Australia’s latest Gross Domestic Product data has increased by only 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, after notching 0.3% in Q4 of 2023.
The data represents another consecutive expectation miss, with analysts predicting an increase of 0.2%.
The data underscores a cooling economy – and the slowest pace of GDP growth in one-and-a-half-years.
The ASX200 did not react strongly either way to the data, which follows news from the US overnight that job openings were well below expectations.
On the market, the real estate sector has gained 2.2%, leading intraday gains. Telecommunications follows closely, up around 2%. On the other end, materials have fallen the most, down 1.15%.
Company news
Lithium Plus Minerals (ASX:LPM) is up 14.3% after it entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding a spodumene offtake agreement with Chinese company Canmax Technologies Co.
Canmax will source spodumene from the Lei Deposit at the 100% owned Bynoe Lithium Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia (Lei Project).
A full-form binding offtake agreement is to be entered into upon formal grant of the Lei Project Mining Lease.
LPM has been trading at 12 cents.
Innovative digital healthcare company, Blinklab (ASX:BB1), alongside Erasmus University Medical Centre, will be using its autism-detecting tech to assess capacity around identifying early-stage dementia.
The two diseases in question are frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer’s.
BlinkLab will have tests used in an ‘at-home’ laboratory ultimately tasked with identifying and developing the software’s ability to spot the conditions.
BB1 has been trading at 30 cents.
Magnum Mining and Exploration (ASX:MGU) is up around 7% after it rolled out metallurgical testing on a bulk sample of magnetite from its Buena Vista Iron Project in Nevada.
The samples show the potential for a high-grade concentrate of 68.3 percent (iron) to be produced through a relatively simple grinding process.
The test work also revealed that levels of unwanted materials – in particular silica and aluminium – were below 3 percent, the grade needed to meet direct reduced iron (DRI) requirements.
MGU has been trading at 1.4 cents.