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The ASX200 closed the first trading session of 2024 in record territory. It was hovering within just a few points of the August 2021 peak for much of the day, and ended up half a per cent at 7627.8 points.
Iron ore reached US$142.50 a tonne amid Red Sea freight concerns, and that commodity boost helped Fortescue (ASX:FMG) touch a new record and close the day in front by nearly 1.3 per cent.
In the Green
Energy was the strongest sector overall today, gaining 1.5 per cent. Aligning with that, Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) and Ampol (ASX:ALD) were both up 1.25 per cent, while Santos (ASX:STO) added 1.1 per cent.
Uranium stocks were also strong as the commodity started the year with a 5.4 per cent boost to US$91 a pound. Uranium companies that made the top 10 performers today included Bannerman Energy (ASX:BMN) – which is developing the Etango Uranium project in Namibia and gained nearly 8 per cent to $2.90 today, and also Boss Energy (ASX:BOE), which has the Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia (up nearly 6 per cent).
Meanwhile, Terramin Australia (ASX:TZN) closed up 8 per cent after securing a US$6.68 million investment from Conest Resources through the issue of a Convertible Note.
Conest can convert the Note into fully paid ordinary shares in Terramin after two years – so from mid-January 2026.
Terramin is developing a zinc project in Algeria and has a copper JV near historic mine workings near Kapunda, in South Australia.
TZN closed trade at 4 cents.
Gold producer, West African Resources (ASX:WAF) closed up more than 3 per cent after drawing down the first US$100 million from its US$265 million secured loan facility with Sprott Resource Lending Corp and Coris Bank International.
The loan is being put toward the construction of the Kiaka gold project in Burkina Faso in West Africa, which is on track to produce first gold in late 2025 with a goal to deliver 219,000 ounces of gold per year for 18.5 years.
WAF closed trade at 97.5 cents.
And gold and antimony play, Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) added nearly 1.4 per cent today after releasing its 2023 milestones and exploration plans for 2024 at its flagship Estelle Gold project in Alaska.
NVA finished trading today at 36.5 cents.
In the Red
The real estate sector was the only one to lose ground today, taking with it the US Student Housing Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) (ASX:USQ), which dropped more than 8.8 per cent to 98 cents.
Nickel and lithium explorer, Sabre Resources (ASX:SBR) shed 8.82 per cent, after claiming it had identified a new nickel trend at its Sherlock Bay project in Western Australia.
But investors weren’t impressed with the nickel grades contained in the announcement.
Sabre closed at 3.1 cents.
Clinical-stage biotech PYC Therapeutics (ASX:PYC) dropped 9 per cent despite announcing it’s going to work with Google Cloud to build custom-designed machine learning models.
It claimed the models would be infused with the artificial intelligence program, AlphaFold, hosted on Google Cloud’s AI platform, and used to develop new precision medicines.
However, investors on HotCopper debated the possibility it may require capital raising soon and PYC Therapeutics closed trade at 10 cents.
Finally, Ionic Rare Earths (ASX:IXR) recovered during the day to close flat, after announcing it had been provisionally granted a stage one large-scale mining license for its Makuutu Heavy Rare Earths project in Uganda.
The company expects the Ugandan Minister of Energy and Minerals will sign the documents this week, meanwhile, its Makuutu Demonstration Plant is advancing towards commissioning with first Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate due this quarter.
IXR closed the day at 2.6 cents.
That brings the first day of the 2024 trading session to a close, we’ll bring you another market update before Market Open tomorrow.
