• The ASX 200 dropped 0.30% and the ASX XEC declined 0.20%
  • Only 4 out of 11 sectors were higher, with Utilities leading the way
  • Waste management company M8 Sustainable receives unsolicited takeover offer

 

The ASX 200 declined 0.30% today, the XEC small cap index saw a 0.20% drop and only 4 out of 11 sectors were higher, led by Utilities which gained 0.49%.

Talking about utilities, among the notable small caps news today was waste management company M8 Sustainable (ASX:M8S) who received a notice from Adroit Capital Group ESG Pty Ltd (Adroit) of its intention to make an unsolicited all cash off market takeover bid to acquire 1 out of every 5 ordinary shares of M8S not currently owned by Adroit or its associates.

M8 focuses on the downstream sectors of processing and disposal and operates a metropolitan construction and demolition waste processing facility in Maddington in WA.

Its key growth asset is a major new 150,000 tonnes per annum bioreactor waste management facility at Gingin in Perth’s north, currently under construction and expected to be operation in the Q1 CY23.

The board says it will consider the unsolicited offer and advises shareholders to take no action at this time.

 

NOT THE ASX

Most European stock indices fell on Tuesday despite upbeat eurozone economic data. 

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.17% and the German DAX shed 0.07% while the French CAC 40 gained 0.26%.

“The eurozone composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) exited contraction territory in January, rising from 49.3 to 50.2, beating expectations for a more moderate improvement,” UniCredit economist Tullia Bucco wrote in a note. 

“This is the highest reading since June and suggests downside risks are receding.”

US stock indices finished mixed on Tuesday, as a series of major companies reported earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.31% higher, after sliding earlier in the morning. The S&P 500 fell 0.07%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.27%.

“The biggest thing this week would be earnings,” Legal & General Investment Management head of multi-asset funds John Roe said.

So far, this earnings season has not seen major downgrades to corporate outlooks, or to consensus forecasts for the coming year, Roe said. 

“Everyone was worried that it could be an earnings season where we get revisions down, so when you get a season where nothing happens, you also get the idea that this pushes out the timing of a US recession,” he said.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

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SKY Metals (ASX:SKY) has re-assayed a bunch of old drill core for rare earths, uncovering thick, widespread REEs at all three tin deposits at the Doradilla project in NSW.

Drilling highlights like 33m @ 4981ppm (0.50%) TREO from 15m — including 12m @ 8781ppm (0.88%) TREO from 25m – remain open in multiple directions.

The results suggest that there are multiple kilometres of shallow REE mineralisation over the total 16km strike length of the so-called DMK system – the majority of which remains untested for REE.

Drill planning is being expedited and preliminary metallurgical testwork has commenced.

Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) is embarking on a major resource expansion program at its flagship 1Mt Paradox lithium brines project in Utah.

The plan is to convert the existing inferred resource and exploration target in the Western area of the project to indicated and inferred resources.

The exploration target in the Western area is 2.10–2.56Bt of brine grading 108–200ppm lithium and 2,000–3,000ppm bromine.

Drilling is expected to start in the current quarter.

And North American uranium play Okapi Resources (ASX:OKR) is entering the enrichment sector with a cornerstone $3.1m investment for a 19.9% stake in private Australian company Ubayron.

The deal is well-timed, with reports of potential sanctions against Russia’s dominant uranium enrichment industry.

According to the World Nuclear Council, most of the about 500 commercial nuclear power reactors operating or under construction in the world today require uranium ‘enriched’ in the U-235 isotope for their fuel.

It is a $US6bn industry, and Russia owns a big chunk of it.

OKR says Ubayron’s next generation enrichment tech uses a unique process that does not require significant temperature or pressure and significantly reduces technical risk and cost.

OKR now has exposure to multiple components of the nuclear fuel cycle, says OKR managing director Andrew Ferrier, who will join the Ubaryon board to help with development and commercialisation.

“The US currently imports 95% of its uranium yellowcake requirements and 70% of its SWU (enriched uranium) requirements at a time when a significant geopolitical shift is underway within the nuclear fuel industry as international utilities seek to diversify away from Russia which is currently the largest global producer of enriched uranium,” OKR MD Andrew Ferrier says. 

 

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

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TRADING HALTS

Creso Pharma (ASX:CPH) – pending an announcement regarding a debt restructuring transaction and a non-binding LOI for an acquisition. 

Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies (ASX:ROO) – an update in relation to its Entitlement Issue 

 

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