Good Afternoon and welcome to Market Close for Wednesday 17 September, I’m Jon Davidson. The market’s nervous, that much is clear, putting the ASX in line with Asian peers. We get the Fed rate cut decision on Friday Australia time, and it looked like profit takers moved in on Wednesday to scrape Tuesday’s gain in line with gold investors this week.
But I’m also finding myself wondering whether or not FDI outflows might be hitting the ASX in September, given that we’re a bit dull right now while Wall Street is popping, and after April 2, risk appetite for the US seems to have found a more comfortable position. Time will tell.
Looking at sectors, Utilities in the lead in the final hour, Discretionary leading laggards, a majority of sectors red.
Turning to companies in the green,
SILEX Systems popped intraday after confirming that its laser technology has been used to produce low enriched uranium in the United States with hundreds of kilograms slated for production by end of year. Uranium this week has been uplifted by moves from the US to purchase more for strategic reserves.
St George Mining meanwhile popped on high grade shallow rare earth hits at its project in Brazil; the company boasts a strategic agreement with a partner in the US, on Wednesday, it said it found one obscure mineral used in F-35 fighter jets. Also helping is that its rare earths aren’t based in clay.
Finally, buy now pay later adjacent microcap fintech Ovanti jumped as it revealed it’s still in talks to list on the NASDAQ, after nearly a year of talks though, one has to wonder why it hasn’t yet found an enthusiastic onboarder. Especially because it’s looking for a SPAC backdoor listing, which aren’t without their reputation for lower scrutiny.
And what of the reds?
RNA biotech player PYC Therapeutics sunk nearly 30% intraday after it announced the surprise departure of CEO Dr. Rohan Hockings, as investors presumably wonder to themselves what exactly Hockings is suddenly leaving for. The stock is left looking for a permanent MD.
Unlike SILEX, uranium player Deep Yellow sold off -8% intraday as profit takers swooped in to scrape gains from what was earlier this week among the top gaining stocks on the bourse, proving that uranium bulls are apparently forever cursed to suffer through fickle sentiment.
Finally, chicken stock Inghams fell over 4% in the final hour in line with a steep decline for the discretionary sector based on no news but compounding what’s been a not-so-fantastic year with to date performance down -20%.
That’s Market Close for Wednesday, I’m Jon Davidson, have a great night and we’ll see you on Thursday.