A slow start on the ASX took a backseat to the main event this morning — Trump vs Biden 1.0.

The first presidential debate descended into insults and banter almost from the start, as the two candidates sparred over whether Ruth Ginsburg’s empty Supreme Court seat should be filled before the election.

Trump and Biden continued to weigh in on topics including COVID-19, race relations and Trump’s taxes — a lot of which appeared to leave the Twitter commentariat feeling like this guy in the middle seat:

Betting markets are pricing Biden as a slight favourite, although it’s close to a 50/50 race ahead of the election on November 3.

After climbing off their morning lows, local stocks resumed their slide after the debate ended as both the ASX200 and Small Ords Index fell by more than one per cent.

The downturn followed the path of US S&P500 futures which rose by as much as 0.6 per cent during the debate before falling into the red.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday, September 30:

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

TICKER NAME PRICE % CHANGE MARKET CAP
MSI Multistack International 0.013 63 $ 898,431
CCE Carnegie Cln Energy 0.0015 50 $ 11,141,452
ROG Red Sky Energy 0.003 50 $ 4,072,367
VPR Volt Power Group 0.003 50 $ 18,339,067
SPQ Superior Resources 0.01 43 $ 7,971,540
HAV Havilah Resources 0.205 41 $ 39,287,124
EMN Euromanganese 0.25 27 $ 21,380,500
TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.005 25 $ 5,129,443
ANP Antisense Therapeutics 0.14 22 $ 56,233,640
REE Rarex Limited 0.093 19 $ 28,361,990
TKM Trek Metals Ltd 0.071 18 $ 12,601,221
ICU Isentric Ltd. 0.13 18 $ 32,828,004
BSM Bass Metals Ltd 0.0035 17 $ 10,445,027
TSC Twenty Seven Co. Ltd 0.007 17 $ 9,517,925
ESR Estrella Res Ltd 0.015 15 $ 7,925,421
OIL Optiscan Imaging 0.115 15 $ 47,777,880
CTD Corp Travel Limited 17.96 14 $ 1,761,455,352
PRM Prominence Energy NL 0.008 14 $ 1,685,538
RXH Rewardle Holding Ltd 0.008 14 $ 3,684,250
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Gold explorer Superior Resources (ASX:SPQ) raced out of the gate and held its gains into midday trade, after announcing a high-grade shallow gold hit at its Steam Engine project in Townsville, Queensland.

Antisense Therapeutics (ASX:ANP) also rose strongly after receiving a rare pediatric disease (RPD) designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its ATL1102 drug, which is used to treat DMD — a rare and fatal muscle wasting disease.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Wednesday, September 30:

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

NAME PRICE % CHANGE MARKET CAP
T3D 333D Limited 0.001 -50 $ 2,131,992
SVD Scandivanadium Ltd 0.016 -45 $ 13,000,891
ANW Aus Tin Mining 0.01 -33 $ 4,994,661
GGX Gas2Grid Limited 0.02 -33 $ 3,898,341
OEX Oilex Ltd 0.0015 -25 $ 8,239,260
PLL Piedmont Lithium Ltd 0.3 -21 $ 439,021,678
TRM Truscott Mining Corp 0.016 -20 $ 2,458,831
CNJ Conico Ltd 0.018 -18 $ 9,725,689
CZN Corazon Ltd 0.0025 -17 $ 9,760,077
EN1 Engage:Bdr Limited 0.005 -17 $ 10,341,334
ENA Ensurance Ltd 0.021 -16 $ 14,273,906
PSL Paterson Resources 0.003 -14 $ 14,011,741
PGY Pilot Energy Ltd 0.033 -13 $ 4,025,301
CFE Cape Lambert Res Ltd 0.007 -13 $ 14,533,631
GLA Gladiator Resources 0.0035 -13 $ 9,311,337
LPD Lepidico Ltd 0.007 -13 $ 41,485,880
NGY Nuenergy Gas Ltd 0.014 -13 $ 23,695,288
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After topping the winners list to start this week, in the wake of its market-moving deal with Tesla, North Carolina-based Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) came back to the pack somewhat today with a decline of around 20 per cent in morning trade.