The Santa rally continued today with the ASX closing higher than yesterday by 0.13%, despite trading lower for much of the day.

Tech had a solid day gaining 2.6% ,while health and telcos gained 0.78%. Materials and property were the worst sectors, losing 0.34% and 1.03% respectively.

There were four IPOs today but only one performed well – tech company Atturra (ASX:ATA).

That was accompanied by a flurry of resources stocks which all fell by more than 10% on day one.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during the trading day).

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Penny tech stock AppsVillage (ASX:APV) told shareholders it received conditional approval to list on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and had obtained CA$2.9 million in financing.

In the energy sector, Winchester Energy (ASX:WEL) reported achieving US$996,507 ($1.4 million) in gross gas revenue accurals for the month of November.

One stock that rose without its own news was Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1), which is one of the few companies selling rapid COVID test kits in Australia – a commodity in hot demand at the moment.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow fell after making announcements during the trading day).

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Step One (ASX:STP) fell after telling shareholders it had identified a possible overclaim of GST credits on an Australian supply made by a foreign corporation which was not previously identified and it would have a $1.6 million impact pre-tax.

Potash aspirant Kalium Lakes (ASX:KLL) dropped after a shareholder update in which it revealed potassium salts harvested this year would be lower than initially targeted.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Link Administration Holdings (ASX:LNK) is set to be acquired by Dye & Durham, with the company entering a binding scheme implementation deed and telling shareholders to accept the offer. The bid, which is $5.50 per share, values Link at $2.9 billion.

Still with M&A, Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) was notified by the Foreign Investment Review Board it had no objection to the proposed takeover by the Sydney Aviation Alliance. This was one of the key conditions for the merger proceeding notwithstanding the board embracing the offer.

Charter Hall’s Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX:CQE) acquired two childcare portfolios comprising 21 properties in WA and Victoria for a total purchase price of $134.3 million, reflecting a passing yield of 4.6%. The company also announced it upgraded its debt facilities to $700 million with another $100 million being provided by an existing financier.

Spacetalk’s (ASX:SPA) smartwatches will be stocked in Denmark. It announced a distribution agreement with local telco Telenor to distribute its Spacetalk Adventurer products in its Danish retail stores starting in January next year.

Air New Zealand (ASX:AIZ) released its monthly investor update with passenger numbers which were down compared to 12 months ago thanks to local lockdowns. However the company was looking to the future, telling shareholders it was aiming to get a zero emission aircraft in the air within five years and released a tender for businesses to help it build, launch of market such aircraft.

 

TRADING HALTS

Thursday

Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) – resource upgrade
Aston Minerals (ASX:ASO) – exploration results
Carnaby Resources (ASX:CNB) – re-release of announcement
Scout Security (ASX:SCT) – convertible note

Friday

Link (ASX:LNK) – M&A deal