The Beijing Winter Olympics have been disrupted by… well, snow.

The organisers created ski and snowboarding courses out of man-made snow using about 2.5 million cubic litres of water, more than 100 snow generators and 300 snow cannons.

But in a shouldn’t-really-be-that-much-of-a-surprise twist, real snowfall disrupted the event yesterday.

The first run of the men’s giant slalom went ahead, but the second run was delayed – along with postponed training for the women’s downhill and qualifiers for women’s freeski slopestyle.

Some competitors are complaining about the visibility, with Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen saying that he couldn’t see s**t.


Crews have been dispatched to remove excess snow from the competition area with plows.

 

To Markets …

The ASX 200 is up 21.40 points or 0.30% at midday today to 7238.70.

In the US, money managers say they are bracing for more volatility as investors assess the likelihood of whether the Federal Reserve will have to act more aggressively to tame inflation.

“This trend is worrisome for equity markets as it could mean a more aggressive Fed policy response, and that concern will typically pressure equity markets,” said Matt Peron, director of research at Janus Henderson Investors.

“We caution that markets could remain choppy for the coming months until either inflation stabilises, or the market is comfortable that the Fed is doing enough, but not too much.”

James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, suggested the Fed may be willing to make a big move.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Bullard said he would like to see rates up 1% by July 1, adding that he was “already more hawkish, but I have pulled up dramatically what I think the committee should do.”

Jay Hatfield, portfolio manager of the InfraCap Equity Income ETF, said he expects the stock market to stabilise once 10-year Treasury yields find a bottom, eventually settling in somewhere around 2%.

Peron, for his part, expects the stock market will only stabilise in the second half of the year. “The margin of error for the Fed is getting smaller,” he added.

Global oil prices are up to 7-year highs on fears of conflict in Ukraine, with Brent crude at US$95.36 a barrel.

And last week Reuters reported that the International Energy Agency raised its 2022 demand forecast and expects global demand to expand by 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, reaching an all-time record 100.6 million bpd.

Energy stocks are mostly in the green today, with Woodside (ASX:WPL) and Santos (ASX:STO) up 3.51% and 4.04% respectively.

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for February 14 [intraday]:

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Code Company Price % Market Cap
ANW Aus Tin Mining 0.0015 50% $12,716,786.87
FXG Felix Gold Limited 0.195 39% $10,653,713.70
ENT Enterprise Metals 0.019 36% $8,022,282.03
JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.002 33% $9,882,379.16
CAY Canyon Resources Ltd 0.115 31% $61,757,142.39
KLR Kaili Resources Ltd 0.03 25% $3,537,608.71
MLSDA Metals Australia 0.05 25% $523,855.74
CDR Codrus Minerals Ltd 0.14 22% $4,600,000.00
HMX Hammer Metals Ltd 0.084 20% $57,049,623.61
AGS Alliance Resources 0.15 20% $26,002,141.75
PNX PNX Metals Limited 0.006 20% $18,260,967.56
KNB Koonenberrygold 0.14 17% $8,893,947.36
1ST 1St Group Ltd 0.014 17% $6,045,311.12
WCN White Cliff Min Ltd 0.036 16% $18,544,088.37
CR1 Constellation Res 0.22 16% $9,482,030.94
G50 Gold50Limited 0.26 16% $12,604,050.23
MHK Metalhawk. 0.31 15% $12,910,156.38
BIR BIR Financial Ltd 0.031 15% $2,738,776.51
XST Xstate Resources 0.004 14% $11,253,135.78
PGY Pilot Energy Ltd 0.056 14% $24,715,125.29
MIO Macarthur Minerals 0.3925 14% $50,073,588.77
ERL Empire Resources 0.0135 13% $11,789,021.23
OAU Ora Gold Limited 0.018 13% $15,719,129.10
OEX Oilex Ltd 0.0045 13% $28,451,806.08
RR1 Reach Resources Ltd 0.009 13% $12,752,099.71
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Enterprise Metals (ASX:ENT) was up off the back of an announcement of “elevated lithium results” in early stage soil sampling at the Bullfinch North project in WA.

Also up was Codrus Minerals (ASX:CDR), which intersected a highlight 23m at 3.82g/t gold from 14m in drilling at the Red Gate project in WA.

“The results to date confirm that Red Gate is a project with significant potential,” MD Shannan Bamforth said.

“Given its location in a Tier-1 mining district close to several major operating mines, this is a project that is very much front and centre of our portfolio as a focus for follow-up exploration in 2022 and beyond.”

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Code Company Price % Market Cap
LKO Lakes Blue Energy 0.0015 -25% $86,206,180.28
AO1 Assetowl Limited 0.0045 -25% $5,548,693.81
MEB Medibio Limited 0.004 -20% $10,305,255.62
OEC Orbital Corp Limited 0.23 -18% $25,479,074.32
GTG Genetic Technologies 0.005 -17% $55,403,790.86
ZBT Zebit Inc. 0.077 -16% $8,706,439.60
LNY Laneway Res Ltd 0.006 -14% $32,522,076.53
VAL Valor Resources Ltd 0.012 -14% $46,788,115.02
TKL Traka Resources 0.013 -13% $9,331,618.41
RFT Rectifier Technolog 0.068 -13% $107,242,507.87
CLU Cluey Ltd 0.9 -13% $115,879,183.86
EVE EVE Health Group Ltd 0.0035 -13% $15,372,567.56
TMX Terrain Minerals 0.007 -13% $5,886,088.07
AE1 Aerison 0.175 -13% $61,187,497.60
88E 88 Energy Ltd 0.044 -12% $740,553,809.80
PPS Praemium Limited 1.085 -11% $622,066,457.43
DRE Drednought Resources 0.04 -11% $127,740,759.80
OMX Orangeminerals 0.16 -11% $7,419,600.00
CZR CZR Resources Ltd 0.008 -11% $31,376,909.49
EX1 Exopharm Limited 0.365 -11% $64,456,728.53
BDX Bcaldiagnostics 0.13 -10% $19,077,948.99
CNJ Conico Ltd 0.013 -10% $14,503,115.67
TAR Taruga Minerals 0.035 -10% $19,970,340.23
LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.009 -10% $13,909,373.48
RCP Redbank Copper Ltd 0.056 -10% $32,171,845.26
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