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The ASX200 shed 0.85 per cent today – with every sector – except materials, losing ground.
IT stocks weighed on the market, down more than 3%, while the Health Care sector was also weak, falling 2%.
In the Green
Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL) jumped 13.8% today on news it had significant investor interest for the final financing stage of its Zero Carbon Lithium brine project in the Upper Rhine Valley region of Germany.
Vulcan reports interest from investors, Tier 1 banks, the European Investment Bank and government-backed export credit agencies, and, is now entering formal discussions.
VUL closed at $5.42.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (ASX:BEN) shot up more than 8.1%, despite its trading update for the 10 months to the end of April showing unaudited cash earnings of $464 million – down 2.3% on the same period last year.
But its net interest margin was 1.87%, sitting above its year-to-date average.
BEN closed at $10.73.
And Poseidon Nickel (ASX:POS) was up 50% off a very low base, after resuming works on-site its Lake Johnston lithium & nickel project in Western Australia.
It’s comes just a fortnight after Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources pulled out of a proposed deal to acquire the project, which had a nickel processing hub that could be converted to also process lithium.
POS closed at 0.6 of a cent.
In the Red
The IT sector suffered the most today… it dropped 3% as the bigger players dragged: Xero (ASX:XRO) shed about 5%; Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC) about 3.3%; and NextDC (ASX:NXT) was down around 1.9%.
Contact Energy (ASX:CEN) lost 3.9% on news it’s reconsidering its plans for its new geothermal plant in New Zealand, which was set to come online in 2027.
After assessment, the total cost for the project came in higher than expected.
An update will be provided with the company’s FY24 results.
CEN closed at $8.16.
And explorer Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR) shed more than 3.8% despite intersecting copper in the first hole drilled at its Sandover project north of Alice Springs.
It was a small intercept – less than a third of a metre and more than 630 metres deep!
It assayed at 2.1% copper.
The company’s vowed to do more geophysics, including a magnetic survey, before launching another round of drilling later this year.
ENR closed at 38 cents.
