Closing Bell: ASX drifts sideways, hot lithium stock Pan Asia keeps on booming

Local stocks struggled for traction in Wednesday trade, as the major indexes drifted sideways following a weak lead out of the US.

Banks and energy stocks were up, offsetting falls in resources and consumer staples.

There were few major catalysts in the Asian session, as markets await US jobs data which is now viewed by some analysts as a key factoring influencing the pace at which the US Federal Reserve may tighten monetary policy.

Payrolls data from ADP will come out later tonight (AEST), which may give some clues ahead of all-important US employment figures this Friday.

TODAY’S BIGGEST WINNERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume
ANL	Amani Gold Ltd	0.002	100.0%	440,520,540
PAM	Pan Asia Metals	0.505	53.0%	59,885,325
UUL	Ultima Utd Ltd	0.62	47.6%	157,991
AUN	Aurumin	0.235	42.4%	4,716,822
DLT	Delta Drone Intl Ltd	0.034	30.8%	12,104,153
AWN	AWN Holdings Limited	0.8	29.0%	469,410
BDX	Bcaldiagnostics	0.205	28.1%	1,169,604
BIR	BIR Financial Ltd	0.038	26.7%	1,906,499
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.025	25.0%	94,183,104
ARO	Astro Resources NL	0.005	25.0%	2,474,628
AVW	Avira Resources Ltd	0.005	25.0%	12,520,860
CI1	Credit Intelligence	0.016	23.1%	9,944,488
MNB	Minbos Resources Ltd	0.135	22.7%	12,480,576
AYM	Australia United Min	0.011	22.2%	1,672,525
MEM	Memphasys Ltd	0.072	22.0%	1,531,995
BUD	Buddy Tech	0.0195	21.9%	27,584,313
AGH	Althea Group	0.285	21.3%	2,900,001
ADV	Ardiden Ltd	0.0145	20.8%	19,878,314
IPB	IPB Petroleum Ltd	0.018	20.0%	628,110
RNX	Renegade Exploration	0.006	20.0%	288,889
SHH	Shree Minerals Ltd	0.012	20.0%	10,294,010
KNI	Kunikolimited	3.24	19.1%	10,495,496
WFL	Wellfully Limited	0.125	19.0%	12,570,294
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.013	18.2%	964,769
SPN	Sparc Tech Ltd	0.69	17.9%	350,708

Another day on the ASX, another day when junior lithium plays with carbon-neutral ambitions rocket into orbit on no news.

Pan Asia Metals (ASX:PAM) continued that trend today, as investors continued to pile into the company which has plans to develop its ‘Kata Thong’ geothermal lithium project in Thailand by pumping deep geothermal brines to the surface.

Another big winner was property development company Ultima Ltd (ASX:UUL), which ripped higher by almost 50% following the release of its annual report this morning before going into a trading halt in afternoon trade, pending a further announcement.

In tech, IoT company Buddy Technologies (ASX:BUD) held its morning gains after executing on an entitlement offer in connection with a restructuring of its debt facility.

And pot stock Althea (ASX:AGH) joined the winner’s list after its subsidiary Peak Processing Solutions signed a binding US$3.42m product development agreement with a subsidiary of The Boston Beer Company to launch “a new range of nonalcoholic cannabis-infused beverages in Canada”.

TODAY’S BIGGEST LOSERS

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Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume
PAL	Palla Pharma Ltd	0.28	-26.3%	1,246,147
OEX	Oilex Ltd	0.003	-25.0%	200,000
IVT	Inventis Limited	0.12	-20.0%	36,243
SIT	Site Group Int Ltd	0.008	-20.0%	798,437
T3D	333D Limited	0.002	-20.0%	1,414,764
DTI	DTI Group Ltd	0.019	-17.4%	1,709,442
MRG	Murray River Grp	0.2	-16.7%	92,248
NTL	New Talisman Gold	0.0025	-16.7%	275,000
PNC	Pioneer Credit Ltd	0.47	-14.5%	776,177
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.006	-14.3%	505,869
HNR	Hannans Ltd	0.006	-14.3%	1,230,000
TSC	Twenty Seven Co. Ltd	0.003	-14.3%	605,527
RZI	Raiz Invest Limited	1.715	-13.4%	1,440,352
BID	Bill Identity Ltd	0.36	-13.3%	4,207,898
SRN	Surefire Rescs NL	0.015	-11.8%	60,749,603
FMS	Flinders Mines Ltd	0.78	-11.4%	3,120
JAL	Jameson Resources	0.08	-11.1%	85,000
TER	Terracom Ltd	0.16	-11.1%	4,160,671
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.004	-11.1%	6,889,796
TYM	Tymlez Group	0.016	-11.1%	8,530,205
AEI	Aeris Environmental	0.13	-10.3%	448,416
PPY	Papyrus Australia	0.026	-10.3%	1,197,622
AD1	AD1 Holdings Limited	0.036	-10.0%	472,600
DXN	DXN Limited	0.009	-10.0%	125,311
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.018	-10.0%	7,217,261

Palla Pharma Ltd (ASX:PAL), which manufactures opiates from poppy straw, fell sharply after announcing that it’s hopeful of receiving an extension for the lodgement date of its audited half-year accounts in accordance with ASX listing rules.

And fintech investment platform Raiz Invest (ASX:RZI) also dipped, after interests associated with CEO George Lucas which have a combined holding of more than 5% of Raiz shares filed a s249D notice to convene a meeting of shareholders to vote on the removal of three directors.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Regional Express (ASX:REX) extended its services suspensions and stand downs until aft least October 10. The company said it remained optimistic demand would be strong post lockwowns and was committed to bring ready to respond when flying resumes.

Memphasys (ASX:MEM) reached an agreement with Hydrix (ASX:HYD) over an engineering flaw with its sperm sorter Felix device. Hydrix has aged to pay $500,000 in re-imbursements of costs as well as 1 million of its own shares.

Kip McGrath (ASX:KME) announced it was buying a 70% in US tutoring business Tutorfly. It will pay US$500,000 and says the move will provide a launch pad to open centres in the USA.

iSignthis (ASX:ISX) just might have found its way to trade again. The company announced plans to demerge its European subsidiary (ISX Financial EU) and list it on a European exchange.

Lung imaging tech company 4D Medical (ASX:4DX), revealed its imaging platform had been in initial testing with Australia’s largest medical imaging network I-MED Radiology. I-MED has now agreed to expand its use to the remainder of this year.