ASX Small Cap Lunch Wrap: Who’s following in the footsteps of giants today?

Following in the footsteps of Microsoft and Google, Aussie food processor SPC has announced mandatory vaccines for all staff and visitors.

SPC Chair Hussein Rifai reckons the company is akin to essential services like aged care and front-line medical staff.

“We believe that it’s a precedent for companies to ask their employees to do something that’s reasonable to protect them, protect their co-workers, and protect the society that they’re in,” he said.

Staff have six weeks to book their first vaccination or risk being barred from on-site work – but they will get paid leave and up to two days of ‘special leave’ for recovery if they become unwell after.

To Markets …

Wall Street’s main indexes closed mostly lower overnight.

After six straight months of gains, the benchmark S&P 500 has struggled to rise in August over concerns about the pace of growth as the economy rebounded from the depths of the COVID-19-driven recession, and fears of higher inflation overshadowed a stellar corporate earnings season, Morningstar says.

Still, tech and tech-adjacent stocks such as Netflix, Amazon.com and Facebook, which tend to perform better when interest rates are lower, outperformed the broader market yesterday.

The local bourse has bounced higher in early trade, with the benchmark ASCX 200 index 0.22% to 7,520.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks in morning trade for Thursday, August 5:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
WOO	Wooboard Tech Ltd	0.002	100	21306022	$ 3,822,162.74
PFE	Panteraminerals	0.3	50	3298823	$ 7,700,000.00
OPL	Opyl Limited	0.15	25	26244	$ 6,526,246.20
BAS	Bass Oil Ltd	0.0025	25	2804976	$ 6,687,802.43
PKD	Parkd Ltd	0.052	21	2230895	$ 4,308,605.72
CLE	Cyclone Metals	0.006	20	30309232	$ 22,661,184.91
DCX	Discovex Res Ltd	0.006	20	996	$ 12,843,320.38
LEL	Lithenergy	0.56	17	1195634	$ 21,600,000.00
KNM	Kneomedia Limited	0.007	17	712150	$ 6,580,079.97
XST	Xstate Resources	0.0035	17	3817013	$ 9,645,544.95
IOD	Iodm Limited	0.3	15	78475	$ 148,502,004.30
ARR	American Rare Earths	0.1075	14	6049109	$ 32,364,982.64
FTZ	Fertoz Ltd	0.24	14	453361	$ 42,863,664.69
BDX	Bcaldiagnostics	0.175	13	128146	$ 20,386,617.11
AFW	Applyflow Limited	0.009	13	16301491	$ 23,554,097.11
DDD	3D Resources Limited	0.0045	13	740491	$ 15,521,488.37
HSC	HSC Technology Group	0.018	13	1653479	$ 31,483,829.39
OEL	Otto Energy Limited	0.009	13	3740856	$ 38,360,078.18
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.009	13	720000	$ 104,533,618.94
KMT	Kopore Metals Ltd	0.028	12	1018084	$ 16,134,722.50
ALB	Albion Resources	0.19	12	70746	$ 4,780,171.86
FFX	Firefinch Ltd	0.445	11	12363720	$ 364,108,346.40

The biggest gainer today was Wooboard Technologies (ASX:WOO), which ticked higher by 100% to 0.2c on no news.

There was also a big jump for ASX newcomer Pantera Minerals (ASX:PFE), the WA-based iron ore/ copper/ manganese explorer which ripped higher on debut after raising $7m from investors at 20c per share.

Opyl Limited (ASX:OPL) and Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) both saw a 25% increase, followed by Parkd (ASX:PKD) up 21% and Cyclone Metals (ASX:CLE) and Discovex Resources (ASX:DCX) both up 20% – all on no news.

Up 17% was Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) off the back of news it’s edging closer towards environmental approval for its Solaroz project in Argentina.

Kneomedia (ASX:KNM) and Xstate Resources (ASX:XST) were also up 17% – but on no news.

And Iodm (ASX:IOD) rose 15% after announcing a new revenue opportunity from its WUBS partnership agreement in the UK of around $465,000-$780,000 per annum – dependent on the number of students that pay their tuition fees and accommodation through the payment’s platform.

LOSERS

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
AIR	Astivita Ltd	0.68	-24	17103	$ 22,376,388.60
GGX	Gas2Grid Limited	0.002	-20	150118	$ 10,115,255.20
OEX	Oilex Ltd	0.004	-20	3000000	$ 28,429,857.86
EGY	Energy Tech Ltd	0.13	-19	15856	$ 27,564,034.24
RNX	Renegade Exploration	0.006	-14	100066	$ 6,157,386.47
VAL	Valor Resources Ltd	0.0095	-14	7405420	$ 31,887,145.60
PRS	Prospech Limited	0.091	-13	432602	$ 6,827,161.85
ADX	ADX Energy Ltd	0.007	-13	137787	$ 21,232,512.25
RD1	Registry Direct	0.014	-13	1000000	$ 5,104,639.71
AIB	Aurora Glb Trust	0.14	-13	9101	$ 1,114,686.72
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.055	-11	1809608	$ 8,681,136.34
AVW	Avira Resources Ltd	0.004	-11	90000	$ 6,187,680.00
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.004	-11	6238874	$ 22,568,056.07
PNX	PNX Metals Limited	0.008	-11	14576875	$ 32,869,741.60
SPT	Splitit	0.575	-10	4578012	$ 298,370,062.72
AJX	Alexium Int Group	0.076	-10	1173510	$ 53,776,568.66
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.019	-10	125000	$ 7,111,835.72
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.019	-10	62276007	$ 129,193,731.37
ATP	Atlas Pearls Ltd	0.029	-9	963215	$ 13,691,896.26
AQD	Ausquest Limited	0.02	-9	2341984	$ 18,110,176.28
CGB	Cann Global Limited	0.005	-9	3590726	$ 28,265,904.06
NVA	Nova Minerals Ltd	0.11	-8	962623	$ 201,713,597.64
OOK	Ookami Limited	0.275	-8	1907529	$ 9,944,497.20
ECT	Env Clean Tech Ltd.	0.011	-8	758736	$ 14,197,506.30

The biggest loser was Astivita (ASX:AIR) down 24% on no news, followed by Gas2Grid (ASX:GGX) and Oilex (ASX:OEX) down 20% and Energy Technologies (AX:EGY) down 19% – all on no news.

Renegade Exploration (ASX:RNX) dropped 14% on no news, with Valor Resources (ASX:VAL) also down 14% even after announcing radiometrics had revealed new anomalies at its Hook Lake uranium project in Canada.