Lunch Wrap: ASX gets rattled as copper questions AI amid Congo crackdown

• ASX slumps while Wall Street parties
• AI booms but copper misses the memo
• Block flies while Goodman gets snubbed

The ASX was back in a foul mood on Wednesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 0.3% by lunchtime in Sydney.

Wall Street had a decent night. Cheaper oil put everyone in a better mood, with AI and chip stocks rebounding strongly.

AMD turned up with another reminder that the AI gravy train hasn’t run out of billionaires willing to fund it.

The Nvidia rival reckons it’ll rake in US$17 billion this quarter, beating expectations and sending its shares up 6% after hours.

So the AI bubble is apparently back to being an AI boom… until next Wednesday, presumably.

Copper didn’t get the memo, though.

It sank 2% to a seven-week low as traders started wondering whether all those promised AI data centres would actually need quite as much metal as advertised.

And just to make things more interesting, Congo seized thousands of tonnes of copper and cobalt in an illegal mining crackdown.

That’s a serious amount of metal to confiscate, even by the standards of the world’s biggest cobalt producer.

Back in Sydney, healthcare stocks and banks were getting belted, while utilities and energy managed to stay out of trouble.

In large-cap news…

Block, Inc (ASX:XYZ) was having a cracking day, up 6% after the Afterpay owner delivered 22% growth in quarterly gross profit to US$3.2 billion and upgraded its full-year outlook.

Jack Dorsey’s been sacking people, bringing in AI and trying to get Square and Cash App to behave like one happy family.

The numbers suggest the family counselling might be working.

WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) edged down 0.3% after fund manager State Street reduced its holding to 6.2%.

And Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) was down 1% despite insisting its data centre projects were coming along just fine.

It’s got a whopping 6.6 gigawatts in its power pipeline, and is still expecting 9% earnings-per-share growth this financial year.

ASX LEADERS

Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

Security Description Last % Volume MktCap AXI Axtec Limited 0.020 150% 200,000 $4,364,909 TOU Tlou Energy Ltd 0.002 100% 1,243,022 $1,298,584 BPM BPM Minerals 0.315 75% 6,390,821 $25,528,623 GSE Gulf Stream Energy 0.003 50% 25,000 $4,935,880 NAE New Age Exploration 0.002 50% 663,750 $4,342,262 ATC Altech Batt Ltd 0.002 33% 808,685 $4,003,584 FHS Freehill Mining Ltd. 0.002 33% 8,000 $6,999,780 WHK Whitehawk Limited 0.004 33% 3,325,116 $4,196,985 CYP Cynata Therapeutics 0.013 30% 9,215,345 $3,367,498 KAL Kalgoorliegoldmining 0.019 27% 177,791 $9,394,590 EMB Embelton Limited 10.350 25% 1,411 $17,802,320 ATH Alterity Therap Ltd 0.300 25% 563,458 $54,996,203 BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.003 25% 1,125 $2,707,698 AT1 Atomo Diagnostics 0.017 21% 498,305 $12,634,060 CRS Caprice Resources 0.072 20% 4,079,790 $52,286,629 FTI Fortifai Ltd 0.300 20% 1,243,270 $86,615,385 FCT Firstwave Cloud Tech 0.006 20% 2,850,002 $11,390,839 FEL Forte Energy Ltd 0.006 20% 22,000 $4,330,019 S66 Star Combo 0.175 17% 7,740 $20,262,447 ATT Altitude Minerals 0.004 17% 2,000,000 $2,077,071 CLA Celsius Resource Ltd 0.004 17% 50 $11,184,074 RAD Radiopharm 0.004 17% 4,668,759 $14,132,648 CML Connected Minerals 0.325 16% 102,844 $40,503,663 FMR FMR Resources Ltd 0.520 16% 4,455 $33,412,043 JNS Januselectricholding 0.635 15% 1,472,400 $93,689,422

Axtec (ASX:AXI) is bringing in fintech veteran and Stakk founder Andy Taylor as its new boss, subject to final conditions, to take its property payments business into AI-powered financial services and potentially acquisitions.

It’s also secured a $1 million cap raise at 1c a share, with Taylor putting in $250,000 of his own money.

BPM Minerals (ASX:BPM) has struck high-grade gold in its first drilling at Bonnie & Clyde in WA, hitting 4m at 20.57g/t and 8m at 9.23g/t, including some seriously rich one-metre sections.

It’s an encouraging start for the 6km-long gold target, with plenty more drill results on the way.

Cynata Therapeutics (ASX:CYP) has wrapped up a $913,000 entitlement offer and secured commitments for another $550,000 cap raise at 1c a share, with some directors also chipping in.

The extra cash will give it more room to pursue new assets as it weighs up what to do next with its Cymerus stem cell technology, although the placement still needs shareholder approval.

ASX LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

Security Description Last % Volume MktCap ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.001 -33% 100,000 $3,416,414 WEC White Energy Company 0.170 -31% 720 $190,216,551 FIN FIN Resources Ltd 0.003 -25% 29,486 $7,610,624 GW1 Greenwing Resources 0.091 -24% 3,238,719 $63,080,566 NOX Noxopharm Limited 0.037 -23% 352,290 $14,747,422 FXG Felix Gold Limited 0.110 -21% 1,071,117 $72,288,608 OSS Ocean Sciences 0.011 -21% 1,021,187 $3,294,902 LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.004 -20% 1,779,383 $7,448,518 CBY Canterbury Resources 0.029 -19% 440,441 $10,581,234 FAU First Au Ltd 0.145 -19% 1,762 $33,871,364 FLX Felix Group 0.030 -17% 44,128 $13,395,026 GGR Goldengloberesources 0.150 -17% 7,647 $20,121,377 OEQ Orion Equities 0.075 -17% 108,000 $1,406,291 AOK Australian Oil. 0.003 -17% 552,571 $7,293,177 M4M Macro Metals Limited 0.005 -17% 1,744,172 $30,007,384 PL9 Prairie Lithium Ltd 0.005 -17% 110,793 $34,681,887 TMX Terrain Minerals 0.003 -17% 3,375,321 $12,378,108 KTK Ktek Aerosystems Ltd 0.110 -15% 667,951 $8,125,000 TR8 Tarrina Resources 0.011 -15% 3,500 $4,544,575 NOR Norwood Systems Ltd. 0.017 -15% 383,388 $11,598,158 AAJ Aruma Resources Ltd 0.003 -14% 773,484 $5,409,717 MBK Metal Bank Ltd 0.006 -14% 117 $6,898,446 NUC Nuchev Limited 0.060 -14% 22,923 $10,977,314 PKO Peako Limited 0.006 -14% 21,407 $20,883,853 TIO Temasresourcescorp. 0.060 -14% 30,436 $3,940,577

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

AuKing Mining (ASX:AKN) has hit 67m at 1.72% total rare earth oxides from surface more than 1km east of Nathace Hill.

Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) has intersected iron and multiple manganese seams north of the maiden resource at its Wandanya project.

Buxton Resources (ASX:BUX) has signed a contract for maiden drilling at its Wolverine copper-molybdenum project in Arizona.

Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) has defined three polymetallic skarn drill targets at Breakfast Creek while drilling continues at Wilga Flats.

Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) has secured a $5m investment commitment from Critical Metals to expand rare earths drilling at Morro do Ferro.

QMines (ASX:QML) has secured $5.5m in placement commitments to advance the Mt Chalmers feasibility study, exploration and land acquisitions.

White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) has mapped new copper-bearing veins at Thor East as it assesses targets for potential 2027 drilling.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While the companies listed in Last Orders and In Case You Missed It are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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