by Peter Milios
Goldman Sachs have extended their bearish views on lithium, believing that the prices are expected to decline from the second half of 2023. The investment bank stated, “The team believes the battery maker overcapacity, on the back of accelerated capacity build-out amid a decelerating growth of new energy vehicles sales will eventually weigh on lithium prices and expect this dynamic to start playing out in 2H23.”
Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) closed 9.92 per cent lower, Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) closed 4.88 per cent lower, whilst Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) closed 3.59 per cent lower.
In other news, NSW is prepared to agree on a cap on the price of coal without compensation, to provide a bit of relief for businesses and consumers. The NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, is close to signing the energy deal with the Albanese government.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.64 per cent or 46 points lower at 7,183.00.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 29 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 5.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 24.5 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 66 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was S&P/ASX 200 Utilities, up 0.97 per cent. The worst-performing sector was S&P/ASX 200 Energy, down 2.50 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), closing 3.57 per cent higher at $2.90. It was followed by shares in Infratil (ASX:IFT) and James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX).
The worst-performing large cap was South32 (ASX:S32), closing 5.08 per cent lower at $4.11. It was followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS).
Asian news
Asian equities are mostly mixed Thursday. Hang Seng leading gains with tech and property developers among the outperformers. Japan, Korea, and Taiwan are all seeing declines.
So far, just before close, Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.54 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 2.66 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has lost 0.51 per cent.
Company news
Immutep (ASX:IMM; NASDAQ:IMMP) a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel LAG-3 immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune disease, today announced the successful scale-up of the manufacturing of its lead product candidate eftilagimod alpha (“efti” or “IMP321”), a first-in-class soluble LAG-3 protein, with the completion of a 2,000L manufacturing run. Marc Voigt, CEO of Immutep said: “Following compelling results from the TACTI-002 Phase II trial and promising initial clinical data from INSIGHT-003 recently presented at SITC 2022, we are pleased to announce this significant achievement reaching commercial scale in efti’s manufacturing by WuXi Biologics, an important long-term partner of Immutep. With potential registrational trials in multiple indications for our first-in-class soluble LAG-3 protein, including our ongoing randomised TACTI-003 Phase IIb trial in 1st line head and neck cancer, this represents an important step towards potential commercial production of efti.” Shares have closed 1.43 per cent higher at $0.355.
Corazon Mining (ASX:CZN) has discovered spodumene pegmatites at their Miriam Project in Western Australia. The company has found widespread indicators of pegmatite throughout the Project area. Shares have closed 33.33 per cent higher at $0.028.
Synertec Corporation (ASX:SOP) provided an update to its novel and proprietary Powerhouse technology, which has successfully been integrated with Santos’ production and operating systems and is supplying 100 per cent of power, emission-free, to a remote cluster of eight gas wells spread across an area of approx. 10 square kilometres, replacing the existing bank of fossil-fuelled generators. Synertec Managing Director, Michael Carroll, commented: “We see a significant local and global addressable market for our Powerhouse technology where remote locations operating industrial equipment can benefit from portable, stable base load renewable power supply. As the world continues to transition to a carbon-free future, technologies such as Powerhouse will allow our customers to achieve their decarbonisation goals.” Shares have closed 7.89 per cent higher at $0.205.
Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX), a company dedicated to improving healthcare through the earlier detection of cancer, announced positive clinical data reported at a breast cancer conference in San Antonio. In response to the news, Bob Proulx, CEO, stated: “There is evidence in real patients that our nanoparticle technology could improve upon conventional medical imaging methods is a major milestone for the Company.” Shares have closed 28 per cent higher at $0.032.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,794.30 an ounce.
Iron ore is 2.1 per cent lower at US$107.45 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.57 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.67 higher at US$72.68 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 0.6714 US dollars.
