Top 10 at 11: Gold and technology indices climb but ASX slips

The ASX has dipped on Thursday morning, tracking down 0.23pc. The ASX Gold and Tech indices are on the rise, despite a fall in gold prices overnight.

The ASX has slipped in early trading. 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.

Fed leaves rates on hold

Despite President Trump’s grumbling, the US Fed has held interest rates at 4.25%-4.50%, citing a growing economy and a “solid” labour market alongside elevated inflation for the decision.

Markets initially dipped on the news, but all three major indices had made gains by the end of the day.

Walt Disney’s stock shot up 10.8% after its quarterly results wowed investors, and Nvidia gained 3.1% after the Trump administration flagged plans to revise chip trade restrictions.

Apple took a hit after announcing it would look to AI solutions for its Safari browser’s search features, falling 1.14%. With the threat of losing a major search engine customer looming, Alphabet’s stock slipped 7.5%.

The Dow gained 0.7%, the S&P500 0.4% and the Nasdaq 0.3%.

Euro Pharma stocks fall following new FDA appointment

Markets in Europe took stock after a few weeks in the green, pulling back slightly as retail sales declined.

Retail stocks took a 2.2% hit, and Healthcare stocks slid 1.7%.

The appointment of FDA critic Vinay Prasad as the director of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research undermined several pharmaceutical stocks.

Prasad has been a vocal critic of the COVID-19 vaccine and the pharmaceutical industry in general. In his new role, he’ll be overseeing the regulation of biologic drugs, which include vaccines, gene therapies and blood supply.

Shares in AstraZeneca fell 2.07%, while British pharmaceutical company GSK shed 5% and French biotech Sanofi 4.31%.

The FTSE300 fell 0.5% and the UK FTSE100 0.4%.

ASX dips in early trade

The ASX has fallen 0.23% as of about 10:30 AM AEST, trending down against Futures expectations of a small rise.

The sectors are fairly even at the moment; six are up and five down, with Consumer Staples (+0.83%) and Financials (-0.82%) pulling in opposite directions.

The ASX All Ordinaries Gold index is up 1.34% at the moment, despite a 0.9% fall in Gold Futures overnight, settling at US$3,391.90 an ounce.

The ASX All Tech is also on the rise, lifting 0.83% compared to the sector’s 0.45% gain.

Now, onto our winners and laggards for the morning.

WINNERS

Code	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.003	50%	200000	$2,003,566
PPY	Papyrus Australia	0.013	44%	541900	$5,136,136
LKY	Locksley Resources	0.036	33%	8817971	$3,960,000
NAE	New Age Exploration	0.005	25%	318100	$10,637,596
HRE	Heavy Rare Earths	0.023	21%	589206	$3,952,644
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.003	20%	500490	$2,945,793
3DP	Pointerra Limited	0.068	19%	3330744	$45,889,377
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.013	18%	6756229	$5,986,726
NC1	Nico Resources	0.08	18%	157378	$7,459,639
BNL	Blue Star Helium Ltd	0.007	17%	94065	$16,169,312

In the news…

Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) is gearing up to drill at the Mojave antimony and rare earths project in the US, chasing up surface assays from the Desert Antimony Mine of up to 46% antimony and 1,022 g/t silver.

The company reckons Trump’s critical minerals executive order will be an opportunity for LKY to fast-track permitting with direct support from the National Energy Dominance Council and access to Defense Production Act funding.

Geospatial technology company Pointerra (ASX:3DP) has welcomed an invitation from the US Army to participate in a US$499 million contract for the Geospatial Research, Integration, Development and Support program.

Operating as a sub-contractor to US Defense contractor Leidos, the company is keen to deploy its Pointerra3D technology, a 3D digital twin data solution, in the defence sector.

LAGGARDS

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.001	-33%	1	$6,164,822
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.001	-33%	380501	$4,880,668
PKO	Peako Limited	0.002	-20%	1466668	$3,719,355
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.004	-20%	100000	$3,672,649
BUY	Bounty Oil & Gas NL	0.0025	-17%	8624	$4,684,416
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.006	-14%	1516579	$19,660,775
TMS	Tennant Minerals Ltd	0.006	-14%	69011	$6,691,233
AUR	Auris Minerals Ltd	0.007	-13%	279562	$3,813,008
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	0.007	-13%	2288147	$41,907,427
AJX	Alexium Int Group	0.008	-11%	44942	$14,277,858

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: Gold and technology indices climb but ASX slips