ASX Small Cap Lunch Wrap: When less is more

Along with it being a Friday (yay), Australians were greeted with a double-dose of good news this morning as Victoria’s stubbornly high rates of new COVID-19 infections are showing signs of a sustained decline.

Over the last 24 hours, new cases came in at 179 — the lowest total in the state since July 13.

And while Melburnians on lockdown were given a glimmer of hope, there was more optimism on the east coast as Sydney reported just one new case.

Over on the the ASX, there was the usual round of winners and losers as FY20 reporting season continues, but the broader market is looking relatively subdued to end the week.

The ASX200 opened higher but gave back ground into midday trade, while the Small Ords was holding in positive territory and is on track for a weekly gain of around 2.5 per cent.

That said, there were plenty of thrills and spills in small-cap land as a number of companies posted huge morning gains to end the week.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Friday August 21:

CODE	COMPANY	PRICE	CHANGE	MARKET CAP
OBJ	OBJ Ltd	0.175	1000.00%	$1.3M
ARO	Astro Resources NL	0.014	600.00%	$2.5M
RFR	Rafaella Resources	0.215	225.76%	$4.8M
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines Ltd	0.003	150.00%	$2.7M
CXZ	Connexion Media Ltd	0.029	52.63%	$16.4M
SMI	Santana Minerals Ltd	0.003	50.00%	$4.1M
FEL	Fe Ltd	0.025	31.58%	$9.3M
SIS	Simble Solutions	0.031	29.17%	$4.8M
ICT	iCollege Ltd	0.08	29.03%	$32.9M
CAE	Cannindah Resources Ltd	0.019	26.67%	$2.9M
SHH	Shree Minerals	0.01	25.00%	$6.1M
ZEU	Zeus Resources Ltd	0.015	25.00%	$2.2M
CLZ	Classic Minerals Ltd	0.003	25.00%	$26.1M
APH	Australian Primary Hemp	0.16	23.08%	$9.1M
VLS	Vita Life Sciences	0.85	20.57%	$38.1M
SBR	Sabre Resources Ltd	0.006	20.00%	$6.3M
ANA	Ansila Energy NL	0.024	20.00%	$10.2M
IMS	Mobile Embrace	0.006	20.00%	$4.0M
RBR	RBR Group	0.012	20.00%	$9.1M
BUD	Buddy Technologies	0.043	19.44%	$93.4M
CCA	ChimpChange	0.13	18.18%	$31.2M

Pharmaceutical company OBJ (ASX:OBJ) has rejoined the ASX boards with a bang, rising by more than 1,000 per cent (yes, not a typo) after commencing trade at 10am this morning for the first time since October 31, 2019.

It follows a $1.5m share placement to sophisticated investors, as OBJ — which has research labs in Perth and Switzerland — looks to leverage patents and intellectual property to grow market share in the wellness and skincare sector.

Astro Resources (ASX:ARO) also ripped higher by more than 600 per cent after releasing a company presentation, before going into a trading halt then being suspended by the ASX, pending the company’s response to a price and volume query.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Friday August 21:

CODE	COMPANY	PRICE	CHANGE	MARKET CAP
QFY	Quantify Tech	0.001	-33.33%	$2.0M
BAS	Bass Oil Co Ltd	0.001	-33.33%	$5.0M
FRX	Flexiroam Ltd	0.032	-28.89%	$12.6M
VPR	Volt Power Group	0.002	-20.00%	$18.3M
FGO	Flamingo	0.002	-20.00%	$2.2M
OEX	Oilex	0.002	-20.00%	$8.2M
ENX	Enegex NL	0.052	-17.46%	$4.2M
MOQ	MOQ	0.125	-16.67%	$22.2M
TSC	Twenty Seven	0.005	-16.67%	$7.4M
OAR	Oakdale Resources Ltd	0.006	-14.29%	$8.6M
MRQ	MRG Metals Ltd	0.006	-14.29%	$7.4M
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining NL	0.012	-14.29%	$7.2M
E2M	E2 Metals	0.215	-14.00%	$28.2M
KZA	Kazia Therapeutics	0.97	-13.39%	$90.8M
MPR	Mpower	0.02	-13.04%	$3.2M
TYM	Tymlez Group	0.096	-12.73%	$29.4M
OGA	Ocean Grown Abalone	0.115	-11.54%	$26.1M
CE1	Calima Energy	0.008	-11.11%	$19.5M
DGR	DGR Global Ltd	0.065	-10.96%	$56.0M
PEX	Peel Mining Ltd	0.25	-10.71%	$85.0M