Sydney’s Freedom Day has had no impact on this morning’s trading with the ASX trading lower.
The S&P/ASX200 dropped 43.70 points or 0.60% to 7,276.40 at time of writing, despite crossing above its 125-day moving average.
Over the last five days, the index is virtually unchanged, but is currently 4.67% below its 52-week high.
The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 so far are Star Entertainment Group Ltd down 17.76% after Crown-like allegations were made against it and Platinum Asset Management Ltd down 5.31%.
Star comes under dark cloud
While Star was painting itself as the poster child of casino operators, allegations have come to light via a The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes report detailing how it has engaged in many of the same practices that has seen Crown publicly admonished and fighting for its licence.
As we have seen with Crown, it’s a long road back if a commission into its behaviour is instigated.
Like Crown, Star now faces allegation of money laundering, foreign influence and criminal links.
Multiple law enforcement sources, along with Star insiders, have told Fairfax that the casino cultivated high-roller gamblers associated with criminals and foreign-influence operations.
Star is accused of consorting with a Sydney cocaine importer, a Canberra restaurateur accused of drug trafficking, tax cheats and corporate fraudsters.
The allegations come despite a 2018 KPMG audit which showed Star failing to combat risks of money laundering, terrorism financing and corruption.
When quizzed about the allegations, the Star stated, “We are subject to thorough and ongoing regulatory oversight including compliance checks and reviews across our operations in NSW and Queensland. The Star works closely with authorities including law enforcement agencies and is committed to transparent engagement with regulators.”
Don’t be surprised if Star’s light starts to dim, with its 17%+ loss on market today potentially a sign of things to come.
Energy crunch causes crude predictions
The demand for fuel, record high natural gas and thermal coal prices have all seen oil prices surge to their highest levels in seven years.
And the momentum looks set to continue.
Strategists are now reassessing their forecasts to factor in growing tightness across markets in the fourth quarter of this year.
Some analysts have oil hitting US$100 per barrel.
“You can get these really strong short-term runs, so you can’t even rule out prices hitting $US100 a barrel in the short-term if markets continue to trade with the volatility we’ve seen in recent times,” said ANZ senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.
“Issues in the energy market have been the big difference we’ve seen emerge over the past month or two, which has meant demand forecasts for many commentators have needed to be adjusted.”
On the small cap front
South Harz Potash Ltd (ASX:SHP) is up 25% after signing a drilling contract for the first confirmatory hole at its Ohmgebirge Mining Licence area with deep drilling specialist company H. Anger's Söhne Bohr-und Brunnenbaugesellschaft. Shares were up as high as 37.5% in morning trading.
Twenty Seven Co Ltd (ASX:TSC) is up 20% having pinpointed a suite of lithium-bearing pegmatites at its 100%-owned Trident Project north of Broken Hill in Far West New South Wales.
Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR, TSX-V:TMRR) is up 8.82% at time of writing after screened metallic analysis revealed a 31% average increase in gold assay grades at its flagship Elizabeth Gold Project.
Alchemy Resources Limited (ASX:ALY) was up 7.69% as it looks to raise $3.1 million to start an aggressive drilling push across its gold and base metals assets in WA and NSW.
Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX:OBM) was up 5% noting the improvement in the performance improvement at its crushing circuit at the Davyhurst Gold Project in Western Australia.
Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd (ASX:INF) is up 4.35% following a favourable ruling regarding its Spanish lithium operations.
West Wits Mining Limited was up 4.76% after appointing an Africa-focused debt advisor to spearhead project financing.
Australian Potash Ltd (ASX:APC) is up 3.26% after its premium, high-quality and high-value K-BriteTM Sulphate of Potash (SOP) was certified as compliant with the Australian Certified Organic Standard 2021.
Black Earth Minerals NL is up 1.67% after it delivered more high-grade graphite at Razafy extension of the Maniry Project.
Danakali Ltd (ASX:DNK, LSE:DNK, OTC:SBMSF) is up 1.19% following a board reshuffle.