Lunchtime ASX small cap wrap: Who’s going into isolation today?

Health scare anyone?

The Chinese coronavirus has certainly got plenty of people on edge, as authorities work to contain a global outbreak.

At last count there were 2,700 reported cases on the Chinese mainland, resulting in 82 deaths. Three large cities with a combined population of around 60 million people have been placed on lockdown.

Some of the concern stems from the fact there’s still a lot we don’t know, like how contagious it actually is and the particulars of the human body’s immune response.

That uncertainty spread to markets overnight, resulting in a global selloff which shaved around 1.6 per cent from the US S&P500. Not surprisingly, risk-off sentiment has affected Asian trade and ASX traders hit the sell button.

The ASX200 was down 1.27 per cent to 7,000, led by sharp declines travel companies (Flight Centre, Qantas) and the China-dependent mining sector. The ASX Small Ords index was down 1.47 per cent to 3,007.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Tuesday January 28:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

Auteco Minerals (ASX:AUT)

The metals explorer found demand in morning trade on the back of some corporate news, after signing a deal to acquire up to 80 per cent of the Pickle Crow high-grade gold project in Ontario, Canada.

The deal will be structured via an earn-in agreement, subject to shareholder approval.

EcoGraf (ASX:EGR)

Graphite company EcoGraf also held its gains, after the Tanzanian government agreed to come to the party on an agreement with major miner Barrick following years of negotiations.

READ: Barrick deal opens the floodgates for Tanzania project financing, EcoGraf says

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Tuesday January 28:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

UUV Aquabotix Ltd (ASX:UUV)

The drone-tech company, which manufactures SwarmDiver underwater vessels, fell in morning trade after announcing it was the subject of a legal dispute out of the US.

The company said its US subsidiary was the subject of a lawsuite from Apium Inc. in the US District Court, in connection with the alleged breach of a licensing agreement.