ASX Plunges 1.65%, Erasing the Week’s Gains
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) experienced a significant drop, falling by 1.65% and wiping out the gains made earlier in the week. This downturn was driven by a combination of factors, including a sharp decline in gold stocks and a broad-based pullback across eight sectors.
Energy Stocks Benefit from Crude Price Surge
Amid the market turmoil, energy stocks saw a rare boost as crude oil prices surged. The Brent crude price climbed from approximately $107 per barrel to over $112 per barrel within a short period. This increase put additional pressure on an already struggling market.
The S&P/ASX 200 index reflected this volatility, dropping from about -1.5% to -1.65% by the end of the trading session.
Gold Index Faces a Meltdown
The gold index suffered a severe setback, with the XGD losing 9.23% on the day and now down 14.75% for the year to date. This marked a full meltdown for the sector, which had already been under pressure.
Banks and Major Miners Struggle
Support for the market was scarce among the banks. The Big Four banks were all down between 0.3% and 1.29%, except for Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA), which surprisingly rose by +0.15%. Major miners also struggled, with BHP (ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) each shedding around 3%.
Gold miners faced even tougher conditions, with Evolution (ASX:EVN) plummeting 9.56%, Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) losing 9.5%, and Newmont Corp (ASX:NEM) slipping 5.78%.
Energy Stocks Stand Out
Despite the overall market decline, energy-related stocks emerged as a rare bright spot. Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS), the largest energy producer listed on the ASX, surged more than 7% today. Viva Energy (ASX:VEA) was another standout performer, rising 14.45% on the day and 34.92% over the past month.
Viva Energy operates one of only two oil refineries left in Australia, alongside Ampol (ASX:ALD). With a market cap of about $8 billion, Ampol has seen a more gradual rise in share price but is still up 4.3% today and 12.6% over the last four trading weeks.
Together, the two refineries can process about 229,000 barrels of oil a day, meeting roughly 20% of Australia’s total consumption demand. As the Strait of Hormuz remains functionally closed, these refineries are seen as critical lifelines that could help mitigate supply shocks if the conflict in Iran continues.
Interestingly, both Viva Energy and Ampol are under investigation by the ACCC for alleged anti-competitive conduct in regional and rural Australia.
ASX Leaders
Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps):
| Code | Name | Last | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRN | Surefire Rescs NL | 0.0015 | 50% | 850000 | $4,025,609 |
| ABR | Albrightmetals Ltd | 0.004 | 33% | 557118 | $4,456,997 |
| MRQ | Mrg Metals Limited | 0.004 | 33% | 1396300 | $8,878,203 |
| RKB | Rokeby Resources Ltd | 0.004 | 33% | 888764 | $5,479,683 |
| BUY | Bounty Oil & Gas NL | 0.0025 | 25% | 10469956 | $3,123,202 |
| QXR | Qx Resources Limited | 0.005 | 25% | 9538121 | $8,450,653 |
| RAC | Racura Oncology | 2.92 | 23% | 708470 | $432,542,509 |
| CQT | Conneqt Health Ltd | 0.034 | 21% | 1543852 | $17,146,594 |
| PRM | Prominence Energy | 0.003 | 20% | 4314085 | $4,241,691 |
| TOU | Tlou Energy Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 18750 | $6,492,922 |
In the News
QX Resources’ (ASX:QXR) digitisation efforts have led to the discovery of high-grade supergene-enriched uranium mineralisation at the Madaba uranium project. The company identified 26 samples across several prospects, with grades including 0.1m at 7.25% uranium, 0.2m at 4.25% uranium, and 1m at 1.6% uranium.
Racura Oncology (ASX:RAC) has dosed its first Hong Kong patient with RC220 as it completes recruitment for the first dose cohort of its CPACS Phase 1 clinical trial in advanced solid tumours.
Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) has received approval to award a drilling contract for a program over its Bunian 6 oil development well. The company expects the new well to produce an additional 500 barrels per day once it is fully online.
ASX Laggards
Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps):
| Code | Name | Price | % Change | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FHS | Freehill Mining Ltd. | 0.002 | -33% | 26773756 | $12,149,561 |
| BEL | Bentley Capital Ltd | 0.016 | -30% | 131858 | $1,750,942 |
| TZL | TZ Limited | 0.03 | -23% | 165628 | $11,608,900 |
| PR2 | Piche Resources | 0.083 | -21% | 130525 | $10,136,640 |
| TAT | Tartana Minerals Ltd | 0.028 | -20% | 844309 | $9,379,756 |
| ADR | Adherium Ltd | 0.002 | -20% | 13199990 | $13,027,251 |
| SNX | Sierra Nevada Gold | 0.041 | -20% | 4124246 | $24,835,981 |
| ODY | Odyssey Gold Ltd | 0.029 | -19% | 28231488 | $50,416,801 |
| VSR | Voltaic Strategic | 0.034 | -19% | 1762167 | $23,837,109 |
| NNL | Nordicresourcesltd | 0.13 | -19% | 807585 | $60,167,675 |
In Case You Missed It
Legacy Minerals’ (ASX:LGM) first Mascotte diamond hole returned 40m at 1g/t gold, delivering a new epithermal discovery. OMG Group (ASX:OMG) appointed Food & Dairy Co as its first official distributor of Ōmura Matcha to target food service channels.
Trading Halts
Several companies have placed their shares on hold pending announcements or results:
- Power Minerals (ASX: PNN) – Pending announcement on joint venture
- Amplia (ASX:ATX) – Pending clinical results
- Aurum Resources (ASX: AUE) – Capital raise
- D3 Energy (ASX: D3E) – Capital raise
- Almonty Industries (ASX: AII) – Disclosure obligations
- Iceni Gold (ASX: ICL) – Capital raise
- Forte Energy (ASX: FEL) – Disclosure obligations
- BlinkLab (ASX: BB1) – Pending announcement in relation to launch of national autism screening program.
- Yugo Metals (ASX: YUG) – Announcement on Sockovac (Petrovo) license application
At , we tell it like it is. While QX Resources and Racura Oncology are 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.
