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Good Afternoon and welcome to HotCopper’s Market Close, I’m Jon Davidson.
It was a better start to the week than some of those in recent history as the US and China claim they’re getting along well in trade talks in Switzerland. But, we’ve heard lots of claims from both countries, and until tariffs are officially wound back, the market may stay cautious. India also led Asian stocks on Monday, as a tenuous Pakistani ceasefire deal was digested by markets.
At any rate, let’s turn back to Australia, and look at companies in the green.
Mineral Resources staged a large recovery on Monday, up over 9% in the closing minutes of trade, as hopes the US and China have made meaningful progress on trade talks fuels conviction the world’s largest consumer of iron ore might get back to its old self, and with less tariff burden to boot. Shares closed around $22.95ea.
Looking at the small end of town, HotCopper favourite Elixir Energy jumped as much as 16% on low volumes in the closing hour of trade as its new manager Stuart Nicholls – formerly top dog at Strike Energy – clarified the company’s new strategic vision. And that vision is simple: find more gas in Queensland. Of course, finding gas is the easy part – posting flowrates high enough to satisfy shareholders is a different question. Elixir closed at three cents per share.
And now let’s turn to the reds.
Botanix was hit hard alongside other US-facing Australian biotech stocks like Telix and Neuren after Trump took to the web to claim that overnight he’ll sign an order vastly cutting the price of drugs in the US. Botanix responded to the news by saying that because it doesn’t offer its drugs for cheaper in any other country, it shouldn’t be affected, but in these early days – the market wasn’t convinced. Botanix closed at 40cps.
Elsewhere, plastic and metal packaging materials player Pact Group Holdings was at one point the biggest faller intraday as the company announced an EGM for June 12 with a view towards delisting off the ASX, announced in late April. While this wasn’t really news for investors, shares sold down nearly 18% in the final minutes of trade, suggesting some investors weren’t sure the company was serious. Pact ended at 83cps.
That’s Market Close for Monday, I’m Jon Davidson, have a great night and we’ll see you tomorrow.
