	-14%	5,277,040	$27,549,994

Originally published as Lunch Wrap: Tech stocks rally, Andromeda nails ultra-pure alumina as shares double