Lunch Wrap: ASX smashes fresh record as earnings season runs hot
Westpac jumps on big quarter
Bitcoin smashes record, Ethereum eyes personal best next
The ASX was strutting into Thursday lunchtime in the east with a 0.7% lift, rewriting the record books yet again.
Wall Street also rallied overnight, buoyed by the growing belief the Fed's about to hand out rate cuts like a spring clearance sale.
Bitcoin burst into the party, too, clocking another all-time high and flexing at US$123,675 at the time of writing, while Ethereum is lurking just shy of its own record of US$4,878 (set four years ago).
Back home, it was the utilities sector leading the charge, up on the back of Origin Energy's (ASX:ORG) blockbuster 5% surge.
Origin's LNG cash machine kept humming in FY25, lifting profit, fattening franked dividends, and easily outshining softer energy retail as it handed shareholders a juicier 60c payout.
Banks also staged a comeback after Wednesday's bruising.
Westpac (ASX:WBC) was the headline act, rocketing 7% thanks to a 14% jump in third-quarter profit and a cool $10 billion lift in deposits.
Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) rose 3% on a 52% profit leap in its full-year results thanks to its ANZ bank sale gains.
Elsewhere in earnings season madness, Telstra (ASX:TLS) was the lone sector buzzkill for telcos, down 3% despite a 31% jump in annual profit to $2.34 billion and a $1 billion share buyback.
Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) impressed with a 40% profit jump in its full-year numbers and $520 million in fresh US contracts, lifting shares 5%.
Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) jumped 7% after full-year revenue grew 21%. Apparently we still can't resist a good online furniture binge.
But not everyone was kicking goals.
South32 (ASX:S32) slid 5% after slapping a US$372 million impairment on its Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique. Without a new power deal, the operation could shut in March, it said.
ASX LEADERS
Today's best performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:
Security Description Last % Volume MktCap
GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.002 100% 800,584 $2,820,425
MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.005 80% 30,230,623 $1,946,223
ATV Activeportgroupltd 0.016 68% 59,216,662 $6,526,282
MEL Metgasco Ltd 0.003 50% 100,000 $3,674,173
OD6 Od6Metalsltd 0.100 47% 19,995,087 $10,911,821
BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.013 44% 19,133,068 $10,964,095
BPP Babylon Pump & Power 0.007 40% 7,930,629 $19,034,455
CR9 Corellares 0.004 33% 750,000 $3,021,809
TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.004 33% 250,000 $10,026,464
KNG Kingsland Minerals 0.185 28% 352,638 $10,521,332
BMM Bayanminingandmin 0.165 27% 5,500,122 $14,196,703
FRB Firebird Metals 0.175 25% 3,055,947 $19,930,596
ARV Artemis Resources 0.005 25% 3,261,000 $11,462,689
DTM Dart Mining NL 0.003 25% 10,091,666 $2,396,111
OSX Osteopore Limited 0.010 25% 933,405 $1,898,080
VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 25,681 $18,739,398
SLM Solismineralsltd 0.135 23% 1,380,384 $15,518,820
BM8 Battery Age Minerals 0.082 22% 11,644,677 $10,170,722
BMG BMG Resources Ltd 0.012 21% 10,315,111 $8,059,773
MMR Mec Resources 0.006 20% 6,840,475 $9,248,829
SPQ Superior Resources 0.006 20% 1,487,217 $11,854,914
TML Timah Resources Ltd 0.031 19% 164 $2,307,754
ActivePort Group (ASX:ATV) has switched on Australia's first private-cloud superhighway, landing DigiCo, Equinix and NextDC as early customers just weeks after launch. Its Private-Cloud Connect delivers wholesale, fibre-based, on-demand bandwidth between branch offices and private clouds in top Aussie data centres, built for the AI era where demand for local hosting is surging.
Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8) has confirmed Falcon Lake is more than just a lithium play, with new assays showing high-grade rubidium, caesium, tantalum and gallium alongside its already strong spodumene hits. The latest drilling backs Falcon Lake as a multi-metal prize, with standout lithium intercepts including 54.1m at 1.74% Liâ‚‚O and 55.95m at 1.47% Liâ‚‚O. With only five of 30 high-priority targets drilled and lithium prices starting to recover, the company said the project has plenty of runway for more discoveries and market upside.
ASX LAGGARDS
Today's worst performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
LNU Linius Tech Limited 0.001 -50% 7,546,000 $13,002,431
ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.003 -25% 553,610 $16,061,742
PKO Peako Limited 0.003 -25% 10,670,597 $5,950,968
RKB Rokeby Resources Ltd 0.010 -23% 3,031,200 $21,253,195
CAV Carnavale Resources 0.004 -20% 858,307 $20,451,092
ERA Energy Resources 0.002 -20% 1,929,673 $1,013,490,602
CTM Centaurus Metals Ltd 0.368 -18% 1,344,178 $223,515,546
BUY Bounty Oil & Gas NL 0.003 -17% 870,000 $4,684,416
EMT Emetals Limited 0.005 -17% 1,069,204 $5,100,000
SER Strategic Energy 0.005 -17% 3,354,304 $5,020,150
SHP South Harz Potash 0.003 -17% 1,400,675 $4,415,170
AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.006 -14% 99,629 $22,214,246
CR1 Constellation Res 0.120 -14% 5,000 $10,088,556
CYQ Cycliq Group Ltd 0.006 -14% 93,818 $3,223,617
OVT Ovanti Limited 0.006 -14% 1,343,942 $29,920,265
TSL Titanium Sands Ltd 0.006 -14% 410,785 $16,413,230
BEL Bentley Capital Ltd 0.013 -13% 1,550,000 $1,141,919
ANR Anatara Ls Ltd 0.007 -13% 100,000 $1,708,723
AON Apollo Minerals Ltd 0.007 -13% 512,488 $7,427,655
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
RBA rate cut: Why the cost of doing nothing just got more expensive for property investors.
Parental safety and privacy concerns are fuelling growth for ASX tech stocks in the booming 'anxiety economy'.
White Cliff Minerals' (ASX:WCN) first round of drilling at Rae has identified a sediment-hosted copper system, underlain by semi-massive sulphide veining.
Albion Resources (ASX:ALB) has completed the sale of Mongers Lake to Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) for $100,000 cash and 1.4 million in shares.
LAST ORDERS
Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) is looking to expand its marketing presence in the US, inking a partnering agreement with US-based market access consultancy, PRO-spectus. PRO-spectus will support the marketing, market access, and reimbursement of LDX's flagship point-of-care test, FebriDx®.
New Age Exploration (ASX:NAE) has welcomed financial market veteran Daniel Eddington to the board as an independent non-executive director.
Eddington also serves as a non-executive director for Osmond Resources (ASX:OSM) and Jade Gas (ASX:JGH) and as a director of Sparc Technologies (ASX:SPN).
VHM (ASX:VHM) is moving into a new stage of development for its heavy minerals and rare earths Goschen project, welcoming new CEO Andrew King and CFO Benjamin McCormick to the board effective October 1.
Current CEO Ron Douglas will subsequently resume his non-executive director position on the board as planned, after assisting in King's transition over the next few months.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Lumos Diagnostics, VHM and New Age Exploration are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
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