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Good Afternoon and welcome to Market Close for Wednesday, I’m Jon Davidson. As we crossed into the final hour of trade, it looked like an afternoon fade is on the cards. The ASX200 was up one tenth of a percent at 3pm, suggesting profit takers could pare back what was an already flattish green day.
We’ve had no real big catalyst since Monday, as the world continues to gauge the US government shutdown resolution. It’s been more about commodities this week: lithium is back on the cards, underscored by a deal between MinRes and POSCO inked today; at 3pm Sydney time gold prices were just above $4,110 an ounce USD.
Unsurprisingly, materials led the gainers heading into the final hour while IT was leading laggards down more than -3%, informed in part by the fact Softbank sold its entire stake in NVIDIA overnight. One to watch.
Let’s turn to companies in the green:
MinRes soared on Wednesday up 10% intraday after it revealed South Korea’s POSCO will pay just over $1B for a 30% stake in two lithium mines which are 50% owned by MinRes; if that feels like a lot of money, that’s because it is.
Elsewhere, Zoono Group rocketed out the gate on no news then issued a trading pause 27 minutes after the opening bell ahead of a pending announcement. Whether that’s a leaky ship or not, it was a move that raised more questions than answers.
And turning back to lithium, Lionstown Resources continued climbing on Wednesday jumping more than 5% in the final hour as the price of spodumene on international markets climbed back up to levels we haven’t seen since last year.
And as for the reds,
Life360 continued to fall on Wednesday after poorly received earnings results earlier in the week; the family tracking app fell more than -11% in the final hour to below $40.50 a share after investors weren’t too keen on less than $10M in profits.
Meanwhile, Aristocrat Leisure fell on Wedesday after an EBITDA miss soured sentiment despite beating estimates when it came to revenues; Citibank analysts weren’t too sure about the growth of new users to Aristocrat’s gaming division, which is defined by online gaming services more than pokies.
Finally, ZIP Co handed back recent gains intraday Wednesday as the stock fell -4.5% in the final hour, perhaps coinciding with a weak day for financials once again as Commonwealth continued to sell off on Wednesday.
That’s Market Close for Wednesday, I’m Jon Davidson, have a great night and we’ll see you on Thursday.
