ASX Small Cap Lunch Wrap: Who’s heading out for a spin today?

Happy Friday, although the mood is somewhat sullen on local markets with the ASX set to finish the week on a low note.

To kick off proceedings, scientists in Israel (with nothing better to do) have taught a goldfish how to drive.

The experiment involved the placing of a fish tank on top of a robotic platform on wheels, to gauge the fish’s capacity to navigate in different directions based on alternating sensor inputs.

The fish’s movements trigger the platform to move, and its job is to guide the platform through various obstacles.

Researchers said it took the goldfish around 10 days to learn how to navigate its platform to an end-target, with positive reinforcement in the form a food pellet for successful trips.

On markets today, there was less positive reinforcement following a wobbly session on Wall Street, as tech stocks sold off again as markets continue to assess the outlook for inflation and tighter monetary policy.

The ASX 200 was down by almost 1% in midday trade, with lesser falls at the smaller end of the market.

Financials and energy stocks underperformed, while large cap gold stocks stood out as one of the few sectors in positive territory amid a broader selloff.
 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

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

There was another resources moonshot in Friday trade, as Ardea Resources (ASX:ARL) went bang with a “massive high-grade” nickel sulphide discovery at its Emu Lake project in WA.

A follow-up drilling program will now be commissioned pending drill availability, with “significant scope to extend this nickel sulphide discovery and make additional discoveries”, said MD Andrew Penkethman.

Elsewhere, semiconductor technology company Brainchip (ASX:BRN) is going ballistic, up ~200% so far this year in a move which has taken its market cap to almost $2.4bn.

This morning the stock had capital markets news, announcing an update to its funding arrangement with California-based investor LDA Capital which will subscribe for 15m more BRN shares as part of a $50.3m put option deal the two sides agreed to in 2020.

Among stocks with news, Torian Resources (ASX:TNR) also stood out, after flagging that its Mt Stirling gold project in WA also looks to have significant Yttrium (pXRF) anomalies — “a key indicator of potential Rare Earth Minerals in Critical Metals exploration”, the company said.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for January 14 [intraday]:

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