Market Update: Consumer staples best performer on Coles’ results

The ASX200 has been trading fairly flat, having headed down about .2 per cent earlier in the session.

The drags have included the Real Estate sector, materials and communications.

However, consumer staples has led the day so far, up nearly 2 per cent, boosted by strong numbers from Coles’ half yearly.

A stand out performer today has been Tamboran Resources Corporation (ASX:TBN), which has gained nearly 17 per cent after announcing better than expected flow test results in the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.

Supermarket juggernaut Coles Group (ASX:COL) has been up more than 5.5 per cent despite reporting an 8.4 per cent decline in statutory Net Profit After Tax to $589 million for the six months to the end of December. That report is despite a 3 per cent increase in overall revenue and a 4.9 per cent rise in Coles’ supermarket revenue.

Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) is up  a per cent, despite a 74 per cent slip in Net Proft After Tax for its half yearly. However the falls, attributed to oil and gas prices, was less than expected.

Boss Energy (ASX: BOE) has lifted nearly 2 per cent after completing its acquisition of a 30 per cent stake in the Alta Mesa ISR Uranium Project in South Texas, with a cash transaction totalling A$92 million (US$60 million). The acquisition involved securing the interest from Nasdaq-listed enCore Energy Corp. At the same time, Boss says it’s only weeks away from uranium production.

Boss Energy has been trading around $4.75

Battery anode materials company, EcoGraf (ASX: EGR) has gained nearly 7 per cent on results from a research collaboration with the Helmholtz Institute in Germany. The research using EcoGraf’s HFfree^TM technology reportedly catalysed successful production of purified graphite particles from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. EcoGraf plans to blend this recycled graphite with Tanzanian graphite for ‘sustainable’ anode manufacture.

EGR has been trading at 15.5 cents

Synthetic anti-infective company Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE), has been up more than a per cent, after updating work within its Anti-Infective Research (AIR) Unit at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI). Recce established the Unit led by MCRI researcher Dr Sohinee Sarkar last year. The collaboration between Recce and MCRI has been instrumental in providing significant efficacy results for drug candidate Recce 327 in treating UTIs and sepsis through ongoing pre-clinical programs.

RCE has been trading around 46 cents.

And Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX:BCM) has appointed Andrew Reid as Managing Director from late March.  He replaces Andre Douchane. Andrew was previously a non-executive director (NED) for the company – formerly BBX Minerals – and ‘has over 30 years’ experience in the resources industry’.

BCM has been trading at 2.3 cents