The pillow fight — a childhood staple and an easy way to have fun with minimal risk of serious injury.

But as usual, someone has taken it too far.

The first official Pillow Fight Championship was held over the weekend (and before you ask where… yep, Florida).

Grown adults — 16 men and eight women — worked their way through a bracket style tournament, equipped with mouthguards and modified pillows designed to leave a mark.

The winners reportedly took home US$5,000 each, meaning the new sport has a way to go before matching the base $US100mm payday that Floyd Mayweather took home for boxing Conor McGregor.

On local markets, tech investors are back on the 2022 rollercoaster (and this time it’s going downhill).

After following the Nasdaq’s lead with a strong rally to start the week, the ASX All-Tech index slumped by almost 4% this morning.

Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) is getting hammered (-10%), and Meta (NSDQ:FB) got crushed on Wall Street (-20%) in after hours trade after its latest quarterly trading update missed analyst expectations.

In line with the broader market trend so far this year, ASX commodities stocks are one of the few bright spots for local investors this morning.

Gains for the iron ore majors helped the ASX 200 index outpace the small end of town, as the microcaps Emerging Companies index fell by +1.5%.

Brent crude oil is holding just below US$90 a barrel as part of a broader uptrend, while crypto markets eased back with Bitcoin trading just below US$37,000 in Thursday Asian trade.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for February 3 [intraday]:

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

Among stocks with news, Benz Mining (ASX:BNZ) led the pack after flagging “high grade lithium mineralisation identified over a large outcropping area” at its Ruby Hill West in Quebec, Canada.

Resources and energy stocks led the way on Thursday, and another stock on the winner’s list was Prominence Energy (ASX:PRM) which announced that WA-based company Western Gas has now received acceptance for its Well Operations Management Plan from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).

“The WOMP acceptance is a major milestone for the project as the last major approval require prior to drilling,” PRM said.

Through a deal struck in early December, Prominence has the right to acquire a 12.5% interest in the project, which will be funded by “firm commitments” to raise $12 million in a two-tranche placement.

Outside of resources, ~$1.8bn chemicals company Nufarm (ASX:NUF) led the pack among stocks with news, after a trading update where it flagged a lift in quarterly revenues and said the “outlook for soft commodity prices remains positive, driving increased plantings”.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for February 3 [intraday]:

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

Another ecommerce stock came under heavy selling pressure, as Cettire (ASX:CTT) fell by almost 20% in morning trade.

The luxury goods retailer reported its half-year trading update to December 31, where it said gross revenues rose to $154.1 million, up from $71.8m for the six months ended June 30 — but the market wanted more.

At around $2.50 in Thursday trade, CTT shares have now fallen by around 40% from their November highs.

Featured Companies

You might be interested in