Closing Bell: ASX stays the course to finish flat as uranium stocks take flight
Energy sector powers higher again, up more than 5pc
ASX uranium stocks surge
ASX All Ords Gold index falls almost 5pc
While global markets fell on Friday, the ASX has resisted economic riptides, staying afloat to finish up just 1 point or 0.01% in today's trade.
The vast majority of that buoyancy came from the energy sector, which added 5% after surging 6% on Friday last week.
Santos (ASX:STO) was a big part of that momentum, gaining 10% on a $30b takeover offer from Abu Dhabi's state-owned energy group ADNOC.
The South Australian minister for energy and mining Tom Koutsantonis has already signalled that the State will be looking closely at the proposal, and in particular at its implications for employment and Santos' operations in the local area.
There was also movement in the ASX All Tech index, up 0.84%, but the All Ords Gold sub-index pulled in the other direction, dragging more than 5%.
ASX uranium stocks take flight
It's not just oil and gas stocks pushing the ASX energy sector higher today.
Uranium miners are also flying, netting double-digit gains as sentiment around uranium mining and nuclear energy turns bullish.
The Iran-Israel conflict is also playing a part – Israel has pointedly targeted Iran's uranium enrichment facilities, destroying a uranium conversion facility at Isfahan.
While Iran wasn't exporting any uranium to the global market, it was producing about 3000 kilogram of enriched uranium per year, demand that will now need to be met by other sources.
Sprott analysts say the long-term outlook for uranium is strong, citing its constrained supply and inelastic demand levels.
'China shows no signs of slowing its buildout of new reactors,' Sprott analyst Jacob White wrote in the most recent Sprott Uranium Report.
'In the US, the Trump administration has reaffirmed its support for nuclear energy as a strategic priority.
'Large technology companies, such as Amazon, Google, and Meta, have joined the chorus, backing the expansion of tripling nuclear power by 2050 to meet growing baseload power needs.
'In a world of rising risk and correlation, uranium remains resilient, uncorrelated and increasingly essential.'
Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) has added 20% today, Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) 17%, Paladin (ASX:PDN) 15%, Bannerman (ASX:BMN) 14% and Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT) just under 13%.
ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS
Today's best performing small cap stocks:
Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
ICE Icetana Limited 0.085 107% 8544476 $21,804,862
CYQ Cycliq Group Ltd 0.003 50% 709158 $921,033
PAB Patrys Limited 0.0015 50% 380326 $2,057,447
RC1 Redcastle Resources 0.007 40% 10745155 $3,717,835
AR9 Archtis Limited 0.084 35% 1078512 $17,853,963
PLG Pearlgullironlimited 0.008 33% 783413 $1,227,251
BSN Basinenergylimited 0.021 31% 600374 $1,965,269
ATV Activeportgroupltd 0.009 29% 2141388 $4,794,840
RML Resolution Minerals 0.045 29% 92650295 $18,840,040
WEC White Energy Company 0.044 26% 2050 $10,906,697
MKL Mighty Kingdom Ltd 0.015 25% 1097469 $5,833,700
AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.005 25% 596599 $9,245,472
BMO Bastion Minerals 0.0025 25% 2610000 $1,807,255
GTE Great Western Exp. 0.01 25% 2523554 $4,542,063
JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.0025 25% 242699 $12,252,298
MSG Mcs Services Limited 0.005 25% 130000 $792,399
MTB Mount Burgess Mining 0.005 25% 302098 $1,406,811
OVT Ovanti Limited 0.0025 25% 3537862 $6,011,030
ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.005 25% 247542 $21,688,909
TFL Tasfoods Ltd 0.005 25% 521382 $1,748,382
TMX Terrain Minerals 0.0025 25% 809666 $4,497,113
VEN Vintage Energy 0.005 25% 590000 $8,347,655
KAI Kairos Minerals Ltd 0.032 23% 23024188 $68,403,717
ZAG Zuleika Gold Ltd 0.016 23% 2269484 $9,644,439
MQR Marquee Resource Ltd 0.011 22% 4715139 $5,024,723
Making news…
ActivePort Group (ASX:ATV) has inked a deal to roll out its software-defined networking tech for Telekom Malaysia, one of Asia's biggest fixed-line telcos. The software will power TM's shift from old-school manual provisioning to a slick, browser-based self-service platform, slashing circuit activation times from weeks to minutes.
It will go live across five countries, starting from June, and marks a big step in TM's push to become a global digital platform player
Redcastle Resources (ASX:RC1) has signed a non-binding MoU with Terra Mining to kick off contract mining at its Queen Alexandra and Redcastle Reef gold projects in WA.
Terra will fund and manage all open-pit mining down to 70 metres, under a profit-sharing setup aimed at generating early cash without big upfront spend.
Redcastle keeps full ownership of the gold and control over processing. A final deal is expected after updated resource estimates and permits land later this year.
A contract with the US Department of Defense has turned heads for archTIS (ASX:AR9), after the company locked in a deal to deploy its NC Protect secure software collaboration solution to an initial 1000 users.
AR9 expects to expand to the full DoD network in the coming months, with potential to expand its user base 6-fold. The initial license sale carries a value of $38,500.
Following the death of its founder Nigel Forrester and a reshuffle of the leadership team, Mount Burgess Mining (ASX:MTB) has laid out a strategy to strengthen its operational foundation and advance the Kihabe–Nxuu polymetallic project in Botswana.
The company as adopted three pillars, namely business stability, project advancement, and project pipeline growth, as the core elements of its new strategy.
Vintage Energy (ASX:VEN) has inked a contract with Adelaide Energy Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Beach Energy, to sell its 25% interest in the PEP 171 licence, in the onshore Otway Basin, Victoria.
The sale will net $1.25m in consideration, with $1m being cash and the remainder consisting of a waive of a milestone payment otherwise due from Vintage.
ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS
Today's worst performing small cap stocks:
Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
RAN Range International 0.001 -50% 450000 $1,878,581
CP8 Canphosphateltd 0.025 -34% 117951 $11,656,900
AUH Austchina Holdings 0.001 -33% 328 $4,538,075
BUY Bounty Oil & Gas NL 0.002 -33% 203374 $4,684,416
SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.002 -33% 101023 $3,225,642
VML Vital Metals Limited 0.002 -33% 1458383 $17,685,201
DTI DTI Group Ltd 0.005 -29% 657964 $3,139,860
M2R Miramar 0.003 -25% 3626977 $3,987,293
RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.0015 -25% 127604 $1,553,413
HFY Hubify Ltd 0.009 -25% 12898 $6,133,636
GLE GLG Corp Ltd 0.1 -23% 59324 $9,633,000
ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd 0.031 -21% 317 $15,890,215
1AD Adalta Limited 0.002 -20% 774750 $2,678,291
CTN Catalina Resources 0.004 -20% 12446766 $12,130,095
ENT Enterprise Metals 0.002 -20% 193661 $2,953,293
MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.004 -20% 1061600 $9,917,991
MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.002 -20% 2401601 $1,946,223
SKK Stakk Limited 0.004 -20% 143009 $10,375,398
EQX Equatorial Res Ltd 0.13 -19% 38600 $21,031,256
UBI Universal Biosensors 0.035 -19% 23531 $12,816,900
HE8 Helios Energy Ltd 0.018 -18% 1989506 $68,754,700
IXR Ionic Rare Earths 0.009 -18% 11421574 $57,941,683
PBL Parabellumresources 0.045 -18% 65465 $3,426,500
AM7 Arcadia Minerals 0.015 -17% 10000 $2,112,902
FME Future Metals NL 0.015 -17% 4086017 $12,938,411
TRADING HALTS
Blaze Minerals (ASX: BLZ) – cap raise & acquisition
D3 Energy (ASX:D3E) – potential asset acquisition
Emyria (ASX:EMD) – material commercial deal & cap raise
European Lithium (ASX:EUR) – funding transaction for Greenland project
Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) – acquisition & cap raise
Simble Solutions (ASX:SIS) – cap raise
St Barbara (ASX:SBM) – production guidance update & mining lease renewal
Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) – cap raise
X2M Connect (ASX:X2M) – cap raise
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) has announced a $3.5 million underwritten, non-renounceable entitlement offer to advance gold exploration.
A recently completed reverse circulation drilling program at Latitude 66's (ASX:LAT) K6 prospect has successfully tested gold-cobalt prospective targets.
West Wits Mining (ASX:WWI) will soon begin gold production at Qala Shallows after securing $14m in a share placement.
Asian Battery Metals' (ASX:AZ9) regional drilling at the Yambat project in Mongolia has intersected ultramafic mineralisation at the MS1 target.
A bargain basement deal to acquire the Weebo gold project will position Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG) between some of the giants of the WA gold sector.
AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) has entered an agreement with Swiss Wyon AG to evaluate its Ultranode tech for medical applications.
Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) has rolled out new preclinical data demonstrating significant neuroprotective effects of NUZ-001 and its active metabolite NUZ-001 Sulfone, in a zebrafish model of Huntington's disease.
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