Closing Bell: ASX flatlines as healthcare sector jolts higher
Healthcare moves against the grain, up 1.04pc
Fortescue jumps 4.34pc on quarterly results
ASX looking poorly by end of trade
The ASX 200 stumbled a little today, down 0.31% with 10 of 11 sectors flatlining.
A 1.04% jolt from the healthcare sector wasn't enough to revive the market's pulse, even with a little help from the top banks.
Weak trading in the May and June months sent automotive parts firm Bapcor (ASX:BAP) plummeting 28% by the end of the day, lopping an eye-watering $1.45 off its share price to finish at $3.66.
While no other single stock was hit quite so hard, there was also a general sell down in some recent favourites.
Uranium miner Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) shed 6.4%, UAV defence company Droneshield (ASX:DRO) slipped 5.8%, Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) fell 5.4% and Macquarie (ASX:MQG) fell 5%.
As for the healthcare sector standouts - Clarity Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CU6) jumped 10%, Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU) 8.9%, Immutep (ASX:IMM) 8.3% and Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) 7.9%.
Taking a squizz at our indices, the only bright spot was a lift in the ASX 200 Banks index, but that was weighed down by Macquarie's struggles.
Still, NAB (ASX:NAB) gained 1.24% and Westpac (ASX:WBC) tipped up 0.54%.
Fortescue hits the mark with Q4 earnings
Shares in one of our biggest iron ore miners climbed today, after Fortescue (ASX:FMG) mostly outperformed market expectations in its fourth quarter earnings report.
That's despite a 0.22% fall in the ASX200 Resources index and a 0.11% drop in the overall materials sector.
Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest's company shipped 55.2Mt of iron ore in the June quarter, for a record 198.4Mt over FY2025, a 4% increase over FY24.
FMG also managed to reduce production costs to US$17.50 per tonne, 4% lower than market consensus expected, and lowered net debt to US$2.1 billion, $500,000 lower than predicted.
'This was a clean result with FMG demonstrating its ability to deliver in its core business. The cost beat was pleasing, with strip ratios to be lowered,' A Macquarie broker note read.
'Whilst the net debt beat was helped by a working capital unwind, FY26 energy guidance may lead to lower burn rates.'
Fortescue opted to roll back its green hydrogen initiatives at home and abroad, reassessing its Arizona and Gladstone green energy projects.
Looking forward, FMG predicts it will deliver between 195Mt and 205Mt of iron ore in the next financial year, at a cost of between US$17.50 to US$18.50 per wet metric tonne.
Today, Fortescue's shares rose 4.34% to $19.00 each by end of trade.
ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS
Today's best performing small cap stocks:
Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.002 100% 7110068 $4,836,599
BP8 Bph Global Ltd 0.003 50% 1274424 $2,101,969
MTL Mantle Minerals Ltd 0.0015 50% 8100000 $6,197,446
OB1 Orbminco Limited 0.0015 50% 1925375 $3,402,568
VEN Vintage Energy 0.006 50% 2726332 $8,347,655
PV1 Provaris Energy Ltd 0.026 37% 6552092 $14,782,901
BMO Bastion Minerals 0.002 33% 437500 $2,372,022
FTC Fintech Chain Ltd 0.004 33% 125000 $1,952,309
GTR Gti Energy Ltd 0.004 33% 3168314 $11,167,964
HLX Helix Resources 0.002 33% 1647204 $5,046,291
M2R Miramar 0.004 33% 1794001 $2,990,470
RMI Resource Mining Corp 0.017 31% 4797806 $9,547,894
KGD Kula Gold Limited 0.009 29% 2882221 $6,448,776
CTQ Careteq Limited 0.014 27% 999474 $2,608,306
BIT Biotron Limited 0.0025 25% 286365 $2,654,492
PKO Peako Limited 0.0025 25% 250100 $2,975,484
ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.005 25% 1096100 $21,688,909
NSB Neuroscientific 0.23 24% 5272703 $61,526,506
PGD Peregrine Gold 0.32 23% 623241 $22,060,413
EPX EPX Limited 0.027 23% 1239835 $14,512,896
ODY Odyssey Gold Ltd 0.029 21% 13374452 $26,500,641
DES Desoto Resources 0.175 21% 1990695 $27,075,046
AUK Aumake Limited 0.003 20% 38165577 $7,558,397
THB Thunderbird Resource 0.012 20% 4168988 $3,897,414
TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.003 20% 10000 $25,555,958
In the news…
GTI Energy (ASX:GTR) is gearing up to begin resource expansion drilling at the Lo Herma uranium project in Wyoming, US, after getting the green light from the Bureau of Land Management.
GTI is developing the 10.23Mlb uranium Lo Herma resource as an in-situ recovery uranium project with an eye to tapping into growing yellowcake demand in North America.
Helix Resources (ASX:HLX) is zeroing in on two distinct copper-gold systems at the White Hills project in Arizona, US, with a combination of geophysical, geological and geochemical results.
Two geological formations meet on the project's tenure. Management reckons there's evidence of copper at the northern end of the Arizona Arc formation, while a fault-style gold system sits at the southern end of the Walker Lane gold trend, both within the project area.
Energy efficiency provider EPX (ASX:EPX) notched its fourth consecutive quarter of positive operating cash inflows this financial year, pulling in $400,000 for the June quarter.
The company's 12-month rolling cash flows hit $1.4m in June, a $1.5m improvement over the previous financial year, as customer cash receipts lifted 26% to $5m for the quarter.
E-commerce brand incubator AuMake (ASX:AUK) has lifted its full-year revenue by 50% compared to the previous financial year, raking in $39m.
The company points to its transition to cross border and China retail B2B and B2C business units, exploring new sales channels via Pilot Zone distribution into China Hospital Pharmacies, and activating sales of its own products as the drivers of its success.
ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS
Today's worst performing small cap stocks:
Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap
RBR RBR Group Ltd 0.001 -33% 1050000 $4,680,427
AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.0015 -25% 500000 $2,622,427
DTM Dart Mining NL 0.003 -25% 7093132 $4,792,222
EAT Entertainment 0.003 -25% 200000 $5,235,144
LSA Lachlan Star Ltd 0.055 -21% 73250 $17,680,124
SMM Somerset Minerals 0.019 -21% 20253006 $15,481,932
LPM Lithium Plus 0.07 -20% 686494 $11,689,920
CHM Chimeric Therapeutic 0.004 -20% 47233853 $10,075,971
CRR Critical Resources 0.004 -20% 2241806 $13,850,427
CTO Citigold Corp Ltd 0.004 -20% 3599672 $15,000,000
ENT Enterprise Metals 0.002 -20% 1 $3,428,293
ERL Empire Resources 0.004 -20% 1027763 $7,419,566
LOC Locatetechnologies 0.084 -20% 6472637 $24,693,305
MOH Moho Resources 0.004 -20% 107177 $3,727,070
PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.002 -20% 600000 $15,875,278
WBE Whitebark Energy 0.004 -20% 2707500 $3,502,788
BNR Bulletin Res Ltd 0.047 -19% 2510592 $17,029,573
PEC Perpetual Res Ltd 0.019 -17% 11529663 $20,084,249
PKD Parkd Ltd 0.03 -17% 250000 $3,744,500
ALY Alchemy Resource Ltd 0.005 -17% 1580000 $7,068,458
ASP Aspermont Limited 0.005 -17% 85700 $15,079,061
OLI Oliver'S Real Food 0.005 -17% 123497 $3,244,392
NTI Neurotech Intl 0.021 -16% 737038 $26,240,548
AAM Aumegametals 0.036 -14% 887632 $25,454,129
CCO The Calmer Co Int 0.003 -14% 226905 $10,539,736
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Green Technology Metals' (ASX:GT1) maiden rubidium resource adds a new dimension to the strategic value of its Seymour project in Ontario, Canada.
Reventon says savvy young Aussies are choosing investment properties first – and it's reshaping the housing market.
West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE) will use funds from an oversubscribed $6.125m placement to accelerate exploration at its Elizabeth Hill project in WA's Pilbara.
Reverse circulation drilling at Perpetual Resources' (ASX:PEC) Igrejinha asset in Brazil's Lithium Valley has wrapped up, with preliminary observations due following analysis of logging data.
Promising new research shows Alterity Therapeutics' (ASX:ATH) novel brain imaging tool could play a key role in diagnosing and tracking Multiple System Atrophy.
Pioneer Lithium (ASX:PLN) has established a conservative exploration target at its Warmbad uranium project in Namibia of between 22.22Mt and 32.11Mt with a grade range of 100-120ppm U3O8.
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 GTI Energy is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
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