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West Australian
27-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
ASX Runners of the Week: Ovanti, Olympio, Codeifai and Sunrise
A whole week without mentioning President Trump in our Runners column was never going to sit well with the leader of the free world, as he made his presence known in a week of turmoil to close out the financial year. Starting with a literal bang, 'the Don' began a war with Iran on Sunday morning, while simultaneously declaring that it was time for peace. The interesting tactic seemed to work by Tuesday, with a peace deal brokered between Iran, Israel and the United States. Peace didn't last very long, and neither did Trump's patience, with Israel and Iran back at it again and Donald seemingly losing his mind on social media. The global unrest resulted in markets remaining near all-time-highs - go figure - though 'peace' saw the oil price dive by nearly 15 per cent, with energy claiming the biggest losses on the index this week. Markets were up overall as consumers breathed a sigh of relief. Australia's inflation rate continues to cool, falling to 2.1 per cent over the year to May and reaching an underlying 2.4 per cent. US data was also predictably soft, signalling the lowest inflation rates we've experienced since the 2021 COVID lockdowns. With soft data, the chances of interest rate cuts in July are almost inevitable, causing the market to ramp up to finish the week, despite looming tariff deadlines awaiting Australian exporters in the new financial year. This week's Bulls N' Bears Runners list was an eclectic group of resources and technology hopefuls, with the top spot going to a fintech firecracker making the ultimate gear change and adding a seasoned buy now, pay later (BNPL) veteran to head up its US divisions. OVANTI LIMITED (ASX: OVT) Up 500% (0.2c – 1.2c) This week's Bulls N' Bears Runner of the Week is BNPL fintech Ovanti Limited, which shot out of a cannon on Wednesday by unveiling its new US leader - fintech heavyweight and former Zip Co maestro Peter Maher. The company says the incoming chief executive officer of its US BNPL division is set to spearhead its payments and embedded finance push into the States, as he did with multi-billion ASX blue-chipper Zip Co. With a resume also boasting senior roles at Capital One and HTLF Bank, Maher is no stranger to forging lucrative partnerships and navigating the regulatory jungle to seek a BNPL prize out of US consumerism. He will look to build on his predecessor at Ovanti and previous ZIP colleague Simon Keast's effort to turbocharge the company's US market expansion with an innovative BNPL product that 'empowers consumers with real-time affordability insights'. Maher was in charge when Zip skyrocketed to a $6.2 billion valuation in February 2021 after orchestrating a triumphant US invasion. As the company's senior director of high growth, he worked shoulder-to-shoulder with co-founder Larry Diamond to coordinate the company's masterstroke acquisition of QuadPay in 2020 to enter the US. Merchant deals with giants such as Webjet, Peloton and Amazon soon followed, fuelling Zip's US transaction volume to $2.8 billion in the 2021 financial year. Riding the wave of COVID stimulus and zero-rate money, Maher helped transform Zip from a local player into a transcontinental titan, setting the stage for Ovanti's push into the $122.3 billion US BNPL market. The market loved the news, just as it had done with Keast's appointment in October last year. Ovanti's share price shot to 0.8 cents on Wednesday, before the news spread far and wide on Thursday, when it peaked at 1.2c per share. This was a whopping 500 per cent rise on last week's close on nearly $10 million in stock traded. With Maher at the helm and Ovanti's sights set on cracking the US BNPL jackpot, this plucky fintech's shares might keep zipping along – that's if Maher's vision for AI-driven, consumer-centric payments can couple with his previous proven playbook of expansion at Zip. Up 255% (3.8c – 13.5c) Bulls N' Bears' second-place Runner of the Week is gold prospector Olympio Metals, which ignited a frenzy on Tuesday when it uncovered visible gold in quartz veining in the company's first drill hole at its recently acquired Bousquet gold project in Quebec, Canada. The gold specks came within a band of smoky quartz hosting five to seven per cent sulphide mineralisation across a 9-metre zone from 183m downhole at its Paquin prospect. The company says its drill hole also revealed additional quartz veining, sulphides and alteration stretching down to 286m, with the step-out hole pushing mineralisation west of prior high-grade intercepts, such as a stunning 9m at 16.96 grams per tonne (g/t). Olympio says three more holes are due to test Paquin's western reach and it expects assays for the current hole by mid-July. Bousquet sits astride the Cadillac Break, a legendary regional structure teeming with world-class gold deposits, with more than 110 million ounces to its name. Fortunately for Olympio, its Paquin, Amedee, Decoeur and Johannes prospects are all perched on this fabled fault, suggesting the first hole is not a fluke. It took a moment for the market to digest the upside of this Canadian explorer in a humming gold environment. The company's share price surged on just $150,000 worth of stock traded on Tuesday before things got humming on Wednesday as it hit a 13.5c high. This was up 255 per cent on last week's close. Bousquet commands a 10-kilometre stretch of the Cadillac Break just 15km west of the Bousquet Mining Camp, where heavyweights such as Agnico Eagle's 15-million-ounce La Ronde and Iamgold's 2.4-million-ounce Westwood reside. The company says its Paquin mineralisation echoes the nearby O'Brien project, which has one million ounces of gold and just 15km east. Paquin's visible gold in smoky quartz veins may be a telltale sign of high-grade riches. The company is also touting its infrastructure advantages in difficult-to-navigate Canadian terrain. Olympio's Dufay gold-copper project, 60km west, adds another 10km of Cadillac Break exposure, with drilling imminent on a high-potential porphyry gold-copper target, giving the company a commanding 20km stake in this golden corridor. If its maiden holes continue to turn up the goods, Olympio could unearth a game-changing discovery in a world-class region, that would have its current valuation of $10 million looking like an absolute steal. CODEIFAI LTD (ASX: CDE) Up 75% (4c – 7c) Bulls N' Bears Runner of the Week's bronze medal was nabbed by brand solutions technology group Codeifai Limited, which had no news to the market this week. The company's share price went on an absolute tear of unusual trading activity before the party was cut short by a trading halt on Friday pending the announcement of a potential acquisition. a level of knowledge around the apparent acquisition seems to have pushed the company's share price since early June. Codeifai released a corporate update after a few days of suspicious trading on June 6 that outlined the two companies in hot pursuit. Trust Codes Global is a New Zealand QR code powerhouse with a serialised platform rivalling Codeifai's ConnectQR, while Credissential Inc's QuantumAI Transfer is a Canadian quantum-secure payment and file transfer platform that could supercharge Codeifai's software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings with BNPL features. Codeifai recently pivoted to become a brand solutions specialist that develops and sells digital solutions using QR code technology through its SaaS offerings ConnectQR and ProtectCode. The company says its ConnectQR with AI-generated QR codes produce revenue 24/7 and seamlessly integrate with its own cloud-based platform. It has already generated millions of codes, and has apparently caught the eyes of global competitors. Since being hit with a speeding ticket from the ASX constabulary earlier this month, the company has surged 1000 per cent before finally putting an end to one of the worst-kept secret in market history. SUNRISE ENERGY METALS LTD (ASX: SRL) Up 65% (73c – 120.5c) This week's final Runners spot goes to critical minerals developer Sunrise Energy Metals, which sparked a market wildfire this week, surging on Tuesday, following a capital raise to an insider mining magnate last week. Then on Friday, it announced it had run into some high-grade scandium results at its Syerston scandium project in New South Wales. The inferno was ignited with Monday's news of a $6 million placement at 30c a share, with a 1-for-1 option at 40c, backed by mining titan and co-chairman Robert Friedland's Ivanhoe Capital Holdings. Ivanhoe committed $3 million to the raise with two further cornerstone investors, alongside a $1.5 million share purchase plan (SPP) with no doubt strong uptake. Some punters may have been kicking themselves for missing the early bird special, given shares hit $1.20 intraday by Friday, up an astonishing 300 per cent above the prescribed SPP price. The funds are set to supercharge an updated feasibility study and exploration at Syerston, where Friday's assays from 1997 drill pulps unveiled substantial intersections, including 6m running 553 parts per million (ppm) and 18m at 528ppm scandium in shallow laterite soils just begging for cost-efficient mining. The grades were well above the project's 390ppm scandium average within 60.3 million tonnes for 23,554t contained scandium. The company says its results confirm Syerston as a global scandium heavyweight. It has a 5000m drilling campaign targeting high-grade zones around a dunite intrusion and a feasibility study update due in the next quarter. Sunrise says it is perfectly positioned to supply a critical minerals market begging for new feed sources, following China's scandium export curbs on what amounts to about 90 per cent of global supply. With 99.999 per cent scandium oxide fetching $500,000 per kilogram - that's $500 million per tonne - and demand soaring for aerospace alloys and 5G semiconductors, this critical mineral isn't going to go away. If mid-July assays and offtake talks with alloy and chip makers pan out, Sunrise could be soon on its way to forging Australia's first standalone scandium mine. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
News.com.au
11-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Lunch Wrap: ASX resets high as US and China hug; Zip soars on bullish guidance
ASX breaks new record on US-China trade thaw Rare earth truce lifts BHP and Woodside Zip and Fletcher rocket, Qantas loses altitude The ASX touched a fresh intraday record on Wednesday, rising by 0.35% on the warm tailwinds of a breakthrough in US-China trade talks. You can thank two marathon days of trade talk inside a fancy old London mansion, where US and Chinese officials went from butting heads to something that looks a bit like a handshake. In the past couple of hours, the two sides have apparently agreed on a draft framework to reduce trade tensions and revive the flow of strategic exports. Rare earths are obviously the crux of this new tentative truce. These minerals power everything from EVs to smartphones to defence tech, and China holds most of the supply cards. According to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, 'Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it.' It's a dramatic turnaround from the tariff tit-for-tat that rocked markets just weeks ago. Back home, ASX miners and energy giants caught the updraft. Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) jumped 2% as oil prices crept higher, and BHP (ASX:BHP) also rose 2% with iron ore edging up in Singapore. In the large caps space, the real fireworks came from individual stock moves. Fletcher Building (ASX:FBU), the Kiwi construction heavyweight, also got some love, up 8% after revealing it's been getting inbound calls from interested buyers for parts of its business. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) player Zip Co (ASX:ZIP) spiked 15% after bumping up its full-year earnings guidance to $160 million after a strong May, driven by more than 40% year-on-year growth in US transaction volumes. CEO Cynthia Scott said the strong US performance shows Zip's model is holding up well and delivering on strategy. Meanwhile, Qantas (ASX:QAN) lost some altitude, down 1.4% after announcing it's shutting down Jetstar Asia, the Singapore-based offshoot it launched two decades ago. The airline said the move frees up 13 aircraft to be redeployed across Australian and New Zealand routes and unlocks $500 million for fleet upgrades. But it also comes with a $25 million earnings hit and the end of 16 flight routes. ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for June 11 : Security Description Last % Volume MktCap JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.003 50% 60,002 $12,252,298 KP2 Kore Potash PLC 0.056 27% 4,733,544 $28,764,401 AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.005 25% 605,718 $9,245,471 EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.003 25% 823,265 $8,219,762 MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.005 25% 1,640,000 $7,934,392 MMR Mec Resources 0.005 25% 2,293,697 $7,399,063 JLG Johns Lyng Group 3.070 21% 3,652,571 $719,109,639 ADG Adelong Gold Limited 0.006 20% 802,466 $10,343,383 ALY Alchemy Resource Ltd 0.006 20% 200,000 $5,890,381 BLZ Blaze Minerals Ltd 0.003 20% 11,730,798 $3,917,370 GLL Galilee Energy Ltd 0.006 20% 200,000 $3,535,964 ICG Inca Minerals Ltd 0.006 20% 2,416,193 $7,881,950 MGU Magnum Mining & Exp 0.006 20% 1,878,164 $5,608,254 PLC Premier1 Lithium Ltd 0.012 20% 583,333 $3,680,606 RDN Raiden Resources Ltd 0.006 20% 7,507,270 $17,254,457 DAL Dalaroometalsltd 0.040 18% 1,213,769 $8,464,365 RML Resolution Minerals 0.021 17% 59,953,295 $9,464,163 AON Apollo Minerals Ltd 0.007 17% 3,033,333 $5,570,741 TMS Tennant Minerals Ltd 0.007 17% 100,000 $6,395,342 NSB Neuroscientific 0.065 16% 423,679 $8,097,873 ZIP ZIP Co Ltd.. 2.685 15% 28,749,538 $3,015,732,857 ALM Alma Metals Ltd 0.004 14% 125,000 $5,552,209 Blaze Minerals (ASX:BLZ) has confirmed a fresh discovery of gallium and rubidium at its Ntungamo Project in Uganda, after wrapping up a 1,548m diamond drilling campaign targeting pegmatites. Assays from the first three holes show strong hits of gallium, with standout intercepts including 23m at 25ppm gallium and 476ppm rubidium. Scandium also popped up in parts of the core, though sampled sparingly. Drill results from two more holes are still pending. Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML) has snapped up the Horse Heaven Project in Idaho, right next to the biggest antimony project in the US, the Perpetua Resources' $2bn Stibnite mine. RML said it's loaded with antimony, gold, silver and tungsten across two key prospects, both drill-ready. Historic rock chips and drilling show strong grades, with a non-JORC gold resource of 286,000oz. ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for June 11 : Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap DGR DGR Global Ltd 0.003 -40% 423,076 $5,218,480 ADD Adavale Resource Ltd 0.001 -33% 2,909,082 $3,430,919 BMO Bastion Minerals 0.002 -33% 62,529,275 $2,710,883 PAB Patrys Limited 0.001 -33% 15,051,285 $3,086,171 DTR Dateline Resources 0.072 -28% 128,943,575 $293,543,905 FHS Freehill Mining Ltd. 0.006 -25% 1,220,383 $25,868,222 G50 G50Corp Ltd 0.150 -21% 2,169,537 $30,513,555 CHM Chimeric Therapeutic 0.004 -20% 100,000 $10,075,971 CZN Corazon Ltd 0.002 -20% 45,143 $2,961,431 TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.004 -20% 1,010,572 $16,442,127 VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.004 -20% 1,250,000 $23,423,890 CF1 Complii Fintech Ltd 0.018 -18% 115,514 $12,570,660 LKY Locksleyresources 0.070 -18% 13,306,384 $15,583,333 ICE Icetana Limited 0.025 -17% 984,044 $13,144,280 ANR Anatara Ls Ltd 0.005 -17% 290,750 $1,280,302 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.003 -17% 1,516,666 $8,461,275 LIT Livium Ltd 0.010 -17% 3,495,898 $20,286,085 SHE Stonehorse Energy Lt 0.005 -17% 16,666 $4,106,610 WSR Westar Resources 0.005 -17% 25,547 $2,392,349 EWC Energy World Corpor. 0.017 -15% 274,383 $61,578,425 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.006 -14% 1,479,025 $18,864,197 CLA Celsius Resource Ltd 0.006 -14% 177,056 $21,948,419 EVR Ev Resources Ltd 0.006 -14% 3,720,543 $13,900,857 Bastion Minerals (ASX:BMO) confirmed a 6.43Mt JORC resource at its ICE copper-gold project in Canada, matching an old 1998 estimate. Most of the copper sits in the Indicated category, and mineralisation starts at surface, so it's open-pit friendly. But despite the solid numbers, the market seemed underwhelmed. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT A recent scoping study has bolstered GTI Energy (ASX:GTR) confidence of the potential for an in-situ uranium operation at its Lo Herma project in Wyoming, USA. DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) has spotted natural rutile throughout its Central Rutile tenement package in Cameroon, Africa. West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE) has completed its maiden drilling at the Elizabeth Hill silver project with core sent to the lab for analysis. Peregrine Gold (ASX:PGD) has started drilling at the Newman gold project in WA, targeting a gold and arsenic anomaly. LAST ORDERS Codeifai (ASX:CDE) has responded to an ASX price and volume query after rocketing up 162% in the past five trading days, indicating the company is in acquisition discussions with two separate entities. The first potential acquisition concerns Trust Codes Global, a New Zealand-based private company with a market-leading serialised QR code platform. The second potential target is Credissential Inc, a Canadian company that owns the QuantumAI Transfer platform, which uses serialised QR codes as the entry point to quantum secure payments. Strong investor demand above and beyond the scope of its public offer has prompted Broken Hill Mines (ASX:BHM) to close its IPO early, having raised $20m at $0.35 a share well ahead of schedule. The company will hold a general meeting on June 20, after which it will resume trading on the ASX under the ticker BHM. QMines (ASX:QML) is gearing up to convert its inferred mineral resource into higher JORC categories at the Develin Creek project. The company is 11 holes into a 44-hole program, with initial assays expected early in the third quarter of 2025 and a revised MRE in the fourth. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Codeifai, Broken Hill Mines and QMines are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
Sky News AU
11-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
ASX 200 soars to new record-high on Wednesday after fresh reports of the US and China closing in on a trade agreement
The ASX 200 has hit a record high on Wednesday as it has surpassed its February peak following fresh reports of the US and China closing in on a trade agreement. The index was up 0.5 per cent in the first half hour of trading with digital finance company Zip Co jumping 15 per cent after upgrading its FY25 guidance. New Zealand-based Fletcher Building is up 8.9 per cent, Pilbara Minerals has risen 7.4 per cent and Mineral Resources has jumped 3.4 per cent. Sky News Business Reporter Ed Boyd said the index's rise marks an 'all-time record high' for the ASX 200 as it hovers around 8630 points. 'The previous intra-day record was 8615 points. It is now decently above that in early trade,' Boyd said. The ASX 200 has experienced wild turbulence since the beginning of the year. It hit a peak in mid-February before slowly dropping after Trump began revealing his trade policies - including tariffs on aluminium, steel and automotive parts. The index plummeted in early April after the sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs were slapped on most nations around the world. Trump temporarily pausing these levies and a boost of investor confidence has led to a gradual rise of the ASX 200. Wednesday's jump comes after China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said on Tuesday that the Chinese and the US negotiating teams had agreed a framework on trade after two days of talks, and would take that back to their leaders. "The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5th and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting," Li told reporters. While the comments followed the close of trade on Wall Street, the major indexes still rose on Tuesday. The Dow Jones added 0.3 per while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose 0.6 per cent. London's FTSE 250 Index jumped 0.5 per cent, Germany's fell 0.8 per cent and the STOXX Europe 600 fell flat on Tuesday. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index is up 0.5 per cent as Japan's Nikkei 225 has added 0.6 per cent on Wednesday. -With Reuters
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussie market dips on US tax jitters
Australia's sharemarket slipped on Thursday after a strong recent run, as concerns over US fiscal policy rattled investors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 38.10 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 8,348.70, giving back some of the gains that had lifted the index to a fresh 50-day high earlier in the week. The broader All Ordinaries index remains 3.09 per cent off its 52-week high, though it is still up 0.62 per cent over the past five days. Ten of the 11 sectors ended the day in the red, with materials the only one to go up, rising 0.60 per cent. Financials shed 1.06 per cent, while healthcare and real estate posted losses of 0.32 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively. Buy-now-pay-later firm Zip Co posted one of the day's biggest losses, which slid 6.50 per cent to $1.87 followed by Nufarm Limited, tumbling 6.41 per cent to $2.63. Other notable declines included Paladin Energy (down 4.92 per cent), Healius (down 4.33 per cent), and Polynovo, which fell 4.03 per cent. Three of the major banks finished lower, with Commonwealth Bank the weakest performer, down 1.29 per cent to $172.72. NAB slipped 0.72 per cent to $37.37, Westpac lost 0.67 per cent to $31.36, and ANZ was unchanged at $28.85. The Australian dollar edged higher to US 64c. Strong performers included Spartan Resources (up 5.29 per cent) and West African Resources (up 5.22 per cent). According to senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda, the sharp market movement may be linked to ongoing debates in Congress over the proposed US tax bill. He said the ASX mirrored overnight weakness on Wall Street, which has also been responding to the same concerns. 'The reason for that is that the markets are concerned that all this extra spending is going to be quite inflationary and lead to much higher interest rates,' Mr Rodda said. 'A lot of this is narrative driven – trade narrative.' According to Mr Rodda, investors may now be pricing in the possible consequences of the proposed tax legislation. He said momentum had already started to slow over the past few days as recent trade deals began to cool investor enthusiasm, and the tax bill has now shifted the market's tone toward 'greater caution.' Despite the dip, gold stocks were one of the few strong performers, lifted by rising gold prices as cautious investors looked for safer options. Among the top performers were Lynas Rare Earths, up 6.97 per cent, Genesis Minerals, which added 5.78 per cent, and Northern Star Resources, up 5.36 per cent, alongside strong gains across several gold and resource stocks. 'Gold is one of the shining lights at the moment just on the basis that gold prices are moving back into those record highs,' Mr Rodda said. He noted that US trade policy had influenced the precious metal's rise, with some investors now viewing gold as a 'safe haven'.
News.com.au
22-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Market wrap: ASX falls as Wall Street reacts to spending concerns
Australia's sharemarket slipped on Thursday after a strong recent run, as concerns over US fiscal policy rattled investors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 38.10 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 8,348.70, giving back some of the gains that had lifted the index to a fresh 50-day high earlier in the week. The broader All Ordinaries index remains 3.09 per cent off its 52-week high, though it is still up 0.62 per cent over the past five days. Ten of the 11 sectors ended the day in the red, with materials the only one to go up, rising 0.60 per cent. Financials shed 1.06 per cent, while healthcare and real estate posted losses of 0.32 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively. Buy-now-pay-later firm Zip Co posted one of the day's biggest losses, which slid 6.50 per cent to $1.87 followed by Nufarm Limited, tumbling 6.41 per cent to $2.63. Other notable declines included Paladin Energy (down 4.92 per cent), Healius (down 4.33 per cent), and Polynovo, which fell 4.03 per cent. Three of the major banks finished lower, with Commonwealth Bank the weakest performer, down 1.29 per cent to $172.72. NAB slipped 0.72 per cent to $37.37, Westpac lost 0.67 per cent to $31.36, and ANZ was unchanged at $28.85. The Australian dollar edged higher to US 64c. Strong performers included Spartan Resources (up 5.29 per cent) and West African Resources (up 5.22 per cent). According to senior financial market analyst Kyle Rodda, the sharp market movement may be linked to ongoing debates in Congress over the proposed US tax bill. He said the ASX mirrored overnight weakness on Wall Street, which has also been responding to the same concerns. 'The reason for that is that the markets are concerned that all this extra spending is going to be quite inflationary and lead to much higher interest rates,' Mr Rodda said. 'A lot of this is narrative driven – trade narrative.' According to Mr Rodda, investors may now be pricing in the possible consequences of the proposed tax legislation. He said momentum had already started to slow over the past few days as recent trade deals began to cool investor enthusiasm, and the tax bill has now shifted the market's tone toward 'greater caution.' Despite the dip, gold stocks were one of the few strong performers, lifted by rising gold prices as cautious investors looked for safer options. Among the top performers were Lynas Rare Earths, up 6.97 per cent, Genesis Minerals, which added 5.78 per cent, and Northern Star Resources, up 5.36 per cent, alongside strong gains across several gold and resource stocks. 'Gold is one of the shining lights at the moment just on the basis that gold prices are moving back into those record highs,' Mr Rodda said. He noted that US trade policy had influenced the precious metal's rise, with some investors now viewing gold as a 'safe haven'.
