Lunch Wrap: ASX creeps lower as IperionX lands Pentagon payday
Lynas pops 8pc on China rare earths squeeze
IperionX lands $152m Pentagon titanium deal
The ASX inched lower by 0.1% at lunch time AEST on Thursday.
Miners such as Fortescue (ASX:FMG), which was up by 1%, did the heavy lifting. And Lynas (ASX:LYC) went ballistic, up 10%, after a bit of good news for the rare earths space.
Turns out some of Europe's biggest carmakers are starting to feel the pinch from China's rare earths export controls, and Lynas is quickly shaping up as a reliable alternative in a tightening market.
In the US overnight, bond yields sank as traders piled into bets that the Fed might deliver not just one, but two rate cuts this year.
September is looking like a sure thing now, and you could almost hear the doves cooing from Capitol Hill.
Tech sentiment, meanwhile took a wobble after Apple was downgraded by Needham, who reckons it's falling behind in the AI race.
Tesla dropped over 3% after Elon Musk went on a full-tilt political offensive, blasting Trump's new tax plan as a 'disgusting abomination' and telling Americans to 'kill the bill.'
Back home to the ASX, where just five of 11 sectors were flashing green.
The headline of the morning came from $1.4bn market-capped IperionX (ASX:IPX), the titanium player that just scored a golden ticket from the Pentagon.
Shares in IperionX rocketed 21% after the company locked in a contract worth up to US$99 million with the US Department of Defense.
It's a Phase III SBIR deal, what it really means is IPX has graduated from R&D to full-blown production. The first orders will focus on titanium fasteners for defence agencies, with all the kit built at its plant in Virginia.
It's a big nod of confidence for Iperion X, and a win for the US as it tries to wean itself off foreign suppliers.
Meanwhile, Magellan Financial Group (ASX:MFG) kept bleeding, but at least it's not gushing anymore.
The fundie has just posted $400 million in outflows for May, down from $1 billion the month before. Assets under management inched higher across most of its strategies, with infrastructure holding steady. Total AUM now sits at $39.3 billion.
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for June 5 :
Security Description Last % Volume MktCap
EV1 Evolutionenergy 0.014 75% 2,147,660 $2,901,204
ADD Adavale Resource Ltd 0.002 50% 400,066 $2,287,279
AUH Austchina Holdings 0.002 50% 27,230 $3,025,384
AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 33% 375,000 $1,966,820
EEL Enrg Elements Ltd 0.002 33% 1,000,000 $4,880,668
ZEU Zeus Resources Ltd 0.012 33% 12,469,218 $5,766,058
GTR Gti Energy Ltd 0.005 29% 33,710,486 $10,496,324
EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.003 25% 2,498,367 $8,219,762
ENT Enterprise Metals 0.003 25% 100,108 $2,356,635
ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.010 25% 44,085,113 $11,308,006
OLI Oliver'S Real Food 0.005 25% 30,000 $2,162,928
TMX Terrain Minerals 0.003 25% 22,788 $4,497,113
ION Iondrive Limited 0.027 23% 5,953,328 $26,022,399
LAM Laramide Res Ltd 0.875 22% 580 $14,828,157
CDE Codeifai Limited 0.017 21% 992,179 $4,564,445
IRX Inhalerx Limited 0.040 21% 1,221,477 $7,043,791
HWK Hawk Resources. 0.018 20% 2,008,040 $4,063,942
ATX Amplia Therapeutics 0.060 20% 5,836,140 $19,397,633
ALY Alchemy Resource Ltd 0.006 20% 871,491 $5,890,381
OMG OMG Group Limited 0.006 20% 966,720 $3,641,474
PER Percheron 0.012 20% 3,787,762 $10,874,376
TEG Triangle Energy Ltd 0.003 20% 2,550,000 $5,223,085
GTI Energy (ASX:GTR) says early numbers from its Lo Herma uranium project in Wyoming look promising, pointing to a potential low-cost in-situ recovery (ISR) operation producing around 800,000 pounds of uranium a year. The scoping study was run by Wyoming-based experts BRS Engineering and outlines a seven-year plan with a total production target of nearly 6 million pounds.
It's still early days, though – most of the resource is in the lower-confidence 'Inferred' category, so there's no guarantee the uranium's all there or that it'll stack up economically just yet.
FireFly Metals (ASX:FFM) has locked in a C$25.8 million (~A$28.8m) funding deal with BMO in Canada and another $46 million from Aussie investors through placements and a share purchase plan.
The funds will go towards advancing its Green Bay copper-gold project in Canada, including underground development, drilling, and pre-construction work. It's a big step forward as it looks to push Green Bay closer to production.
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for June 5 :
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
OVT Ovanti Limited 0.002 -33% 3,711,682 $8,380,545
PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.002 -33% 2,830,000 $6,828,269
GMN Gold Mountain Ltd 0.002 -25% 1,347,106 $11,239,518
AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.004 -20% 655,257 $15,867,318
MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.004 -20% 30,805 $9,917,991
1AD Adalta Limited 0.003 -17% 5,146,114 $3,020,120
AJL AJ Lucas Group 0.005 -17% 624,546 $8,254,378
IFG Infocusgroup Hldltd 0.005 -17% 2,989 $1,655,771
JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.003 -17% 537,500 $18,378,447
RFT Rectifier Technolog 0.005 -17% 20,000 $8,291,904
EPM Eclipse Metals 0.016 -16% 18,423,152 $54,450,562
QEM QEM Limited 0.051 -15% 57,568 $11,450,021
RDN Raiden Resources Ltd 0.006 -14% 2,515,475 $24,156,240
SRJ SRJ Technologies 0.012 -14% 769,489 $8,478,093
PEB Pacific Edge 0.091 -13% 2,752 $85,251,177
OLY Olympio Metals Ltd 0.034 -13% 579,499 $3,434,625
AVW Avira Resources Ltd 0.007 -13% 17,217 $1,754,286
KLI Killiresources 0.028 -13% 97,087 $4,487,160
PNT Panthermetalsltd 0.014 -13% 798,024 $4,814,473
WCE Westcoastsilver Ltd 0.080 -11% 1,807,262 $23,410,888
WWG Wisewaygroupltd 0.160 -11% 12,954 $30,123,575
ANX Anax Metals Ltd 0.008 -11% 1,596,673 $7,945,268
LCY Legacy Iron Ore 0.008 -11% 25,000 $87,858,383
Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR) crashed 11% after announcing that CEO Jon Davey is stepping down. He's been offered a new private equity gig, based in Melbourne. Davey's been with Tyro since 2021, arriving via the Medipass acquisition and moving into the top job the following year. He'll hang around for up to six months to help with the handover.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Two collaborative drilling grants totalling $400,000 have been awarded to Red Metal (ASX:RDM) to test targets across the Gulf and Three Ways copper-gold assets.
Challenger also raised $34.5 million to advance its Hualilan gold project into production, with first cash flows expected soon.
Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY) is progressing tenders for upcoming drilling at its El Campo rare earths prospect in California after being awarded drill permits.
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