Closing Bell: ASX goes bananas as tech explodes and energy gets pantsed

• ASX surges as tech and miners go berserk
• NextDC rockets more than 40% after Goodman-Digital Realty raid
• Oil plunges below US$100 as NAB and energy stocks cop a pasting

The ASX absolutely tore the doors off on Thursday, surging 2.61% as Wall Street’s post-midterm relief rally washed straight across the Pacific while Donald Trump learned his next two years as POTUS come with about eight pages of terms and conditions.

Tech went berserk, materials piled in and the broader market clocked its best day since June.

The trigger was a Democratic sweep of Congress, which Wall Street took as permission to stop sulking already. The thinking is that political gridlock could curb big spending, take some heat out of the AI capex frenzy and make another round of Iran-related fireworks a little less likely.

NextDC (ASX:NXT) was the obvious lunatic of the day, up more than 40% after Goodman and Digital Realty bought a 9.9% stake at $9.50 a share – a whopping 45.5% premium to Wednesday’s close.

Gold stocks were also having a beaut time of things after bullion jumped back above US$4,000/oz, while the materials sector finished a whopping 7.55% higher.

Energy went precisely the other way after Brent crude plunged about 9% to around US$95/bbl as traders bet Washington’s appetite for further Iranian adventures might be fading.

Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) dropped around 5-6% and also announced more than 500 job cuts and a new dividend framework. So, not a tremendously relaxing Thursday at Woodside HQ.

Banks were another obvious blemish.

National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) sank around 7% after FY26 cash earnings fell 13% to $6.1bn, with bad-debt charges nearly doubling and a $1.3bn software amortisation charge doing very little for the vibe.

And then there was David Jones, which entered voluntary administration after 188 years. Not ideal timing for the Christmas catalogue.

TLDR? Tech went bananas, gold joined in, oil got kneecapped, NAB got flogged and David Jones finally ran out of escalator.

Here’s what else caught our eye…

• Wall Street surged after the Democrats took both houses of Congress, with the Dow up 3%, the S&P 500 up 1.6% and the Nasdaq higher too. Investors apparently love certainty, especially when the certainty is that Washington will spend the next two years screaming at itself.
• Gold jumped back above US$4,000/oz while silver, platinum and palladium all surged more than 3%. Precious metals had one of those days where everyone suddenly remembers why they’re called precious.
• Heidi Health is cutting more than 100 jobs, around 18% of its workforce, just weeks after its valuation topped $1bn. Erm, congrats on the billion dollars, s’pose.
• And, British police have had to clarify that a helicopter flight path resembling a giant penis was entirely accidental. Which is disappointing, frankly.

Police air service denies penis flight path was deliberate https://t.co/G7rRkWy7KN

— BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight (@BBCSouthNews) November 3, 2026

Movers and Shakeouts

Tech went completely feral on Thursday, up 10.09%, while materials surged 7.55% and healthcare added 3.64%.

Real estate climbed 3.35%, staples 3.27%, consumer discretionary 2.57%, industrials 2.22% and telcos 2.05%.

So yep, plenty of green.

At the other end, energy got absolutely buried, down 4.76%, while utilities lost 1.51% and financials slipped 0.29%.

The broader market was flying too, with the ASX 200 up 2.61%, the All Ords up 2.80% and the Small Ords up 4.72%.

Resources jumped 5.72%, while the Gold index went properly stupid, surging 12.38%.

The All Tech index also finished 8.22% higher.

TLDR? Tech went nuts, gold went even nuttier, energy got hosed and the ASX had an absolute day.

ASX Leaders

Today’s best-performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap BIT Biotron Limited 0.002 100% 4410574 $2,785,205 ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.002 100% 5373502 $2,372,395 NAE New Age Exploration 0.002 100% 8208592 $4,342,262 SPX Spenda Limited 0.002 100% 193750 $1,238,901 NXT Nextdc Limited 9.85 51% 81159419 $4,961,185,875 ARV Artemis Resources 0.003 50% 3639833 $11,604,130 ENT Enterprise Metals 0.003 50% 164384 $3,834,857 NES Nelson Resources. 0.003 50% 16629146 $5,569,379 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.0015 50% 1371500 $1,331,674 TMX Terrain Minerals 0.003 50% 762833 $8,252,072 X2M X2M Connect Limited 0.003 50% 7538537 $5,189,096 YAR Yari Resources 0.003 50% 433334 $2,951,288 SDV Scidev Ltd 0.17 36% 1046265 $23,761,073 AAJ Aruma Resources Ltd 0.004 33% 2562322 $4,636,900 CDE Codeifai Limited 0.004 33% 3359114 $3,598,676 FCT Firstwave Cloud Tech 0.008 33% 7628905 $13,669,007 FIN FIN Resources Ltd 0.004 33% 5687206 $5,707,968 M2M Mtmalcolmminesnl 0.004 33% 1933744 $2,380,400 RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.004 33% 3259189 $7,647,620 TON Triton Min Ltd 0.004 33% 687672 $4,705,166 VMT Vmoto Limited 0.12 33% 225769 $36,268,067 JLL Jindalee Lithium Ltd 0.4 31% 397260 $38,502,734 KEY KEY Petroleum 0.067 29% 7260 $2,199,786 BVR Bellavistaresources 0.205 28% 2814542 $34,555,876 AEU Atomic Eagle 0.395 27% 533202 $118,862,601

ASX Laggards

Today’s worst-performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap ATC Altech Batt Ltd 0.001 -33% 38032 $4,003,584 RNX Renegade Exploration 0.001 -33% 308110 $3,104,695 AXI Axtec Limited 0.009 -31% 232500 $7,092,978 DTZ Dotz Nano Ltd 0.013 -28% 1204222 $14,132,631 AXP AXP Energy Ltd 0.003 -25% 300000 $1,798,934 GAS State GAS Limited 0.006 -25% 3230444 $4,491,518 RAD Radiopharm 0.003 -25% 6115697 $18,843,531 ZMM Zimi Ltd 0.003 -25% 185417 $4,599,348 DBO Diabloresources 0.008 -11% 1580509 $4,869,657 ZGL Zicom Group Limited 0.12 -20% 100074 $32,337,031 TER Terracom Ltd 0.025 -19% 23602695 $56,498,218 AQX Alice Queen Ltd 0.005 -17% 48333 $13,923,511 HYT Hyterra Ltd 0.005 -17% 1111960 $12,857,268 NS1 Nodestream Ltd 0.0025 -17% 4606903 $6,038,550 SBR Sabre Resources 0.005 -17% 82739 $5,486,772 UNT Unith Ltd 0.005 -17% 697672 $11,073,062 CP8 Canphosphateltd 0.115 -15% 177364 $53,261,322 AEV Avenira Limited 0.006 -14% 8969727 $38,010,628 EM2 Eagle Mountain 0.006 -14% 882000 $10,771,317 CVC CVC Limited 1.46 -14% 5000 $197,698,539 APE Eagers Automotive 16.08 -16% 2983641 $5,419,726,537 EPN Epsilon Healthcare 0.02 -13% 133248 $8,949,392 AGR Aguia Res Ltd 0.007 -13% 2578408 $19,200,166 LRM Lion Rock Minerals 0.014 -13% 4635346 $58,622,674 PV1 Provaris Energy Ltd 0.0035 -13% 1841157 $5,699,949

In Case You Missed It

First Lithium (ASX:FL1) has secured licence renewals for its lithium projects in Mali.

Northstone Resources (ASX:NRL) has lined up $2.37 million to advance gold and copper exploration in Serbia.

Titanium Sands (ASX:TSL) has secured $500,000 in funding from a new investor and potential offtake partner.

West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) has completed its maiden scandium drilling campaign at Salazar.

Trading Halts

Count (CUP) – Acquisition and capital raise
Delorean Corporation (DEL) – NSW1 project funding
Pacific Lime and Cement (PLA) – Cap raise and financing transaction

One More Thing…

Today is also known as Guy Fawkes Day.

“Remember, remember, the fifth of November.” Or don’t, because no one could really give a rat’s about it in Australia.

Maybe celebrate National Men Make Dinner Day instead. Uber Eats should have a busy night, then.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While the companies listed in In Case You Missed It are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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