ASX March winners: The best 50 stocks as smaller plays outperform large caps

S&P/ASX 200 rose 3.27% in March with Emerging Companies, MidCap and Small Ordinaries outperforming Large caps
The real estate sector was the big winner up 9.29% in March as the communications sector fell 0.57%
Nyrada continue to soar after preclinical study shows promise of drug candidate NYR-BI03 in preventing secondary brain injury

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose +3.27% in March to close at a new record high of 7896.86 points with small and emerging companies doing particularly well, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI).

The S&P Emerging Companies index rose 6.34% in March, while the Small Ordinaries was up 4.79% and MidCap 50 rose 3.44%.

Looking at key economic data points released in March and US pop star Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in February, attracting ~600,000 enthusiastic ‘Swifties’ in Sydney and Melbourne, contributed to higher consumer spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories, and dining out in a phenomenon, known as Swiftonomics.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show retail turnover increased by 0.3% in February, reaching $35.87bn.

Latest figures from the ABS show Australia’s monthly consumer price index (CPI) remained steady an annual pace of 3.4% in February, which was unchanged from January and December.

Trimmed mean inflation – the preferred measurement of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) because it strips out more extreme price movements – was slightly up to an annual 3.9% in February from 3.8% in January but down from 4% in December.

The RBA kept rates on hold at 4.35% in March, but made it clear nothing would be ruled in or out over the months ahead as the central bank works to get inflation back to its 2-3% target.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) hiked rates for the first time since 2007 in February, raising its key interest rate from -0.1% to a range of 0% to 0.1%. The decision followed an increase in wages following a rise in consumer prices.

In 2016, the BOJ cut the rate below zero in an effort to stimulate the country’s stagnant economy. Following the increase by Japan’s central bank hike, there are no longer any countries maintaining negative interest rates.

In the US – the world’s largest economy – the Federal Reserve held rates at a 23-year high in March and maintained expectations for three cuts before the end of 2024. Current US rates are at between 5.25% and 5.5%.

Real estate top performer in March, Communication services slumps

Communication services was the only sector with a loss in March. The Australian Real Estate sector rallied over 9% in March to become the second-best sector YTD after Information Technology.

After being the worst performer in February dropping ~6% energy rebounded in March, while Materials which lost ~5% in February also was back in the black.

Enhanced value best performing factor in March

The S&P/ASX 200 Enhanced Value was the best performing factor in March with a 7% gain. Quality lagged with a 1% return.

S&P DJI says equity volatility was among the rare indices in the red, with the S&P/ASX 200 VIX sinking below 10 against the bullish market backdrop.

Fixed income in positive territory

After a mixed performance in February, fixed income was in positive territory in March.

Here are the 50 best performing ASX stocks for March:

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

CODE	COMPANY	LAST SHARE PRICE	MARCH RETURN %	MARKET CAP
NYR	Nyrada Inc	0.097	411%	$16,146,783.00
OSX	Osteopore Limited	0.3	319%	$3,098,606.70
ZNO	Zoono Group Ltd	0.12	243%	$26,709,674.25
M4M	Macro Metals Limited	0.007	180%	$25,856,534.05
ASP	Aspermont Limited	0.019	171%	$44,201,424.65
MAG	Magmatic Resrce Ltd	0.098	165%	$36,637,339.10
GLV	Global Oil & Gas	0.041	156%	$22,293,347.04
MMM	Marley Spoon Se	0.08	150%	$9,771,125.45
WWG	Wiseway Group	0.11	134%	$18,402,325.92
MPK	Many Peaks Minerals	0.205	118%	$8,193,570.59
TSK	Task Group Holdings	0.795	104%	$281,490,508.21
CVR	Cavalier Resources	0.19	100%	$4,933,481.98
HXG	Hexagon Energy	0.026	100%	$13,335,813.43
TTT	Titomic Limited	0.065	97%	$58,415,469.25
MSB	Mesoblast Limited	0.58	97%	$564,652,316.75
SRL	Sunrise	0.67	86%	$55,941,048.76
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.033	83%	$14,330,966.72
ARL	Ardea Resources Ltd	0.73	83%	$142,837,263.38
RAC	Race Oncology Ltd	1.41	82%	$228,217,777.92
AD1	AD1 Holdings Limited	0.009	80%	$8,087,835.39
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.016	78%	$45,508,470.10
SRX	Sierra Rutile	0.12	76%	$48,787,191.41
APS	Allup Silica Ltd	0.062	72%	$1,115,835.93
RNT	Rent.Com.Au Limited	0.043	72%	$27,074,931.17
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.068	70%	$23,316,711.34
NYM	Narryer Metals	0.051	70%	$3,149,637.29
ASV	Assetvisonco	0.02	67%	$14,516,731.30
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.005	67%	$12,677,188.05
MCL	Mighty Craft Ltd	0.025	67%	$6,937,511.14
NVQ	Noviqtech Limited	0.005	67%	$7,436,536.48
AWJ	Auric Mining	0.18	64%	$22,900,428.43
BGT	Bio-Gene Technology	0.072	64%	$14,095,309.90
RR1	Reach Resources Ltd	0.003	64%	$9,836,169.46
AXE	Archer Materials	0.585	63%	$146,537,032.48
PNR	Pantoro Limited	0.0645	61%	$317,445,861.35
G50	Gold50 Limited	0.135	61%	$14,754,150.00
MMC	Mitre Mining	0.45	61%	$34,328,491.89
HMI	Hiremii	0.048	60%	$6,469,403.52
TCG	Turaco Gold Limited	0.175	59%	$99,975,111.47
ANR	Anatara Ls Ltd	0.035	59%	$6,883,642.81
ALM	Alma Metals Ltd	0.011	57%	$11,140,007.87
IMC	Immuron Limited	0.11	57%	$25,079,818.06
COE	Cooper Energy Ltd	0.2275	57%	$580,808,410.38
WIA	WIA Gold Limited	0.08	57%	$73,654,796.88
AIS	Aeris Resources Ltd	0.155	55%	$145,128,831.00
XAM	Xanadu Mines Ltd	0.062	55%	$99,528,348.52
AUQ	Alara Resources Ltd	0.06	54%	$43,085,252.46
GCX	GCX Metals Limited	0.055	53%	$15,594,419.90
ICU	Investor Centre Ltd	0.032	52%	$9,399,139.27
AEI	Aeris Environmental	0.07	52%	$17,198,618.57

Drug discovery and development company Nyrada (ASX:NYR) continued its monumental rise in March, up more than 400% after seeing its share price jump more than 300% in February.

NYR has seen its price soar after releasing positive results from its preclinical study evaluating the efficacy of its brain injury program drug candidate NYR-BI03 in preventing secondary brain injury.

The drug candidate has potential for treating patients in two important markets – stroke and traumatic brain injury.

In March NYR announced it had raised $1.755m in new equity capital from new and existing professional and sophisticated investors for a placement of 23.4m CDIs.

Osteopore (ASX:OSX) rose 319% in March but there remains uncertainty as to why the natural tissue regeneration specialist has gained so much. OSX had several announcements out during the month.

On March 27 OSX announced it had secured market approval for its orthopaedic products in Singapore and Vietnam, which saw it’s share price rise ~400% in one day.

The massive rise was on the tail of a recent huge fall in share price for OSX, after the company sought $3,000,000 through a placement priced at a massive 94.42% discount to last closing price.

That came about through a number of factors, including an ill-timed 15:1 consolidation.

On March 28, OSX went into voluntary suspension “due to unexpected delays in completing the 31 December 2023 Annual Report due to compiling information requested by the company’s auditors.”

OSX requested to be in suspension until the end of April or until the report is lodged with the ASX. The company was suspended from trade on April 2 for “not lodging the relevant periodic report by the due date”.

There are still a few question marks floating around this one, but in the absence of anything concrete, the OSX story for now simply is what it is.

Zoono Group (ASX:ZNO) was on the March winners board after entering into an exclusive agency agreement with OSY Group to promote the sale of Zoono products for the food supply chain sector.

ZNO says OSY is a leading-edge provider of technologies in the hygiene technology sector and was recently awarded an Innovate UK Award granting funding to support its food shelf-life extension work.

Iron ore junior and lithium explorer Macro Metals (ASX:M4M) was trading higher in March after announcing boardroom appointments that include two highly successful, high-profile small caps mining investors – Tolga Kumova and Evan Cranston.

The company has announced the appointment of a “highly regarded board with the dedicated focus of developing Macro’s Pilbara iron ore portfolio”.

Here are the 50 worst performing ASX stocks for March:

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

CODE	COMPANY	LAST SHARE PRICE	MARCH RETURN %	MARKET CAP
CMD	Cassius Mining Ltd	0.009	-74%	$4,878,040.46
E79	E79 Gold Mines	0.028	-58%	$2,684,024.74
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.013	-55%	$10,356,263.80
CPM	Cooper Metals	0.12	-53%	$8,227,343.25
SHO	Sportshero Ltd	0.008	-53%	$4,942,662.70
WHK	Whitehawk Limited	0.017	-51%	$7,951,673.02
BGE	Bridge SaaS	0.03	-50%	$3,581,911.68
CNJ	Conico Ltd	0.0015	-50%	$2,707,642.42
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.006	-50%	$18,256,433.83
RFT	Rectifier Technolog	0.018	-50%	$30,403,646.83
RMX	Red Mount Mining	0.001	-50%	$5,347,152.07
WYX	Western Yilgarn NL	0.045	-47%	$2,860,855.18
OPN	Oppen Negotiation	0.006	-45%	$5,645,898.18
DBO	Diablo Resources	0.017	-43%	$1,752,214.29
SSH	Ssh Group	0.085	-43%	$5,601,487.51
CHK	Cohiba Minerals	0.002	-43%	$8,970,610.46
KTA	Krakatoa Resources	0.008	-43%	$3,776,857.76
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.004	-43%	$3,559,817.37
LKE	Lake Resources	0.0665	-42%	$104,811,589.18
BEX	Bikeexchange Ltd	0.35	-41%	$6,524,131.82
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.003	-40%	$5,864,726.71
NRZ	Neurizer Ltd	0.003	-40%	$4,504,232.49
TMK	TMK Energy Limited	0.003	-40%	$18,367,737.90
CLV	Clover Corporation	0.49	-40%	$82,664,673.80
BM8	Battery Age Minerals	0.1	-39%	$9,634,833.39
AS2	Askari Metals	0.051	-39%	$4,377,324.22
ETR	Entyr Limited	0.007	-39%	$13,881,727.25
SNX	Sierra Nevada Gold	0.06	-39%	$3,623,747.46
BEZ	Besra Gold	0.092	-39%	$43,900,595.13
RWD	Reward Minerals Ltd	0.031	-38%	$6,835,594.14
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.025	-38%	$17,799,496.18
EXL	Elixinol Wellness	0.005	-38%	$6,961,587.74
GTI	Gratifii	0.005	-38%	$6,846,113.32
TZL	TZ Limited	0.02	-38%	$5,135,162.28
IXU	Ixup Limited	0.015	-37%	$16,313,033.88
C7A	Clara Resources	0.012	-37%	$2,268,468.46
RCR	Rincon	0.024	-37%	$5,528,784.10
MTM	MTM Critical Metals	0.064	-36%	$7,954,966.78
BTH	Bigtincan Hldgs Ltd	0.1475	-36%	$92,437,963.50
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.009	-36%	$11,891,443.37
RFA	Rare Foods Australia	0.031	-35%	$6,358,779.09
GNM	Great Northern	0.013	-35%	$2,010,178.00
CTQ	Careteq Limited	0.015	-35%	$3,533,209.38
OZM	Ozaurum Resources	0.046	-34%	$7,461,250.00
OSL	Oncosil Medical	0.005	-34%	$9,872,705.66
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.002	-33%	$2,117,998.69
ARN	Aldoro Resources	0.07	-33%	$9,423,662.01
CCO	The Calmer Co International	0.004	-33%	$4,730,786.70
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.002	-33%	$3,323,986.55

African-focused Cassius Mining (ASX:CMD) continued to see its share price slide in March. CMD announced in March it had entered into a share sale agreement with AustChina Holdings Limited to sell 100% of its subsidiary Cassius Mining, which holds four licence permits in Tanzania, for up to $1,150,000 and a 1% net smelter royalty.

CMD is currently locked in a dispute with Government of the Republic of Ghana. CMD has filed a claim for US$275 million, citing Ghana’s alleged breaches of contract and statute as the basis.

In March CMD also reported a net loss for the half-year ended December 21, 2023 after providing for income tax of $1,002,767, up from $214,599 on pcp.