Top 10 at 11: ASX opens lower as major markets take stock

The ASX has dipped 0.14pc in the first hour of trade on mixed performances from global indices, as investors pause to take stock.

With all the chaos in recent weeks, investors appear to be taking a moment to let the dust settle. Pic: Getty Images.

Morning, and welcome to Stockhead’s Top 10 (at 11… ish), highlighting the movers and shakers on the ASX in early-doors trading.

With the market opening at 10am sharp eastern time, the data is taken at 10:15, once trading kicks off in earnest.

In brief, this is what the markets have been up to this morning.

International markets take a breath

Global markets have taken a breather overnight, with some major indices dipping but showing no major signs of weakness.

The Nasdaq stood out once again, climbing 0.7% on some major deals in the tech and growth stock space.

Nvidia’s deal with Saudi Arabia drove the chip manufacturer up 4.2%, followed by AMD with a 4.7% rise after the latter approved a US$6 billion share buyback program.

Super Micro Computer outclassed them all with a 15.7% surge, having signed a multi-year deal with Saudi Arabia-based DataVolt, a data centre company.

There was plenty of Saudi love to go around. Boeing is also still in recovery mode, lifting 0.6% on the back of a jet purchase deal with Qatar Airways.

Here’s hoping they’ve addressed any issues with their quality assurance protocols after the US FAA’s audit highlighted “gaps” in the company’s safety culture in 2024.

Much of this wheeling and dealing has come as a consequence of US President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia.

He’s been accompanied by more than a dozen of the top CEOs on Wall Street, including Elon Musk and representatives from BlackRock, Blackstone, OpenAI, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Halliburton, Google and Amazon.

The Blue-Chip Dow Jones slid 0.2%, but the S&P500 ticked up 0.1%.

In Europe, Banks added 0.9% as global uncertainty begins to abate, but a 1.5% drop in healthcare stocks pushed the overall markets lower.

The FTSE300 slid 0.3%, while the UK FTSE100 nudged down 0.2%.

ASX slips 0.14% in first hour

The ASX is looking like it, too, will be breaking its hot streak, opening lower in the first hour of trading with Futures also pointing to a subdued day.

Materials (-0.86%) is leading the bourse down, but eight of eleven sectors are in the red, offering plenty of headwinds.

With oil (-1.23%), gold (-2.35%) and iron ore (-2%) all falling overnight, it’s unlikely the resources sector will be making much headway today.

Consumer Discretionary is the exception at present, up 0.86%, and there’s some small signs of movement in finance stocks.

Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) has nudged up 0.3% and NAB (ASX:NAB) 0.50%, while Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG) has added 3.56% to its share price as of about 10:30 am AEST.

WINNERS

Code	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ATX	Amplia Therapeutics	0.083	51%	5822736	$21,337,397
ERA	Energy Resources	0.002	33%	963520	$608,094,361
MSI	Multistack Internat.	0.005	25%	45000	$545,216
SHP	South Harz Potash	0.005	25%	100000	$4,410,915
EDU	EDU Holdings Limited	0.16	23%	880610	$19,571,943
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.006	9%	616863	$8,658,052
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.006	20%	340499	$19,247,483
LIS	Lisenergylimited	0.125	19%	804148	$67,221,024
BCA	Black Canyon Limited	0.059	18%	12500	$6,482,535
AN1	Anagenics Limited	0.007	17%	72536	$2,977,922

In the news…

Oncology biotech Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX)has confirmed the cancer-fighting benefits of combining its FAK inhibitor narmafotinib in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapies gemcitabine and Abraxane in its ACCENT clinical trial.

The trial has demonstrated 15 partial respondes from patients, with tumours shrinking more than 30% and sustaining that progress for two or more months, and no new cancerous lesions detected.

As pancreatic cancer is highly aggressive, it’s rare for patients to achieve a complete response (becoming tumour free).

LI-S Energy (ASX:LIS) a lithium-ion technology company, is poised to begin ground testing of its Pegasus I platform, a program backed by Australian government funding with the goal of developing a drone capable of flying continuously from dawn to dusk without the need for recharging or landing.

The company recently completed a successful test flight using a 12-cell lithium-sulphur battery pack in a 2.4-metre-wingspan drone. The UAV flew for 30 minutes with only partial battery discharge.

LIS is also developing Australia’s first lithium foil production line with support in the form of a $1.7m Industry Growth Program grant.

LAGGARDS

Code	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
BIT	Biotron Limited	0.002	-33%	303272	$3,981,738
SFG	Seafarms Group Ltd	0.001	-33%	1500000	$7,254,899
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.002	-33%	128571	$6,745,670
CTO	Citigold Corp Ltd	0.003	-25%	648924	$12,000,000
JAY	Jayride Group	0.0015	-25%	1009801	$2,855,778
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.0015	-25%	53124668	$4,887,272
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.004	-20%	3672037	$15,867,318
NPM	Newpeak Metals	0.009	-18%	2	$3,542,789
AJL	AJ Lucas Group	0.005	-17%	53900	$8,254,378
EAT	Entertainment	0.005	-17%	71134	$7,852,716

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Top 10 at 11: ASX opens lower as major markets take stock