Hot Stocks: Imugene, Nordic Resources, Red Hill Minerals

Wall Street ended lower on Friday, retreating after the S&P 500 set a fresh record high the day before. The pullback came as markets reacted to a sharp escalation in US trade tensions, with President Donald Trump announcing a 35% tariff on Canadian goods and flagging broader tariff hikes for other trading partners. The Dow fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, and the Nasdaq lost 0.2%, pushing all three indexes into the red for the week.

In contrast, the Australian sharemarket remains relatively resilient, buoyed by a strong rebound in iron ore prices. Futures point to a modest 13-point decline for the ASX at Monday’s open, leaving it just 1% below its June record. Iron ore rose 4% last week in Singapore to US$99.50 a tonne, supported by speculation of renewed infrastructure stimulus in China. That surge has driven gains across major miners, BHP is up 10.4% in the past three weeks, Rio Tinto 9.1%, and Fortescue 16.8%, while Commonwealth Bank has lagged, falling 2.6%. 

Imugene (ASX:IMU) reported a 75% overall response rate in its Phase 1b trial of azer-cel, an off-the-shelf CAR T therapy for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Among 12 evaluable patients, 6 achieved complete responses and 3 partial responses, despite prior failure of 3–6 treatment lines. The first patient remains cancer-free after 15 months. With FDA Fast Track designation already granted, Imugene plans to meet with the US FDA in Q4 2025 to discuss a registrational trial and is now expanding enrolment into other CD19-positive lymphomas.

Nordic Resources (ASX:NNL) announced a 34% increase in its total gold-equivalent resources to 1.23Moz following a new JORC-compliant resource of 264koz at the Hirsikangas project in Finland. The resource includes wide mineralised zones from surface and significant exploration upside along a 10km trend. Combined with the Kopsa and Kiimala Trend projects, 66% of resources are now in Measured and Indicated categories. Drill mobilisation to the copper-gold Kopsa project is expected within two weeks.

Red Hill Minerals (ASX:RHI) reported positive RC and diamond drilling results from its West Pilbara Gold and Base Metal Project. At Barkley, highlights included 12m @ 1.7g/t gold and 8m @ 2.4g/t gold. Jubilee South returned up to 1.3g/t gold, and S-Bend delivered intercepts up to 2.5% zinc. Assays from diamond drilling are pending, and geological interpretation updates are underway. The results continue to expand mineralisation across multiple targets in gold and base metals.