Closing Bell: Energy surge fails to power fizzling ASX
ASX has bled 1.03pc over last week
Resource 200 index falls 1.1pc and All Ord Gold 2pc
Energy rally runs out of fuel
Gains in the energy sector (+1.8%) just weren't enough to offset a bruised materials sector (-1.73%) today.
The ASX 200 ended down 0.49% in one of our worst weeks of trading since Liberation Day knocked us all for six back in April.
After setting two new record highs last week, the Aussie bourse has shed a full 1.03% over the past five trading days. It's now 1.25% below its 52-week average high.
Weakness in gold stocks was the core driver of losses in resource stocks, but there was no support to be found in our top banks either – the banks index is down 0.5% today, while the All Ords Gold shed a full 2%.
Woodside (ASX:WDS) was the top gainer for energy, adding 3.72% on improving oil prices.
Santos (ASX:STO) also lifted 1% with Ampol (ASX:ALD) close behind, ticking up 0.92%.
Only NexGen Energy (ASX:NXG) stood out amongst the midcaps, climbing 4.4% with an honourable mention from Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL). The uranium stock added 0.84%.
AUSTRAC satisfied with NAB's financial crimes compliance
The financial crimes watchdog has given NAB a pat on the back, finalising an Enforceable Undertaking with National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) after it satisfied its obligations under the agreement.
The EU was originally enforced over compliance with money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. AUSTRAC was unhappy with NAB's customer identification procedures and related compliance efforts.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said NAB had demonstrated a commitment to ongoing compliance and to tackling the risks and harms posed by serious and organised crime.
'The closure of this EU reflects the progress NAB has made but it still doesn't give the business a clean bill of health,' he said.
'The EU set NAB on the right path, but compliance is not a one off task – it requires ongoing, incremental change. AUSTRAC expects NAB to continue to improve its systems and processes.'
NAB CEO Andrew Irvine celebrated the finalisation of the EU.
'Through a transparent and constructive process with AUSTRAC and the external auditor, NAB has transformed our approach to managing financial crime,' he said.
'We remain focused on the challenges that financial crime presents to our customers and society.
'Banks play a critical role in monitoring and reporting suspicious, and potentially criminal, activity and we will continue to make investments that help to keep our customers, communities and bank safe.'
Banks were already moving lower today and the good news wasn't enough to boost NAB's share price, which fell 0.45% to $37.49 a share by the end of trade.
ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS
Today's best performing small cap stocks:
Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
MTB Mount Burgess Mining 0.007 75% 13584531 $1,702,553
ALB Albion Resources 0.115 67% 35302756 $9,103,400
MQR Marquee Resource Ltd 0.014 56% 12867369 $5,024,723
ENT Enterprise Metals 0.003 50% 906226 $2,742,635
KFM Kingfisher Mining 0.069 47% 2557630 $2,524,605
MSG Mcs Services Limited 0.007 40% 398920 $990,498
ANR Anatara Ls Ltd 0.008 33% 7475076 $1,280,302
AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 33% 8000000 $1,966,820
NES Nelson Resources. 0.004 33% 511999 $6,515,783
DBO Diabloresources 0.02 33% 3638231 $2,521,738
AMO Ambertech Limited 0.19 27% 428364 $14,310,717
ICE Icetana Limited 0.082 26% 1125810 $34,568,684
5EA 5Eadvanced 0.755 26% 210643 $8,822,124
CRR Critical Resources 0.005 25% 1910000 $11,080,342
JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.0025 25% 40095 $12,504,450
PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.0025 25% 45000 $4,602,180
ZMM Zimi Ltd 0.01 25% 1150000 $3,920,351
RMI Resource Mining Corp 0.021 24% 5398278 $12,485,707
AZ9 Asianbatterymet PLC 0.032 23% 1296210 $11,224,142
ATS Australis Oil & Gas 0.011 22% 2732794 $11,862,562
BEL Bentley Capital Ltd 0.011 22% 80000 $685,151
CVR Cavalierresources 0.29 21% 149522 $13,882,132
CHR Charger Metals 0.06 20% 695447 $3,871,013
1AI Algorae Pharma 0.006 20% 333561 $8,436,974
AMS Atomos 0.006 20% 1356848 $6,075,092
In the news…
Albion Resources (ASX:ALB) has hit bonanza-grade gold in the first 12 holes drilled at the Yandal West project's Collavilla prospect, unearthing an intersection of 5m at 38.9 g/t gold within a wider hit of 11m at 20 g/t gold, from just 17 metres of depth.
The results come from just a small 100m by 100m area of the Ives Find prospective granite intrusive, which offers a 4km by 750m target zone that management reckons is ripe for high-grade gold veins. Read more about the drilling program here.
Mount Burgess Mining (ASX:MTB) has hit another milestone in its restructuring efforts, now poised to eliminate $4.7m in debt under a loan settlement agreement that would see creditors forgive 95% of outstanding balances.
Subject to shareholder approval, MTB will settle the remaining 5% via the issue of over 86m shares and 4.6m unlisted options.
Kingfisher Mining (ASX:KFM) has laid hands to a veritable smorgasbord of new projects with a land package totalling about 700 square kilometres in the Broken Hill, Cobar and Macquarie Arc regions of New South Wales.
The fresh acquisitions include the Copper Blow IOCG project, multiple copper and silver-lead-zinc prospects in Broken Hill, the Wellington copper project and the Tinderly gold and base metal project.
Audio-visual tech and defence comms gear specialist Ambertech (ASX:AMO) is rising on strong unaudited full year results, with half-year revenue expected to exceed $54m, up more than 18% on the first half of the financial year. AMO's EBITDA also improved 2.4% on the previous half year, which full-year revenue expected to top $100m.
Icetana (ASX:ICE) achieved its strongest annual recurring revenue numbers in over four years, pulling in $1.9m as of June after a 10% quarter on quarter uptick. The company's total quarterly revenue has also grown 13% compared to the previous period at $490k.
ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS
Today's worst performing small cap stocks:
Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
BMO Bastion Minerals 0.001 -50% 300000 $3,162,696
MIO Macarthur Minerals 0.015 -40% 47030 $4,991,638
AUK Aumake Limited 0.002 -33% 30281576 $9,070,076
BP8 Bph Global Ltd 0.002 -33% 1831399 $3,152,954
EEL Enrg Elements Ltd 0.001 -33% 1 $4,880,668
MTL Mantle Minerals Ltd 0.001 -33% 3333333 $9,671,169
OB1 Orbminco Limited 0.001 -33% 4961460 $5,103,852
GTE Great Western Exp. 0.016 -27% 5968099 $12,490,674
AS2 Askarimetalslimited 0.012 -25% 9447683 $6,466,731
CHM Chimeric Therapeutic 0.003 -25% 6311811 $8,060,777
DMG Dragon Mountain Gold 0.003 -25% 3163441 $1,578,687
IFG Infocusgroup Hldltd 0.016 -24% 3206378 $6,130,723
CTN Catalina Resources 0.004 -20% 22083865 $12,130,095
ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.004 -20% 2251712 $27,111,136
HRN Horizon Gold Ltd 0.485 -19% 106060 $86,903,954
AHK Ark Mines Limited 0.185 -18% 86211 $14,886,157
AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.005 -17% 916779 $14,274,408
FAU First Au Ltd 0.005 -17% 2310224 $12,457,748
FBR FBR Ltd 0.005 -17% 7682873 $34,136,713
SLZ Sultan Resources Ltd 0.005 -17% 142142 $1,388,819
TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.0025 -17% 514914 $30,667,149
VFX Visionflex Group Ltd 0.0025 -17% 1178 $10,103,581
AJL AJ Lucas Group 0.006 -14% 140000 $9,630,107
AM5 Antares Metals 0.006 -14% 31109 $3,603,970
M4M Macro Metals Limited 0.006 -14% 436757 $27,841,923
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) is looking to expand its Araxá rare earths and niobium project resources in Brazil.
Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU) has produced a graphite concentrate from a 730t bulk ore sample collected from its Siviour deposit.
Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) has expanded its Excelsior project through staking nearby ground showing promising signs of gold.
Trading Halts
Asara Resources (ASX:AS1) – cap raise
Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) – cap raise
Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) – pending government project approval
Norfolk Metals (ASX:NFL) – cap raise
Painchek (ASX:PCK) – cap raise
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Albion Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
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