The ASX is down today. The S&P/ASX200 dropped 11.30 points or 0.15% to 7,653.80.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 0.66%, but is virtually unchanged over the last year to date.
The bottom-performing stocks in this index are Strike Energy and The Star Entertainment Group, down 25.86% and 22.32% respectively.
Looking at the sectors, Communication Services was the best performed up 1.50%. Real Estate jumped up 0.64%. Otherwise, it was a mixed bag with Materials and Energy the worst performed, losing 1.18% and 1.03% respectively.
It was better news on the small cap front today, with the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries up 0.21% to 2,954.50. Over the past five days, it is down 0.36%.
Star shares plummet
Star Entertainment Group saw more than A$300 million wiped from its market valuation following a resumption in trading after the New South Wales casino regulator expressed doubts about the company's cultural reforms being adequate for its continued operation within the state.
The share price plummeted more than 20% on Tuesday, with trades hitting a low of 42 cents. The unexpected move by the Independent Casino Commission to appoint Adam Bell, SC, to conduct a second investigation into the gaming conglomerate has compelled Star to postpone a financial update originally set for Wednesday.
“I’m just not sure the extent to which they’ve addressed the cultural reform that Adam Bell said … was serious and endemic and needed a lot of work,” ICC chief commissioner Phillip Crawford said in an interview with the Financial Review. “We want to see the progress they’ve made around that particular space. That’s really important.”
Five at five
Cyprium Metals makes shallow high-grade copper discovery at Cue JV’s Heeler prospect
Cyprium Metals Ltd (ASX:CYM, OTC:CYPMF) has made a shallow high-grade copper discovery near Cue at the Heeler prospect, around 10 kilometres southwest of its Hollandaire copper-gold deposit in Western Australia's Murchison Province.
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Helix Resources puts three new copper-gold targets on fast track for drilling
Helix Resources Ltd (ASX:HLX) will move quickly to drill three targets in a newly identified large-scale anomaly of copper-gold pathfinder elements at its Eastern Group Tenements about 50 kilometres southeast of Nyngan in central NSW.
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Premier1 Lithium drilling priority lithium pegmatite targets at Abbotts North
Premier1 Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLC) has kicked off its first drilling program at the Abbotts North Project, 35 kilometres north of Meekatharra in Western Australia.
Read more: Watch
NickelX identifies high-priority uranium zones at Elliot Lake in Canada
NickelX Ltd (ASX:NKL) has identified uranium mineralisation and high-priority target areas at the Elliot Lake Uranium Project in Ontario, Canada, with data compilation and a review of the tenure.
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88 Energy on track with preparations for Hickory well test
88 Energy Ltd (AIM:88E, ASX:88E, OTC:EEENF) said preparation for the flow testing program at its Hickory-1 well site was proceeding smoothly with all operations following the scheduled timeline and no significant issues.
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On your six
Metals Acquisition starts trading after completing ASX’s largest mining listing in more than five years
Metals Acquisition Ltd (ASX:MAC, NYSE:MTAL) started trading on the ASX today following the completion of its heavily oversubscribed IPO (initial public offering) in Australia of CDIs (chess depositary interests).
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The one to watch
Theta Gold signs MoU with PowerChina subsidiary to build stage 1 gold plant
Theta Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:TGM) chairman Bill Guy sits down with Jonathan Jackson to discuss the recent MoU with Yellow River, a subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China, to build the stage-one TGME Gold Plant (estimated at 45,000 tonnes/month RoM capacity) in South Africa including its tailings storage facility and wastewater dams.
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