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BCAL Diagnostics (ASX: BDX) climbed after it acquired approximately 8.25% of Genetic Signatures (ASX: GSS), lifting its total holding to approximately 18.46%.

The Australian healthcare company, which focuses on diagnostics for the early detection of cancer, acquired 18.75 million Genetic Signatures shares for $1.5 million, at 8.0 cents per share, for cash. For investors watching the sector, the move matters because it adds to BCAL’s position in a listed diagnostics peer while the company says its core business remains centred on commercialising its own test portfolio.

“We see strategic logic in Genetic Signatures’ technology and believe the investment has the potential to create meaningful long-term value for BCAL shareholders,” CEO Anne-Louise Arnett said.

“Importantly, our focus remains firmly on business-as-usual operations and driving commercial adoption across our BREASTESTplus and Avantect Pancreatic and Ovarian test portfolio.”

BDX was up 28.9% to 6.7¢.

Torque Metals (ASX: TOR) was among the day’s strongest risers after reporting multi-ounce gold intercepts at the Ritz gold project in the South Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia.

The latest results came from the initial phase of Torque’s step-out drilling programs, part of the RPM Strategy devised and implemented by the company’s new management team, and add to the recent promising drilling results. That ongoing drilling sequence is what traders are following closely, as each update adds more detail to the scale and continuity of mineralisation at the project.

“It’s always exciting to see visible gold in panned drill samples, particularly when they are validated by spectacular assayed intercepts of this magnitude. The abundant visible gold in this shallow interval reflects the incredible endowment of the system and reinforces the high-grade growth potential we see across the Ritz gold project,” MD and CEO Craig Jones said.

TOR jumped 25.0% to 27.5¢.

Golden Deeps (ASX: GED) also drew strong attention on HotCopper after launching a new, deeper diamond drilling program targeting multiple “Tsumeb-type” sulphide targets within the 800m strike-length Gossan 1 corridor at its high-grade Graceland discovery in Namibia.

An initial 10 diamond holes will test the down-plunge extensions of the previously identified high-grade gossan zones, along with the key IP-chargeability anomaly-sulphide targets identified below Gossan 1 and Gossan 1 East.

Stage 2 of the program will test deeper extensions of the Gossan 1 and Gossan 1 East IP/sulphide targets. In practical terms, the staged design means the company is now moving from earlier targeting work into deeper drilling aimed at confirming whether those anomalies continue below the areas already tested.

“We are very pleased to have commenced our deeper diamond drilling program at the exciting Graceland discovery in Namibia – to test the high-priority critical metals targets identified within the Gossan 1 corridor by our previous systematic exploration programs, which have included rock chip and channel sampling, shallow drilling and IP surveys,” CEO Jon Dugdale said.

GED was up 17.7% to 6.0¢ at the time of going to press.

Looking at the broader market, the S&P/ASX 200 opened higher, gaining 19.10 points, or 0.21%, to 9,183.70 and moving above its 20-day moving average.

Over the past five days, the index has gained 1.43% and is currently 1.22% below its 52-week high.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.5% in the 12 months to July 2026, down from 3.8% in the 12 months to June, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Housing was the largest contributor to annual inflation in July, rising 5.0%. The next largest contributors were food and non-alcoholic beverages, which rose 3.2%, and recreation and culture, which increased 2.6%.

When prices for some items move sharply, such as automotive fuel, measures like the trimmed mean can provide a clearer view of underlying inflation trends without the impact of temporary shocks.

Trimmed mean annual inflation remained steady at 3.6% in the 12 months to July, unchanged from the 12 months to June 2026.

That is Wednesday’s HotCopper Market Trends. I’m Colin Sandell-Hay — see you for close.

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