Top 10 at 11: ASX surges 0.75pc as markets anticipate RBA rate decision

ASX climbs 0.75pc out of the gate as markets bet on an even chance of a 50-bp interest rate cut from the RBA’s rate decision today.

The ASX is off to a strong start this morning, gaining momentum ahead of the RBA’s interest rate decision later today. 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.

US markets subdued after Sovereign credit downgrade

It was an uncertain day of trade in the US overnight as markets digested the Moody’s downgrade of US government debt and softening economic data out of China.

Health stocks made gains, lifting 1% as the new UnitedHealth CEO and CFO bought up stock and drove the company’s stock price up 8.2%.

Novavax also surged 15% after the US Fed approved its Covid-19 vaccine.

Over in the tech space, Tesla and Palantir Technologies both dipped 2%. The two companies have been enjoying positive attention from investors after their CEOs joined Trump in Saudi Arabia.

Palantir is up 5.29% overall since Trump began his diplomatic visit about a week ago, with Tesla gaining 7% over the same period.

The Dow lifted 0.3% and the S&P500 notched a six day in the green, lifting 0.1%. The Nasdaq was almost flat, adding just 0.02%.

Europe was in a similar mood. Travel and leisure stocks gained 0.9%, and budget airline Ryanair added 4.8% on strong demand across Europe, predicting fares would rebound and recover from last year’s decline.

The FTSE300 crept up by 0.1% and the UK FTSE100 gained 0.2%.

Looking at our bellwether commodities, gold lifted 1.5% as the US dollar fell – a response to the Moody’s downgrade – while oil also gained, adding 0.2%.

While the US’s credit downgrade would normally apply pressure to the oil price, US-Iran negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program are showing signs of breaking down, adding to the air of uncertainty around oil supply pressures.

Iron ore continued to slide, down another 0.1% but still hovering right around the US$100/t mark.

ASX jumps out of the gate

The ASX has had an excellent start to the day, climbing 0.75% in the first half hour of trading.

10 of 11 sectors are in the green, led by Info Tech (+1.38%) and Financials (+1.24%) and supported by a 1.54% uptick in the ASX200 Banks index.

All eyes will be on the RBA rate decision today, due at 2:30pm AEST. According to the ASX RBA rate tracker, the market has priced a 51% chance of a 50-basis-point cut as of today.

WINNERS

Code	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
MM1	Midasmineralsltd	0.23	46%	823859	$19,550,424
THB	Thunderbird Resource	0.017	42%	2203053	$4,436,897
KSN	Kingston Resources	0.125	36%	4183071	$75,619,851
CTO	Citigold Corp Ltd	0.004	33%	3013204	$9,000,000
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.007	27%	1428571	$6,479,419
C7A	Clara Resources	0.005	25%	293310	$2,046,417
VFX	Visionflex Group Ltd	0.0025	25%	4288833	$6,735,721
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.006	20%	519936	$7,997,663
VAR	Variscan Mines Ltd	0.006	20%	285491	$3,914,289
LTP	Ltr Pharma Limited	0.335	20%	189257	$31,349,630

In the news…

Midas Minerals (ASX:MM1) is on the up this morning, despite raising $6.5m in a placement at $0.15 a share, a 6.25% discount to its VWAP.

The company is in the midst of acquiring the Otavi project in Namibia, where MM1 recently acquired an option over a 195-square-kilometre licence. Historical exploration points to a large bedrock gold anomaly on the site, confirmed by a 60m drill core interval that revealed elevated levels of gold, silver, arsenic, lead, zinc, antimony and molybdenum.

Speaking of gold and antimony, Thunderbird Resources (ASX:THB) has confirmed the presence of both types of mineralisation at its NSW projects, Rockvale and Kookabookra.

Rock chip samples from Kookabookra have returned grades of up to 19.2 g/t and 8.56 g/t gold, while Rockvale produced chip assays of up to 4.1% antimony and silver up to 200 g/t.

Kingston Resources (ASX:KSN) is also enjoying some gold success, although in a very different way. KSN just sold its Misima gold project for total consideration of $95m, with a 0.5% revenue royalty on all gold production after 500k ounces are produced from the asset.

The company reckons the sale sets it up as a well-funded copper and gold producer with plenty of flexibility to pursue growth. KSN plans to pay off its $15m debt facility in full from the sale proceeds.

Moving away from gold, Clara Resources (ASX:C7A) is reviewing its Kildanga cobalt-nickel-gold-copper project after receiving an unsolicited inquiry about the project.

The board is considering several options, including divestment, joint ventures, or other partnership opportunities, engaging Cerberus Advisory to manage the process, evaluate options, and provide recommendations.

Telehealth and diagnostic tech solution company Visionflex Group (ASX:VFX) has locked in a partnership with BHP, with a first-year contract worth $400k. The mining giant will support the implementation of VFX’s technology in 13 medical centres and one Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) aircraft.

The goal of the partnership is to improve healthcare options in remote locations in WA, particularly around BHP’s own operations.

Rounding out our biotech gainers, LTR Pharma (ASX:LTP) has expanded patient access through the National Pharmacy Networks, specifically through the TerryWhite Chemmart chain, via its partnership with Symbion Pty Ltd.

The company’s erectile dysfunction nasal spray treatment is now available at more than 600 pharmacies nationwide.

LAGGARDS

Code	Name	Last	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
DUB	Dubber Corp Ltd	0.023	-39%	7481757	$99,687,964
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.002	-33%	231221	$3,152,954
PKO	Peako Limited	0.002	-20%	1500000	$3,719,355
TEG	Triangle Energy Ltd	0.002	-20%	80883	$5,223,085
TYX	Tyranna Res Ltd	0.004	-20%	650000	$16,442,127
PLN	Pioneer Lithium	0.095	-17%	180381	$4,894,594
EPM	Eclipse Metals	0.005	-17%	1	$17,194,914
ARV	Artemis Resources	0.006	-14%	4135	$17,699,705
AUK	Aumake Limited	0.003	-14%	38000	$10,581,756
BLU	Blue Energy Limited	0.006	-14%	880071	$12,956,815

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 surges 0.75pc as markets anticipate RBA rate decision