Lunch Wrap: ASX takes profits as GemLife pops on IPO debut, Santa Fe surges 300pc

The ASX has dipped on Thursday but GemLife has soared on debut and Santa Fe has rocketed on a gold deal.

ASX traders locked in gains today, cashing out after recent rallies. Picture via Getty Images

• ASX dips as banks wobble and miners muscle up

• GemLife pops 20pc in biggest float of the year

• Microsoft cuts jobs, wild Fed rumour denied

The ASX took a step back on Thursday, down 0.5% by lunch in the east after setting a fresh record yesterday.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow slipped 0.1%, but Nasdaq rose 0.8% and the S&P 500 hit a new record thanks to a fresh Vietnam trade pact that had Trump puffing his chest.

Elsewhere, Microsoft is swinging the axe again. Around 120 Aussie jobs are set to go as part of its latest global cull of 9,000 roles.

Meanwhile, one particularly wild rumour suggested Scott Bessent could take on double duty as both Fed Chair and Treasury Secretary.

The White House shot it down immediately as “absolutely fake news”, noting the roles were officially split back in 1935.

And over in US Congress, the House is sprinting to pass Trump’s 'Big Beautiful Bill' before the July 4 deadline.

A few Republican holdouts have flipped their votes, including Ohio’s Warren Davidson, who now says the bill includes “major wins”.

Back home, though, after a strong week, local punters seem to be taking profits this morning.

Retailers like JB HiFi (ASX:JBH) and Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) fell,  giving back recent gains sparked by talk of a possible RBA rate cut.

Miners, on the other hand, found their second wind.

China’s leadership has apparently had enough of its steel sector eating itself alive with lowball pricing.

Xi Jinping’s crew came out swinging this week, promising to crack down on “disorderly” price competition and shut the door on excess industrial capacity.

That gave iron ore a kick, and sent the ASX miners roaring this week, including today.

Lithium names followed suit. Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) jumped 8%, Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) rose 6.5% this morning.

And on the IPO front, GemLife Communities Group (ASX:GLF) has just made its grand entrance.

The over-50s luxury resort developer opened at around $5, a 20% premium on its $4.16 IPO price, a tidy win on the year’s biggest float.

The $750 million raise comes courtesy of the Puljich family and Singapore’s Thakral Capital, joining a busy IPO season that’s already seen Virgin Australia (ASX:VGN), Tetratherix (ASX:TTX) and the Twiggy-backed Greatland Resources (ASX:GGP) hit the boards.

Source: Market Index

In large caps news, ProMedicus (ASX:PME) leapt 6% and touched its all-time high after landing two juicy US imaging contracts worth nearly $200 million.

Elsewhere, AMP (ASX:AMP) is back in court.

Two new legal proceedings – one in Victoria over super insurance fees, and another in NSW tied to the Macquarie Shopping Centre sale – have landed on the company’s desk.

AMP says it will defend both.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for July 3 :

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
SFM	Santa Fe Minerals	0.145	368%	1,445,835	$2,257,382
OKJ	Oakajee Corp Ltd	0.031	55%	297,791	$1,828,921
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.002	50%	45,000	$6,684,681
PAB	Patrys Limited	0.002	50%	4,369,649	$2,365,810
AGY	Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.026	37%	14,785,349	$27,662,498
AMS	Atomos	0.004	33%	1,000,000	$3,645,055
PLG	Pearlgullironlimited	0.008	33%	8,200	$1,227,251
WR1	Winsome Resources	0.160	25%	1,234,147	$31,096,415
EQS	Equitystorygroupltd	0.025	25%	175,992	$3,336,408
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.003	25%	5,785,563	$2,003,566
CUL	Cullen Resources	0.005	25%	2,837,583	$2,773,607
KPO	Kalina Power Limited	0.005	25%	3,532,455	$11,731,983
THR	Thor Energy PLC	0.010	25%	1,103,950	$5,686,319
WBE	Whitebark Energy	0.005	25%	200,000	$2,749,334
OAK	Oakridge	0.080	23%	375	$1,754,864
REZ	Resourc & En Grp Ltd	0.022	22%	514,252	$12,089,504
THB	Thunderbird Resource	0.011	22%	5,863,549	$3,507,673
NSB	Neuroscientific	0.140	22%	769,105	$38,246,206
PAR	Paradigm Bio.	0.465	21%	1,185,593	$149,930,097
CRN	Coronado Global Res	0.163	20%	19,430,895	$226,321,254
WYX	Western Yilgarn NL	0.030	20%	261,891	$3,439,027
BNL	Blue Star Helium Ltd	0.006	20%	46,483	$13,474,426
CCO	The Calmer Co Int	0.003	20%	6,010,228	$7,528,383
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.003	20%	2,000,001	$1,216,176

Santa Fe Minerals (ASX:SFM) jumped more than 300% after locking in a deal to acquire the Eburnea Gold Project from Turaco Gold, giving it 100% of the granted Satama Permit and up to 90% of the nearby Bouake North Application once granted. Satama’s already shown promise, with hits like 26m at 4.82g/t gold, and sits on a 2km-long mineralised zone with plenty of room to grow.

Geophysics suggests multiple parallel zones still to be drilled, and the Bouake prospect lies just 35km from Endeavour’s 3Moz Lafigue mine. To fund the move, Santa Fe has secured $1.2 million at 5c a share, a chunky 61% premium, all subject to shareholder and ASX sign-off. If this plays out as planned, Santa Fe said it could be a big step for the company into West African gold.

Australian Oil Company (ASX:AOK) has settled with ex-director Gary Jeffery and his company Dungay Resources, wiping a $1 million loan and over $180k in interest from AOK’s books. In return, it will pay $28,000 in cash and issue 36 million shares to cover historical director fees. The deal follows a broader management review, and is aimed at strengthening the balance sheet and moving forward with plans to grow its Californian operations.

Resources and Energy Group (ASX:REZ) has secured firm commitments to raise $1.1 million at 1.5c a share, a 16.7% discount to the last trade. The cash will go towards expanding its vat leach facility, ramping up gold production at Maranoa, and drilling across its East Menzies project. The raise saw strong backing. A third gold pour is on the way, and approval for more vats is pending.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for July 3 :

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.001	-50%	1	$6,507,557
ADY	Admiralty Resources.	0.005	-29%	100,000	$18,406,356
DGR	DGR Global Ltd	0.004	-27%	100,000	$5,740,328
CDE	Codeifai Limited	0.059	-26%	18,615,441	$35,435,076
CAV	Carnavale Resources	0.003	-25%	6,237,500	$16,360,874
KLR	Kaili Resources Ltd	0.006	-25%	14,599	$1,179,203
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.009	-25%	6,068,163	$10,439,442
MPP	Metro Perf.Glass Ltd	0.050	-24%	51,732	$12,234,954
WWG	Wisewaygroupltd	0.145	-22%	8,140	$30,960,341
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.004	-20%	5,068,952	$10,434,568
ID8	Identitii Limited	0.005	-17%	729,200	$4,668,081
TEG	Triangle Energy Ltd	0.003	-17%	421,996	$6,267,702
HMD	Heramed Limited	0.011	-15%	3,025,217	$11,382,836
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.006	-14%	73,792	$2,829,195
BLU	Blue Energy Limited	0.006	-14%	835,489	$12,956,815
REC	Rechargemetals	0.013	-13%	664,404	$3,854,850
RMI	Resource Mining Corp	0.013	-13%	835,624	$11,016,800
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.015	-12%	82,482	$13,656,140
MTC	Metalstech Ltd	0.115	-12%	744	$27,133,811
SUH	Southern Hem Min	0.031	-11%	226,806	$25,768,402
TAT	Tartana Minerals Ltd	0.031	-11%	8,968	$7,495,106
UVA	Uvrelimited	0.120	-11%	289,914	$8,127,000
HTG	Harvest Tech Grp Ltd	0.016	-11%	452,204	$16,127,041
RR1	Reach Resources Ltd	0.008	-11%	61,118	$7,869,882

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML) is wasting no time starting exploration at its Horse Heaven project in the US, a historical producer of strategically important metals antimony and tungsten.

Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) has completed acquisition of the Calico North silver project and kicked off an earn-in at the Kramer Hills gold and silver project in California.

StockTake: Many Peaks Minerals (ASX:MPK) has expanded its gold play in west Africa with the addition an exploration permit south of the company’s Ferké.

Drilling at Brightstar Resources’ (ASX:BTR) Sandstone Hub has returned high-grade gold hits that highlight its tremendous exploration potential.

Australian tech company Codeifai (ASX:CDE) has appointed industry leaders from OpenAI, Google, Binance and WhatsApp to spearhead growth plans.

RareX (ASX:REE) has found a 70m heavy rare earths bearing vein at its Mt Mansbridge project in WA, just down the road from the 11.7Mt Browns Range project.

LAST ORDERS

Finder Energy (ASX:FDR) has closed a $6m placement early due to strong support, with major shareholder Longreach Capital Investment committing to $2.7m.

FDR will channel the new funds to bring the Kuda Tasi and Jahal oil development project to a final investment decision and support the transition to an offshore development company, targeting first oil in 2027.

Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX) has brought former WA government director Darren Foster onto the board as a non-executive director, leveraging his extensive expertise in environmental approvals, sustainable development and stakeholder engagement.

Foster has previously served as the deputy director general of the WA department of fisheries, as director of the environmental protection authority and most recently as director general of the department of the premier and cabinet.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Finder Energy and Western Yilgarn are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article. 

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

Originally published as Lunch Wrap: ASX takes profits as GemLife pops on IPO debut, Santa Fe surges 300pc