Lunch Wrap: ASX dragged down by sinking China steel and flying missiles
ASX falls as China steel sinks miners
Iran hits Israeli labs with cluster bombs
Oil jumps then eases on Trump's comments
The ASX was down 0.55% at around lunch time in the east on Friday, and you can't blame Wall Street for this one.
The Yanks were out celebrating Juneteenth with the markets shut. But Europe was wide awake, and the headlines coming out of the Middle East were enough to wipe the smile off any trader's face.
Iran is apparently lobbing missiles with cluster bombs into Israeli suburbs. These things burst mid-air and scatter mini-bombs over a wide area, with one landing in someone's backyard in Azor.
Tehran also targeted Israel's scientific crown jewel, the Weizmann Institute of Science. Years of research in life sciences and physics gone up in smoke.
With that as the backdrop, Brent crude spiked as punters braced for a possible US strike on Iran.
But then Trump walked it back a bit. His team now reckons there's a 'substantial chance' of negotiation, with a decision 'within two weeks'.
Those comments took the edge off, with oil prices coming back down a tad.
Elsewhere, the Bank of England kept rates on hold at 4.25% last night. Three policy members wanted a cut, and there's now a decent chance of a trim come August.
Over in Russia, the Kremlin's economy minister just admitted the country's 'on the brink' of recession, pointing to weakening indicators. Not something you usually hear from Putin's camp.
Back home, the ASX was already on the ropes before the opening bell thanks to China's steel numbers.
Steel production slumped nearly 7% in May, way below expectations, and that sent our iron ore stocks tumbling once again.
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) fell 0.5% and Bluescope Steel (ASX:BSL) dropped 1% this morning.
And, Web Travel Group (ASX:WEB) slipped 1.5%, though it wasn't all bad. Former Virgin Australia boss Paul Scurrah is joining the board alongside retail veteran Melanie Wilson from JB Hi-Fi and Oroton.
This is where things stood at around 12:40pm, AEST:
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for June 20 :
Security Description Last % Volume MktCap
GMN Gold Mountain Ltd 0.002 50% 442,562 $5,619,759
JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.003 50% 270,825 $12,252,298
PV1 Provaris Energy Ltd 0.014 40% 2,589,991 $6,980,013
RNX Renegade Exploration 0.004 33% 321,227 $3,865,090
BMO Bastion Minerals 0.002 27% 986,000 $1,419,960
CAZ Cazaly Resources 0.025 25% 3,014,837 $9,226,060
ALM Alma Metals Ltd 0.005 25% 707,408 $6,345,381
AOK Australian Oil. 0.003 25% 17,657 $2,003,566
AUK Aumake Limited 0.003 25% 176,755 $6,046,718
CR9 Corellares 0.003 25% 3,635 $2,011,213
EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.003 25% 1,150,129 $8,219,762
FIN FIN Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 100,000 $2,779,554
FLC Fluence Corporation 0.045 25% 1,830,658 $39,071,613
GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.003 25% 1,458,526 $5,640,850
MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.005 25% 1,004,099 $7,934,392
SRJ SRJ Technologies 0.005 25% 113,950 $2,422,312
ALR Altairminerals 0.003 20% 312,349 $10,741,860
BLU Blue Energy Limited 0.006 20% 3,122,353 $9,254,868
BGE Bridgesaaslimited 0.014 17% 61,111 $2,398,310
NAE New Age Exploration 0.004 17% 50,877 $8,117,734
W2V Way2Vatltd 0.007 17% 500,000 $10,196,818
E79 E79Goldmineslimited 0.023 15% 473,530 $3,168,253
MCA Murray Cod Aust Ltd 1.000 15% 59,465 $92,023,850
BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.008 14% 625,500 $8,527,630
MPR Mpower Group Limited 0.008 14% 70,398 $2,405,923
Provaris Energy (ASX:PV1) has signed an MOU with global shipping heavyweight 'K' LINE to help commercialise its hydrogen transport vessels, the H2Neo and H2Leo. The tie-up gives Provaris access to technical and commercial know-how as it pushes into Europe, where demand for hydrogen is set to boom.
The two will spend the next 12 months working on ship development, cost models and possible commercial deals. It also supports Provaris' supply chain plans in Norway and its earlier hydrogen delivery deals with German utilities. Compressed hydrogen is gaining traction as a cheap, scalable way to ship gas across short marine distances.
Bastion Minerals (ASX:BMO) has appointed John Ribbons as its new company secretary, following the resignation of Justin Clyne. Ribbons will take on the role alongside his CFO duties, bringing over 25 years of experience in governance, compliance, and the resources game. The company says the move will streamline operations and save costs.
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for June 20 :
Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap
ADD Adavale Resource Ltd 0.001 -50% 61,313 $4,574,558
BP8 Bph Global Ltd 0.001 -50% 3,216,693 $2,101,969
BCB Bowen Coal Limited 0.195 -44% 1,764,116 $37,715,145
RPG Raptis Group Limited 0.090 -44% 298,705 $56,109,577
BEL Bentley Capital Ltd 0.008 -33% 7,851 $913,535
PKO Peako Limited 0.002 -33% 925,298 $4,463,226
RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.001 -33% 135,000 $1,165,060
SHP South Harz Potash 0.002 -33% 310,000 $3,308,186
EEL Enrg Elements Ltd 0.002 -25% 532,818 $6,507,557
WEC White Energy Company 0.035 -20% 133 $13,711,276
ATX Amplia Therapeutics 0.195 -17% 20,968,141 $91,168,877
AMS Atomos 0.005 -17% 58,076 $7,290,111
DRE Dreadnought Resources 0.010 -17% 43,202,725 $60,954,000
ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.003 -17% 5,705,686 $12,020,306
3PL 3P Learning Ltd 0.560 -16% 34,796 $182,847,370
ADR Adherium Ltd 0.006 -14% 100,000 $5,307,296
AS2 Askarimetalslimited 0.006 -14% 400,000 $2,829,195
ASP Aspermont Limited 0.006 -14% 350,000 $17,312,314
AXI Axiom Properties 0.030 -14% 30,000 $15,144,978
AYT Austin Metals Ltd 0.003 -14% 100,000 $5,509,670
EV1 Evolutionenergy 0.012 -14% 1 $5,077,107
M24 Mamba Exploration 0.012 -14% 30,000 $4,132,319
IR1 Irismetals 0.100 -13% 6,342 $19,832,829
ODY Odyssey Gold Ltd 0.020 -13% 2,769,548 $20,674,036
BNR Bulletin Res Ltd 0.054 -13% 107,527 $18,204,026
Bowen Coking Coal (ASX:BCB) collapsed 45% after warning it might have to pause its flagship Burton Mine. BCB said coal prices are in the gutter, and Queensland's royalty regime is, in Bowen's words, flat-out 'unsustainable'.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
QMines (ASX:QML) is in the final stages of acquiring the Mount Mackenzie gold-silver project after completing due diligence.
Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) has built a static and dynamic Petrel model for its Green River lithium project in Utah that will help determine the location, design and depth of extraction and disposal wells.
Western Gold Resources (ASX:WGR) is transitioning from explorer to producer after inking a binding milling agreement to fast track the Gold Duke mine.
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Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
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Trump buys himself time, and opens up some new options
In fact, within an hour of the White House release of Trump's statement that 'I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks', Netanyahu signalled that he was likely to use the time to try his own attacks on the deeply buried Fordow nuclear plant. 'I established that we will achieve all of our objectives, all of their nuclear facilities,' he said. 'We have the power to do so.' In fact, American and foreign experts say, the Israelis have been preparing military and covert options for years, examining how they might interrupt the massive electrical supply systems that keep the centrifuges buried in an enrichment hall under a mountain. Even the introduction of a surge or a pulse in that electrical flow could destabilise and destroy the delicate machines as they spin at supersonic speeds, like a top spinning out of control. In recent days, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded that Israel's destruction of the electric plant above another enrichment centre, at Natanz, probably critically damaged the thousands of centrifuges spinning below. The Israelis have considered what it would take to bomb and seal the tunnel entrances into the facility, trapping workers inside and making it all the more difficult to bring near-bomb-grade fuel into the plant for a final boost that would make it usable in a weapon. That fuel itself, stored in the ancient capital of Isfahan, would also be a target for the Israelis, American officials say. But the first question is whether the Iranians have the political flexibility to seize on the time period Trump has opened up. Administration officials say Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy, has already been in touch in recent days with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with whom he has been talking since early April. 'I think the question is, can the Iranians see this as an opportunity to avoid the significant challenges that would come from the destruction of their last remaining facility?' asked Laura Holgate, who served as American ambassador to the IAEA during the Biden administration. But she said that 'direct surrender is probably not on the table for them', or 'total abandonment of enrichment capacity either, even now'. Robert Litwak, a scholar who has written extensively on diplomacy with Iran, said, 'Here is the diplomatic needle both sides need to thread: the US accepts that Iran has a right to enrich uranium, and Iran accepts that it must completely dismantle its nuclear program'. The conflict between Israel and Iran has consumed the president's week, as he returned early from the Group of 7 meeting in Canada to deal with the war. He spent the early part of the week posting a series of bellicose threats on social media, seeming to lay the groundwork for the US to join Israel's bombing campaign. He urged all the residents of Tehran, a city of roughly 10 million people, to evacuate, claimed the US had 'complete and total control of the skies over Iran', and said American officials knew where Iran's leader was hiding but would not kill him – 'at least not for now'. Many of the president's allies believed that the US's entrance into the war was imminent. But on Wednesday, the president said he had not made a final decision about whether to bomb Iran, and he berated Iran for not agreeing to a new deal to limit its nuclear program. Still, he said, it was not too late for a diplomatic solution. 'Nothing's too late,' he said. Trump's public flirtation with entering the war has sharply divided his base – so much so that Vice President JD Vance wrote a lengthy social media post on Tuesday seeking to downplay concerns that the president was abandoning his commitment to keep America out of overseas conflict. Loading 'I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people's goals,' Vance wrote. But some of the president's most prominent allies, including Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former aide Steve Bannon have criticised the prospect of the US getting involved in another country's war. 'Anyone slobbering for the US to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA,' Greene posted on social media. On the other end of the spectrum, many of Trump's hawkish allies in the Senate, including South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, are urging the president to take a more aggressive posture toward Iran. 'Be all in, President Trump, in helping Israel eliminate the nuclear threat,' Graham said this week on Fox News. 'If we need to provide bombs to Israel, provide bombs. If we need to fly planes with Israel, do joint operations.'
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Will Israel's interceptors outlast Iran's missiles? The answer may shape the war
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The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Will Israel's interceptors outlast Iran's missiles? The answer may shape the war
Jerusalem: Aside from a potentially game-changing US intervention that shapes the fate of Iran's nuclear program, two factors will help decide the length of the Israel-Iran war: Israel's reserve of missile interceptors and Iran's stock of long-range missiles. Since Iran started retaliating against Israel's fire last week, Israel's world-leading air defence system has intercepted most incoming Iranian ballistic missiles, giving the Israeli air force more time to strike Iran without incurring major losses at home. Now, as the war drags on, Israel is firing interceptors faster than it can produce them. That has raised questions within the Israeli security establishment about whether the country will run low on air defence missiles before Iran uses up its ballistic arsenal, according to eight current and former officials. Already, Israel's military has had to conserve its use of interceptors and is giving greater priority to the defence of densely populated areas and strategic infrastructure, according to the officials. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more freely. 'No one envisaged we would be fighting on so many fronts and defending against so many rounds of ballistic missiles.' Zohar Palti, former senior Mossad officer Interceptors are 'not grains of rice,' said Brigadier General Ran Kochav, who commanded Israel's air defence system until 2021 and still serves in the military reserve. 'The number is finite.' 'If a missile is supposed to hit refineries in Haifa, it's clear that it's more important to intercept that missile than one that will hit the Negev desert,' Kochav said. Conserving Israel's interceptors is 'a challenge', he added. 'We can make it, but it's a challenge.' Asked for comment on the limits of its interceptor arsenal, the Israeli military said in a brief statement that it 'is prepared and ready to handle any scenario and is operating defensively and offensively to remove threats to Israeli civilians'.
