Lunch Wrap: ASX walks tightrope; lawsuit number two looms for Paladin

News.com.au

a day ago

Trump tariffs back on, but ASX inches higher
HealthCo soars on Healthscope rent deal
Paladin sued again, Viva dips, NRW wins Rio job
The ASX opened Friday on a mood swing, with the ASX 200 Index bouncing between gains and losses before inching higher by 0.1% by about 1pm, AEST.
Investors had gone to bed hoping Trump's global tariff campaign had been buried for good, but woke up to find it very much still kicking.
Just yesterday, markets were cheering a US trade court decision that slapped down a big chunk of Trump's tariff agenda.
The court ruled that the president had overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by slapping tariffs on dozens of nations.
Judges made it clear: it wasn't about whether tariffs were smart or dumb, the law just didn't back him.
But before markets could even finish the victory lap, a higher court threw the brakes on the celebration. The US Court of Appeals stepped in with a temporary stay, meaning Trump's tariffs are still alive, at least for now.
Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro declared the tariffs are 'alive, well, healthy,' while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned the Supreme Court may need to step in to protect presidential powers.
Despite the chaos and a string of flashing red lights from the US economy - which includes data showing US GDP shrinking by 0.2% in Q1 - Wall Street still managed to close in the green last night.
Bond yields fell, though, as traders started betting on Fed rate cuts.
Meanwhile in a private White House chat, Trump met with Fed chair Jerome Powell and reportedly urged him to cut interest rates. Powell apparently reminded the president that decisions would depend on data, not tweets.
To the ASX, 5 of 11 sectors were flashing red this morning. Energy stocks led the losers as oil prices slipped.
Gold stocks however rallied as bullion found new sparkle, driven by tariff uncertainty and fresh US jobless data.
In large caps news, Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) is under fire again, with a second class action on the way over how it handled production guidance at its Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia.
The Banton Group is gearing up to file this time. The first class action was filed by Slater and Gordon on April 16, essentially on similar claims.
Viva Energy (ASX:VEA) got the green light from Victoria to move ahead with its Geelong LNG terminal. But despite the tick of approval, Viva shares dipped 2%.
And still in large caps, mining services firm NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) climbed 1% after its subsidiary Primero scored a $157 million deal to build infrastructure at Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) 's Hope Downs mine in the Pilbara.
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for May 30 :
Security Description Last % Volume MktCap
PRM Prominence Energy 0.004 100% 9,000 $778,353
ERL Empire Resources 0.005 67% 319,668 $4,451,740
CR9 Corellares 0.003 50% 412,320 $2,011,213
ASP Aspermont Limited 0.007 40% 1,209,102 $12,365,938
TAS Tasman Resources Ltd 0.025 39% 455,510 $3,314,567
CZN Corazon Ltd 0.002 33% 700,000 $1,776,858
GMN Gold Mountain Ltd 0.002 33% 296,327 $8,429,639
SHP South Harz Potash 0.004 33% 404,999 $3,308,186
LOC Locatetechnologies 0.090 29% 352,514 $14,083,568
AYT Austin Metals Ltd 0.005 25% 198,136 $6,296,765
BYH Bryah Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 599,251 $3,479,814
ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.003 25% 159,004 $8,013,537
OVT Ovanti Limited 0.003 25% 507,500 $5,587,030
PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.003 25% 1,000,000 $6,350,111
RGL Riversgold 0.005 25% 189,093 $6,734,850
TEM Tempest Minerals 0.005 25% 421,040 $2,938,119
VML Vital Metals Limited 0.003 25% 494,000 $11,790,134
VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 1,155,003 $18,739,112
WBE Whitebark Energy 0.005 25% 100,000 $2,749,334
NHE Nobleheliumlimited 0.011 22% 557,421 $5,395,725
OLL Openlearning 0.018 20% 145,461 $7,240,120
AZL Arizona Lithium Ltd 0.006 20% 3,857,357 $26,351,572
PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.003 20% 200,000 $5,690,224
LKY Locksleyresources 0.079 20% 28,480,896 $9,680,000
CC5 Clever Culture 0.019 19% 5,784,516 $28,252,645
Mining media company Aspermont (ASX:ASP) has clocked up its 35th straight quarter of subscription growth, with subs now making up 75% of total revenue. Recurring subscription revenue hit $11.2 million, up 4% year-on-year, while overall group revenue dipped 6% to $6.7 million. EBITDA was negative, but the company is still debt-free and sitting on $700k in cash.
Tempest Minerals (ASX:TEM) has tightened up sampling at its Sanity gold target in WA's Yalgoo project, and the results are looking promising. By increasing the sample density, it's sharpened the definition of a strong and continuous gold anomaly, pointing to the potential for a large-scale mineralised system. TEM says Sanity sits in a juicy bit of ground, backed by rock chips grading as high as 7g/t gold.
Healthco Healthcare and Wellness REIT (ASX:HCW) surged after striking a lifeline deal with troubled hospital operator Healthscope and its receivers, agreeing to partially defer rent payments across several properties. That deal helped settle nerves about HealthCo's income stream and brought a bit of clarity to an otherwise messy situation. Investors clearly liked the look of the stabilised cash flow, and piled in fast.
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for May 30 :
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
BLZ Blaze Minerals Ltd 0.002 -33% 142,857 $4,700,843
AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 -25% 357,633 $2,622,427
BMO Bastion Minerals 0.002 -25% 500,000 $1,807,255
RAN Range International 0.002 -25% 3,198,946 $1,878,581
MGA Metalsgrovemining 0.061 -25% 50,000 $8,539,020
WNX Wellnex Life Ltd 0.300 -22% 47,583 $26,092,038
AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.004 -20% 1,597,010 $15,867,318
EVR Ev Resources Ltd 0.004 -20% 519,000 $9,929,183
PLC Premier1 Lithium Ltd 0.009 -18% 1,932,215 $4,048,666
REZ Resourc & En Grp Ltd 0.015 -17% 492,052 $12,089,504
DAF Discovery Alaska Ltd 0.010 -17% 25,000 $2,810,816
KPO Kalina Power Limited 0.005 -17% 2,468,473 $17,597,818
OEL Otto Energy Limited 0.005 -17% 888,386 $28,770,059
TEG Triangle Energy Ltd 0.003 -17% 500,999 $6,267,702
CML Connected Minerals 0.130 -16% 10,139 $6,410,523
ADG Adelong Gold Limited 0.006 -14% 59,334,827 $9,782,403
OM1 Omnia Metals Group 0.012 -14% 820,682 $3,039,284
QXR Qx Resources Limited 0.003 -14% 700,000 $4,586,151
SRJ SRJ Technologies 0.013 -13% 15,005 $9,083,671
1CG One Click Group Ltd 0.007 -13% 398,955 $9,423,039
AX8 Accelerate Resources 0.007 -13% 235,331 $6,377,510
HFY Hubify Ltd 0.007 -13% 43,849 $4,089,090
CRD Conradasiaenergyltd 0.620 -12% 158,139 $132,939,151
DBO Diabloresources 0.015 -12% 58,660 $2,296,970
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Stockhead's Tylah Tully looks at White Cliff Minerals' (ASX:WCN) exploration at Danvers, where continuous, high-grade copper and silver mineralisation at surface has been confirmed.
Tylah also breaks down the latest from West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE),which has started drilling to test extensions of known high-grade mineralisation at its Elizabeth Hill project in Western Australia.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While White Cliff Minerals and West Coast Silver are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.