Good Afternoon and welcome to Market Close for Tuesday 14th of October, I’m Jon Davidson.
While the market couldn’t decide what to do in the morning, it looked more on-track to a green finish as we crossed into the final hour of trade.
Materials was by far the winner of the day as gold and rare earth element (REE) plays continue to soar; defence darlings dipped for a second day following the Israel-Gaza peace deal which appears, for now, to be holding.
In other words, we basically had an exact repeat of Monday on Tuesday.
In the name of bringing you new information, let’s look to the land of oil. Brent Crude recovered somewhat intraday but not enough to alter a decline of nearly -3% WoW – as ever, the Middle East impacts oil prices due to the genetic memory of the 1970’s oil crisis.
Both WTI and Brent are down nearly -6% over the last month; OPEC has also overnight suggested any deficit we see next year may be smaller than expected because of increased production. That’s despite the fact OPEC in late September got in a huff about reports of increased production, calling them inaccurate.
Of course, the member states of OPEC rarely get along and rarely agree with each other.
Anyway! Let’s turn to companies in the green
Northern Minerals Ltd jumped to top gainer status in the final hour as it enjoyed a rising tide for materials stocks broadly driven by record gold price FOMO.
Arafura Rare Earths continues to look at 50c as the Northern Territory-based rare earth player sees momentum on the back of an expected US-Australia critical minerals deal.
Finally, Iluka Resources similarly jumping nearly +15% in the final hour as that rare earth player also lands on radars.
And as for companies in the red
Electro Optic fell below $7 a share in the final hour on Tuesday as headlines about peace in the Middle East rattled some defence bulls out of the tree. Elsight and Droneshield did the same.
Clarity Pharmaceuticals firmly red by the final hour after the company’s latest data from an ongoing trial didn’t really gel well with investors.
Finally, Trigg Minerals fell back to 20cps on Tuesday despite a ripper of a day for what feels like everyone involved in critical minerals, showing that a rising tide may not lift all boats.
That’s Market Close, I’m Jon Davidson, have a great night and we’ll see you on Wednesday.
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