ASX Small Cap Lunch Wrap: When breaking up is for the best

It was a case of another day, another nervous wait for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s daily 11am COVID-19 update.

As it turns out, the numbers are still tracking well. Eight new cases, with seven linked to the original Northern Beaches cluster (and one contact of a transport nurse who was identified yesterday).

Today’s announcement was seen as the key barometer for whether authorities had saved Christmas from the coronavirus Grinch.

And broadly speaking, there were no major changes except the Northern Beaches have been split in two; everyone north of the Narrabeen Bridge will stay in lockdown with Chrissy visitor numbers capped at five.

Residents from the south will be allowed up to 10 (including from different areas). For all other states the policy remains the same: that wall stays up.

Local stocks have stabilised (somewhat) from the COVID-19 shock, with all the major indices on track to post their first gain in three days.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday December 23:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
BNZ	Benzmining	0.95	90	353,704	$ 2,000,000
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.032	78	142,550,804	$ 28,754,234
CLZ	Classic Min Ltd	0.0015	50	24,549,997	$ 15,268,268
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.002	33	11,449,372	$ 16,994,679
OEX	Oilex Ltd	0.002	33	400,000	$ 6,243,195
RFN	Reffind Limited	0.002	33	2,500,000	$ 2,523,655
XST	Xstate Resources	0.004	33	1,543,588	$ 5,433,723
NPM	Newpeak Metals	0.003	20	9,557,175	$ 11,670,406
VIC	Victory Mines Ltd	0.003	20	55,959,660	$ 11,040,804
WEL	Winchester Energy	0.025	19	1,336,382	$ 14,487,891
DXB	Dimerix Ltd	0.225	18	1,958,691	$ 37,596,116
BCK	Brockman Mining Ltd	0.059	18	190,471	$ 463,961,607
AFR	African Energy Res	0.02	18	350,000	$ 10,590,331
LMG	Latrobe Magnesium	0.021	17	1,455,878	$ 23,337,055
MSR	Manas Res Ltd	0.007	17	330,000	$ 16,561,642
TPD	Talon Petroleum Ltd	0.0035	17	1,350,000	$ 13,055,369
LCD	Latitude Consolidate	0.029	16	1,327,000	$ 6,989,769
PF1	Pathfinder Resources	0.24	14	233,226	$ 10,442,080
KZR	Kalamazoo Resources	0.595	13	133,987	$ 68,744,253
MDI	Middle Island Res	0.345	13	716,354	$ 36,976,281
BUD	Buddy Tech	0.052	13	1,684,634	$ 132,698,291

One of the busiest December IPO seasons in recent memory is wrapping up, and gold explorer Benz Mining (ASX:BNZ) snuck in before year-end with a strong debut in morning trade.

Raising just $2m at 50c a share, the stock opened at 95c — a listing gain of almost 100pc.

Benz’ debut gives it a dual-listing. The stock is already listed in Canada where it operates the Eastmain project, which has a current JORC resource of 376,000 ounces at 7.9g/t of gold.

Also high up on the winner’s list was Avecho Biotechnology (ASX:AVE). The stock jumped more than 75 per cent after Avecho announced that it’s joining the CA Clinics Observational Study (CACOS) of medicinal cannabis products.

Avecho said the study will allow it to “test the performance of its enhanced oral cannabidiol (CBD) TPM formulation in human patients” who are currently being prescribed medicinal cannabis products.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday December 23:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ANL	Amani Gold Ltd	0.001	-33	5,177,506	$ 14,080,495.12
KP2	Kore Potash PLC	0.026	-24	4,042,309	$ 7,921,812.05
XTC	Xantippe Res Ltd	0.002	-20	250,000	$ 10,186,411.01
ADX	ADX Energy Ltd	0.005	-17	1,003,750	$ 11,749,799.09
HNR	Hannans Ltd	0.005	-17	2,785,119	$ 14,159,863.15
SHN	Sunshine Gold Ltd	0.056	-14	1,395,841	$ 23,186,255.17
CCG	Comms Group Ltd	0.095	-14	261,699	$ 21,053,148.49
RIE	Riedel Resources Ltd	0.02	-13	175,978	$ 19,359,239.43
KEY	KEY Petroleum	0.0035	-12	1,051,873	$ 7,871,712.50
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.007	-12	833,333	$ 5,281,190.39
CAG	Caperangeltd	0.21	-12	5,674	$ 22,777,992.24
FEL	Fe Limited	0.036	-12	1,143,356	$ 20,993,091.42
PNN	PepinNini Minerals	0.275	-11	8,989,568	$ 10,246,901.20
LCY	Legacy Iron Ore	0.04	-11	21,404,149	$ 281,125,733.27
NWE	Norwest Energy NL	0.004	-11	2,866,800	$ 21,305,101.83
PYR	Payright Limited	1.07	-11	943,103	$ 71,234,089.20
WC8	Wildcat Resources	0.025	-11	2,306,427	$ 14,056,000.00