It’s (US) Inauguration Day and markets are up and about.

Joe Biden is set to be sworn is as President later tonight (Australian time).

Usually there’s a handover but Trump won’t be there, instead choosing to end his term with a pre-recorded message.

But it wasn’t Biden or Trump that was the source of optimsim on US markets.

Instead, new US Treasury secretary (and former Fed chair) Janet Yellen helped buoy sentiment, by using her confirmation address to advocate for another big injection of fiscal support to aid the recovery.

If 2020 showed anything, it’s that markets love a bit of fiscal firepower.

And that trend appears to have continued so far into the new year as Yellen’s speech prompted a material boost in risk appetite overnight.

After Monday’s fall, the ASX Emerging Companies microcap index is now pushing into positive territory for the week with a gain of about 1.2 per cent in morning trade.
 

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday January 20:

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

CODE NAME PRICE % CHANGE VOLUME MARKET CAP
HMX Hammer Metals Ltd 0.06 81.82 40,192,420 24,719,864
CLZ Classic Min Ltd 0.0015 50.00 18,921,800 17,034,968
ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.0015 50.00 2,000,000 9,601,033
VMG VDM Group Limited 0.003 50.00 3,000,009 13,855,322
ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.059 37.21 3,780,333 14,562,330
RLE Real Energy Corp 0.067 31.37 17,680,314 22,110,495
PWN Parkway Minls NL 0.017 30.77 84,294,523 24,709,802
STM Sunstone Metals Ltd 0.017 30.77 16,004,217 28,729,839
APH AP Hemp Ltd 0.495 30.26 1,286,081 21,312,352
GAL Galileo Mining Ltd 0.355 29.09 4,379,194 39,352,831
WML Woomera Mining Ltd 0.034 25.93 5,647,360 9,185,039
CUL Cullen Resources 0.025 25.00 1,380,857 5,998,353
DTR Dateline Resources 0.0025 25.00 5,869,998 16,420,156
CHM Chimeric Therapeutic 0.375 20.97 13,292,472 60,915,000
RPM RPM Automotive Group 0.235 20.51 3,814,494 22,458,748
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Leading the pack in morning trade was Hammer Metals (ASX:HMX), which announced significant copper and gold intercepts from a two-hole drilling program in a previously un-drilled section of its Trafalgar prospect in Mt Isa, Queensland.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday January 20:

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

CODE NAME PRICE % CHANGE VOLUME MARKET CAP
ALT Analytica Limited 0.003 -25.00 365,000 14,078,449
ANL Amani Gold Ltd 0.0015 -25.00 7,200,000 18,773,993
CCE Carnegie Cln Energy 0.0015 -25.00 18,550,001 23,064,137
OEX Oilex Ltd 0.0015 -25.00 500,000 8,324,260
WOO Wooboard Tech Ltd 0.002 -20.00 10,522,501 5,952,667
VR8 Vanadium Resources 0.04 -18.37 1,060,759 18,339,594
CZN Corazon Ltd 0.0025 -16.67 5,600,999 9,760,077
ZNC Zenith Minerals Ltd 0.115 -14.81 495,175 39,738,604
MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.003 -14.29 2,432,506 13,598,246
XST Xstate Resources 0.006 -14.29 37,622,040 12,678,686
EUR European Lithium Ltd 0.086 -14.00 12,529,010 72,653,986
RMI Resource Mining Corp 0.013 -13.33 314,560 4,444,010
AOU Auroch Minerals Ltd 0.23 -11.54 2,467,782 66,478,135
NC6 Nanollose Limited 0.2 -11.11 5,011,867 26,718,546
PTR Petratherm Ltd 0.16 -11.11 5,100 33,904,583
DDD 3D Resources Limited 0.004 -11.11 4,107,328 16,269,174
NCR Nucoal Resources Ltd 0.008 -11.11 727,000 6,917,511
HWK Hawkstone Mng Ltd 0.025 -10.71 68,990,805 42,324,059
IEC Intra Energy Corp 0.009 -10.00 100,000 3,877,240
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