Closing Bell: ASX defies the odds to finish in positive territory

The ASX was set for another negative day if futures and Wall Street’s drop were any guide — but even with a bad start, Australia’s bourse finished in the green.

The ASX 200 fell as much as 0.50% in the first few minutes of trade but closed 0.35% higher at 7,274 points.

The ASX Emerging Companies Index dropped 0.82% for the day, but even this was much better than its intraday lows of 2%.

Almost all sectors were in the green with only financials retreating – by 0.43%.

US futures are also in positive territory.

Investors in Australia were arguably soothed by ANZ/Roy Morgan Consumer confidence figures holding steady and the RBA’s September meeting minutes – in which it reaffirmed an interest rate hike was unlikely before 2024.

TODAY’S BIGGEST WINNERS

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Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.003	50	6374505
BAS	Bass Oil Ltd	0.002	33	116221044
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.017	31	27212351
BBC	Bnk Bank Corp Ltd	1.02	28	749511
YPB	YPB Group Ltd	0.0025	25	1953009
JPR	Jupiter Energy	0.049	23	1703570
CHZ	Chesser Resources	0.14	22	1175416
EMP	Emperor Energy Ltd	0.054	20	837790
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.03	20	57431562
GED	Golden Deeps	0.012	20	27237855
PNX	PNX Metals Limited	0.007	17	185000
CRL	Comet Resources	0.029	16	115931136
BDG	Black Dragon Gold	0.06	15	116880
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.015	15	8145808
ATU	Atrum Coal Ltd	0.04	14	1918403
SPT	Splitit	0.39	13	7753451
VN8	Vonex Limited.	0.135	13	6465670
AEV	Avenira Limited	0.009	13	192427
CZR	CZR Resources Ltd	0.009	13	3468250
IEC	Intra Energy Corp	0.009	13	201111
A3D	Aurora Labs Limited	0.14	12	1008171
FHS	Freehill Mining Ltd.	0.028	12	327856
RCR	Rincon	0.24	12	71121

The graphite from Comet Resources (ASX:CRL) ‘Springdale’ project in WA is perfect for use in lithium-ion batteries, test work shows.

Microcap oil play Bass Oil (ASX:BAS) received approval from the South Australian government for its acquisition of oil assets in the Cooper Basin.

BNK Bank (ASX:BNK) rose after hinting at some M&A activity, telling shareholders it received interest and was going to undertake a strategic review.

TODAY’S BIGGEST LOSERS

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Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
OAK	Oakridge	0.001	-50	642479
GLE	GLG Corp Ltd	0.25	-24	15000
MCM	Mc Mining Ltd	0.125	-24	61862
HNR	Hannans Ltd	0.03	-19	220690722
OXX	Octanex Ltd	0.031	-18	565304
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.005	-17	21591375
TSC	Twenty Seven Co. Ltd	0.005	-17	16508923
LDR	Lode Resources	0.13	-16	13690
TTI	Traffic Technologies	0.036	-14	383797
AUH	Austchina Holdings	0.006	-14	3157004
GMR	Golden Rim Resources	0.006	-14	500000
SNS	Sensen Networks Ltd	0.12	-14	205423
RML	Resolution Minerals	0.019	-14	2993553
WSR	Westar Resources	0.165	-13	164357
ADX	ADX Energy Ltd	0.007	-13	47706745
DLC	Delecta Limited	0.014	-13	79451358
RAG	Ragnar Metals Ltd	0.035	-13	2360634
AFR	African Energy Res	0.029	-12	2444436
ADO	Anteotech Ltd	0.255	-12	7743406
AMT	Allegra Orthopaedics	0.22	-12	11500
ATX	Amplia Therapeutics	0.185	-12	392114
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.185	-12	69000
HMI	Hiremii	0.097	-12	10000

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (ASX:KPT) said the $15m transport assistance program announced by the South Australian government for transporting softwood from bushfire ravaged Kangaroo Island might help. The company previously said the jury was out on any salvage harvest opportunity.

NIB (ASX:NHF) and Honeysuckle Health were authorised to form and operate a health services buying group. It was granted only for 5 years – rather than the 10 sought – and on condition that WA’s other major insurers would not be allowed to join the group.

IGO (ASX:IGO) confirmed to shareholders it was seeking to acquire base metals miner Western Areas (ASX:WSA). While the AFR reported IGO had 4 weeks to make a binding offer, IGO told shareholders discussions were at an early stage and there was no guarantee a deal would eventuate.

Dairy company Clover Corp (ASX:CLV) released its FY21 results today and like its peers struggled with market conditions especially in relation to China. It’s profit more than halved shrinking from $12.5 million to $6 million and its revenue fell from $88.2 million to $60.5 million.

Just a day since energy network operator AusNet (ASX:AST) got a $9b+ takeover bid from Brookfield, APA Group (ASX:APA) put forward an offer of its own, at $2.60 per share which is higher than Brookfield’s $2.50 per share offer. The company said it was disappointed AusNet was not in a period of exclusivity with Brookfield and asserted its offer was superior from a cash perspective but also the quality of the eventual merged entity.

Canyon Resources (ASX:CAY) held a general meeting at which its shareholders ratified a recent $6.2 million placement of shares. Shareholders approved the deal which included a chip-in from director Peter Su.

And less than a week since Stake launched its ASX offering, it gave a picture of just how in demand its low-cost brokerage ($3 per share) was with investors. It said over 35,000 people have registered on its waitlist and it says it is growing quickly.