ASX News LIVE | ASX to Snap Three-day Losing Streak as Big Tech Lifts Wall St

The ASX 200 closed up +0.50% at 7,971.1 as the market bounced off a three-day losing streak with 136 of the ASX 200 stocks rising and 51 falling.

Gains today mirrored the US, with Tech (+1.62%) and Health Care (+1.37%) leading the benchmark.

Meanwhile, suppressed commodity prices over concerns around China meant Oil, precious and industrial metal spot prices and stocks largely fell.

The Mining sector closed down -0.45 %, with BHP down -0.14 % at $41.57, Fortescue falling -1.58 % to $21.18, and Rio Tinto down -0.60% at $113.75.

Energy took the worst hit today, with that sector falling -2.03%, largely on Woodside falling -3.74% on falling production in its latest quarterly update.

Taking the lead in gains on the wider ASX was gold explorer Spartan Resources, closing up +23.74% after some incredible drill results at its Dalgaranga gold project increased its total to 2.48 million ounces, with an average grade of 4.79 grams per tonne.

That’s a 45% increase in total ounces and a 90% improvement in grade.

Again, at the bottom of the wider ASX was Droneshield, which fell another 7.77% to $1.42. The small-cap has now shed 45% since its July 15 high of $2.60.

Arafura Rare Earths [ASX:ARU], the Gina Rinehart-backed exploration company, has secured a substantial debt funding package exceeding $1 billion for its critical minerals project in the Northern Territory.

This milestone comes despite concerns about weak rare earth pricing due to China. Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting owns a 10% stake in the Perth-based company.

The funding package for the Nolans project amounts to US$775 million ($1.167 billion), with support from agencies in Canada, Germany, and South Korea, as well as commercial lenders.

Located approximately 120 kilometres from Alice Springs, the Nolans project is a major mover in Australia’s rare earths sector.

With the debt funding now secured, Arafura aims to raise around $1.2 billion to support the project’s development.

Shares in Arafura are up by +2.63% at 19.5 cents per share.

Cybersecurity startup Wiz has declined a massive takeover bid from Alphabet, valuing the company at up to US$23 billion ($34.7 billion).

Instead, Wiz is opting to pursue its plans for an initial public offering. This rejection is a big setback for Alphabet, as it trys to narrow the gap with competitors Microsoft and Amazon in the competitive cloud services market.

Alphabet, who also acquired cybersecurity firm Mandiant for US$5.4 billion just two years ago in its second-largest acquisition, could have leveraged Wiz to enhance its security offerings.

The New York-based startup specializes in connecting to cloud storage providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, scanning data stored on these platforms for potential security risks.

Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport addressed the decision in a memo to employees, saying:

‘Saying no to such humbling offers is tough, but with our exceptional team I feel confident in making that choice.’

Alphabet, google’s parent company is expected to release its latest earnings report on Wednesday (AEST).

Axel REE [ASX:AXL], a new entrant to the ASX, is facing a challenging start on its first day of trading.

The rare earths miner’s shares began the session at 14 cents and is now down to 12 cents, marking a 40% drop from its initial issue price.

Axel REE’s IPO, which was priced at 20 cents per share, successfully raised $13.3 million from investors. These funds are earmarked for exploring up to four rare earths tenements in Brazil.

The company aims to capitalise on the growing demand for rare earths sourced outside of China. Axel REE pointed out in its raise that Brazil holds 18% of the world’s rare earth reserves.

However, Axel REE isn’t alone in facing difficulties in the rare earths sector today. Lynas Rare Earths, another player in the sector, opened as the worst performer on the ASX and has seen very choppy trading after a disappointing quarterly production report.

Spartan Resources’ [ASX:SPR] shares jumped on the ASX today following a major upgrade to the mineral resource estimate at its Dalgaranga Gold Project in WA.

The company announced that Dalgaranga’s total gold content is now estimated at 2.48 million ounces, with an average grade of 4.79 grams per tonne.

That’s a hefty 45% increase in total ounces and a remarkable 90% improvement in grade.

Investors poured into the stock, with Spartan’s stock price surging by over 21% to $1.21 in early trading.

The upgrade stems from extensive drilling activities at the Never Never Deposit and the newly discovered Pepper site. Spartan said this enhancement underscores ‘Dalgaranga’s potential to evolve into a premier high-grade underground gold mining operation’.

Spartan plans to announce its first underground ore reserve from the Never Never Deposit in the latter half of 2024. This development follows recent news of Ramelius Resources, increasing its stake in Spartan to nearly 18% a few weeks ago.

The Aussie share market has snapped its three-day down streak, with the ASX 200 up by +0.64% around midday.

Almost all sectors are up after this morning’s trading, with only Energy (-1.53%) down as Woodside sees selling pressure after its latest shaky update, which saw quarterly production down.

Mirroring Wall Street today, the ASX Tech sector (+1.73%) is this morning’s leader as mega caps Wisetech gains +2.21% and Xero +1.22%.

Continuing from yesterday is a much weaker Australian Dollar against the USD. While it has paired some of the losses during today’s session, it is still down -0.5% in the past 24 hours at US 66.40 cents.

Also facing lows is Oil, which has steadied near a five-week low, with WTI Crude around US$78.46 per barrel, while Brent sits around US$82.57.

Brainchip [ASX:BRN], the once favourite speccy ASX tech company, has suspended trading in preparation for a capital raise.

The company, which specializes in developing software and hardware for artificial intelligence applications, expects to resume trading on Thursday.

The last trading price for Brainchip shares was 20 cents, marking a significant decline from its peak of $1.76 in 2022. That same year, the company briefly joined the ASX 200 index.

However, the company’s fortunes have since shifted dramatically, with its share price tumbling 44% over the past 12 months.

This planned capital raise comes at a crucial time for Brainchip as it seeks to bolster its financial position amidst uncertain market conditions for tech.

Woodside Energy [ASX:WDS], reported a 2% increase in revenue to $3.03 billion for the June quarter compared to the previous three months.

This growth came despite a 1% dip in production to 44.4 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The company attributed the production decrease to several factors, including scheduled maintenance, weather-related disruptions at North West Shelf facilities, and unexpected outages at Wheatstone and Julimar sites.

Despite these challenges, Woodside has maintained its full-year production guidance of 185-195 million barrels of oil equivalent.

In a strategic move reported earlier this week, Woodside announced the acquisition of the Gulf Coast Driftwood LNG project near Lake Charles, Louisiana, for US$900 million.

CEO Meg O’Neill framed this purchase as positioning Woodside to become ‘a global LNG powerhouse.’

However, the market’s initial reaction was cautious, with Woodside’s shares falling -2.4% to $27.91 following the update this morning.

That puts its 12-month return at -25%, around 10% less than the sector average.

Good morning. Charlie here,

The ASX 200 is set to bounce back and break its three-day losing streak after a strong overnight recovery by large tech companies. We have Alphabet and Tesla reporting after the bell on Tuesday US time (Wed AEST) which could be a market mover to see how far this big tech recovery goes.

ASX Futures are up 79.5 points, showing a strong opening that is likely to reverse a sizable chunk of the -1.3% lost over the last few sessions.

Iron ore and copper prices continue to fall despite China’s surprise interest rate cut. So far, the data is still showing a weak economy.

This morning, the ASX has announcements from Ora Banda Mining on Q4 production, Arafura hitting a debt funding milestone, and SRG Global giving a positive market update and outlook.

Woodside also releases its quarterly report and Lynas Rare Earths, its quarterly activities report, stay tuned for all those.

Name		Value	% Chg
Major Indices
	S&P 500	5,564	+1.08%
	Dow Jones	40,415	+0.32%
	NASDAQ Comp	18,007	+1.58%
	Russell 2000	2,220	+1.66%
Country Indices
	UK	8,198	+0.53%
	Germany	18,407	+1.29%
	Japan	39,599	-1.16%
	Hong Kong	17,635	+1.25%
	Euro	4,897	+1.45%

Name		Value	% Chg
Commodities (USD)
	Gold	2,395	-0.67%
	Silver	29.04	-1.30%
	Iron Ore	103.20	-0.27%
	Copper	4.1724	-1.51%
	WTI Oil	78.24	-0.51%
Currency
	AUD/USD	66.42¢	-0.87%
Cryptocurrency
	Bitcoin (USD)	67,457	-0.82%
	Ethereum (USD)	3,442	-2.41%