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:

WordPress Table
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:

WordPress Table