US sharemarkets were mixed on Wednesday. There were few surprises in the interest rate decision while economic data was generally softer than expected. Lower oil prices dragged the energy sector lower. But technology stocks rose with Apple up 5.9%. And investors were watchful about news on the US-China trade dispute. The Dow Jones index fell by 81 points or 0.3%, the S&P 500 index fell by 0.1% but the Nasdaq rose by 35.5 points or 0.5%.

Global oil prices fell in response to a lift in crude supplies. The US Energy Information Administration said that inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels last week. Brent crude fell by US$1.82 or 2.5% to US$72.39 a barrel and the US Nymex fell by US$1.10 or 2.0% to US$67.66 a barrel.

Base metal prices fell between 1.2-3.2% on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Wednesday with nickel down the most.

The gold futures price fell by US$6.00 an ounce or 0.5% to $1,227.60 an ounce. The spot gold price was trading near US$1,217 an ounce in late US trade. Iron ore fell by US$1.10 or 1.6% to US$66.45 a tonne.

Wednesday 1 August - close. The Australian share market has closed slightly lower as falls in banking and energy stocks offset gains in miners BHP and Rio Tinto, industrials and healthcare companies. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 4.5 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 6,275.7 points at the close on Wednesday, while the All Ordinaries was down 4.1 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 6,362.1 points.

MOD Resources Limited (MOD.ASX, 44cps, m.cap A$101.9m with 231.5m SOI, Cash $17.3m, Copper Explorer /Developer)

• MOD to Seek Dual Listing on the London Stock Exchange in Q4 2018
• Listing was driven by interest from some of London's leading natural resource funds
• LSE listing expected to take place following the completion of the Company's transaction with Metal Tiger PLC announced on 18 July 2018 whereby MOD will consolidate 100% ownership of the T3 Copper Project and fain rights to acquire all JV exploration assets between the two companies in Botswana
• Similarly to the ASX, there is a lack of quality copper developers/explorers and we believe that MOD will help fill this void

Diggers and Dealers: 6th - 8th August, Kalgoorlie Western Australia

• Australia's largest annual mining (drinking) conference kicks off next week in Kalgoorlie 
• As has become customary in recent years, we expect plenty of newsflow from attendees and delegates (news commenced this morning with NST's annual Reserve and Resource update)
• Several of Ashanti's favourite names will be presenting including: MOD | TAW | IGO | EAR | PEX | WSA 
• Ashanti will be at Diggers and Dealers next week including a couple of site visits.
• If you would like to arrange a meeting or catch-up, please contact Tom on +61 413 008 712 or Duncan on +61 413 811 004.