The ASX closed the fourth last week before Christmas up for the day, but once again down for the week.

The ASX 200 closed 0.22% higher at 7,241 but down 0.52% for the week – the fourth straight week it has finished down.

Energy was the top sector with a 1.6% gain while healthcare was the worst, falling 1.73%. Bank stocks performed well with a gain of ~1% while the iron ore majors also closed higher.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

Few stocks rose off the back of announcements but one was Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR).

This US-focused copper-gold explorer gave an exploration update in which it reported spectacular copper visuals – which simply put means had seen visible copper in samples sent to the laboratory for formal assay analysis.

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.

Wordpress Table Plugin

Among the most notable falls was a huge slump by battery tech company Novonix (ASX:NVX), a market darling which has so far posted huge returns since the pandemic began.

Shares in the company crashed more than 30% today no no news before it went into a trading halt, telling the ASX it wasn’t aware of any information that would prompt such a rapid decline.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

CSL (ASX:CSL) responded to speculation it was looking to takeover Swiss-listed pharmaceutical company Vifor Pharma. The ASX’s largest biotech said no confirmed deal had been done but it was regularly on the hunt for strategic opportunities.

Winchester Energy (ASX:WEL) officially snapped up a 100% working interest in the Varn Oil Field, 18 miles from its existing production field. Varn has proven and probably reserves of 1.068 million barrels of oil equivalent comprised of over 93% oil.

Fonterra (ASX:FSF) reported $190 million in pre-tax earnings for the September quarter. The company credited a 30% hike in whole milk powder prices in New Zealand, offsetting softening demand in China.

Apollo Consolidated’s (ASX:AOP) takeover by Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) is coming to a close. Ramelius surpassed 90%, a threshold giving it the right to snap up all remaining shares without consent of those shareholders.

Recently listed offshore energy services provider TEK-Ocean Group (ASX:T3K) was selected by industry peer MMA Offshore (ASX:MMA) to provide vessel and associated support services for a Marine Engineering Geotechnical Site Investigation campaign in the Bass Strait. The investigation to help feasibility and cost estimates for undersea energy cables between Tasmania and the mainland.

 

TRADING HALTS

Monday

Damstra (ASX:DTC) – capital raising
Envirosuite (ASX:EVS) – capital raising
White Rock Minerals (ASX:WRM) – capital raising
ReNu Energy (ASX:RNE) – capital raising
Douugh (ASX:DOU) – capital raising
Dacian Gold (ASX:DCN) – capital raising
American Rare Earths (ASX:ARR) – capital raising
Elmore (ASX:ELE) – capital raising

Tuesday

Prominence Energy (ASX:PRM) – capital raising and asset acquisition
Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) – optimisation study update
Ausgold (ASX:AUC) – project update
Talon Energy (ASX:TPD) – drilling results
Strike Energy (ASX:STX) – drilling results
Registry Direct (ASX:RD1) – capital raising
Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) – capital raising

Featured Companies

You might be interested in