ASX Small Cap Lunch Wrap: Who scored a lucky number zero today?

As Australia moves towards reopening its economy, NSW this morning reported no new COVID-19 cases for the first time since February 29.

Queensland also reported a zero, while Victoria announced 15 new cases.

Over in the US, in the COVID-19 epicentre of New York, authorities also reported a new positive milestone, although the metric was slightly different; the state’s daily death toll came in at 161 — the first day since March that had less than 200 deaths.

As major economies now turn to the mammoth task of trying to reopen industries in an orderly manner, the risk of a second wave of infections continues to linger.

The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged, reported its first batch of new COVID-19 cases since April 3 overnight.

It all adds up to a murky outlook for stock prices, and there was a strong note of risk-off sentiment on local markets this morning.

The ASX200 was down by 1.4 per cent just after midday (EST) to 5,383.10 points. The Small Ords Index was 1.5 per cent lower at 2,427 points.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Tuesday May 12:

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CODE	COMPANY	PRICE	% CHANGE	MARKET CAP
VPR	Volt Power	0.002	100.00%	$9.0M
MCT	Metalicity	0.004	75.00%	$2.9M
VAL	Valor Resources	0.002	50.00%	$1.9M
NGY	Nuenergy Gas Ltd	0.018	50.00%	$26.7M
AGE	Alligator Energy Ltd	0.005	37.50%	$7.1M
TKM	Trek Metals	0.017	30.77%	$2.7M
PAA	PharmAust Ltd	0.13	30.00%	$39.3M
DLC	Delecta Ltd	0.005	25.00%	$3.5M
WCN	White Cliff Minerals	0.006	20.00%	$2.4M
POW	Protean Energy	0.006	20.00%	$1.9M
DXN	DXN	0.013	18.18%	$6.4M
KFE	Kogi Iron	0.04	17.65%	$31.0M
EGR	Ecograf	0.067	17.54%	$20.5M
WEL	Winchester Energy Ltd	0.021	16.67%	$14.4M
LIN	Lindian Resources	0.014	16.67%	$8.2M
PGI	Panterra Gold	0.035	16.67%	$6.8M
MRG	MRG Metals Ltd	0.007	16.67%	$35.3M
GMR	Golden Rim	0.007	16.67%	$8.6M
VGL	Vista	1.47	15.81%	$272.7M

A number of small-cap players ticked higher on no news, but among the leaders was PharmAust (ASX:PAA), which reported strong results from a phase-two clinical trial for its MPL tablets, an anti-cancer treatment for dogs.

After 14 days of treatment, the company reported “one pet dog achieved greater than 60 per cent reduction in tumour burden, with one of its tumours regressing completely”.

PharmAust said the trial provided a “strong basis for further evaluation” of the treatment, although dosing levels resulted in some dogs experiencing a loss of appetite. The phase-two trial is now on hold while an interim report is prepared.

Chief scientific officer Richard Mollard said the 60 per cent tumour reduction in one dog was a “terrific and unexpected outcome”.

“The correlation of lower MPL blood levels with superior outcomes is also a very positive trend, providing flexibility for better outcomes in a future phase three trial,” he said.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Tuesday May 12:

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

CODE	COMPANY	PRICE	% CHANGE	MARKET CAP
FGO	Flamingo	0.001	-33.33%	$1.1M
ROG	Red Sky Energy	0.001	-33.33%	$1.6M
JPR	Jupiter Energy	0.027	-30.77%	$6.0M
EQE	Equus Mining Ltd	0.006	-25.00%	$11.3M
DVL	dorsaVi Ltd	0.02	-23.08%	$6.0M
EPM	Eclipse Metals Ltd	0.007	-22.22%	$11.9M
EXL	Elixinol Global	0.378	-20.53%	$65.5M
BPL	Broken Hill Prospecting Ltd	0.015	-21.05%	$4.8M
CTO	Citigold Corporation	0.004	-20.00%	$12.1M
NWC	New World Resources	0.012	-20.00%	$14.8M
IBG	Ironbark Zinc Ltd	0.008	-20.00%	$9.2M
ARE	Argonaut Resources N L	0.004	-10.00%	$9.8M
CCA	Change Financial	0.076	-15.56%	$9.3M
ACB	A-Cap Energy	0.012	-14.29%	$12.2M
DW8	Digital Wine Ventures	0.006	-14.29%	$8.1M
CWZ	Cashwerkz	0.12	-14.29%	$22.4M
NTI	Neurotech Intl	0.006	-14.29%	$1.5M
LCL	Los Cerros	0.048	-12.73%	$12.8M
LPD	Lepidico	0.007	-12.50%	$37.0M
PWN	Parkway Minerals	0.007	-12.50%	$13.5M