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).

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Code Company Price % Volume
BAS Bass Oil Ltd 0.002 33 3135500
BBL Brisbane Broncos 0.57 27 127977
SGC Sacgasco Ltd 0.029 26 5971174
CCE Carnegie Cln Energy 0.0025 25 3676499
MLS Metals Australia 0.0025 25 1768952
TSC Twenty Seven Co. Ltd 0.005 25 4690334
XST Xstate Resources 0.005 25 2439919
MQR Marquee Resource Ltd 0.145 21 23193712
MZZ Matador Mining Ltd 0.39 20 1564472
CGB Cann Global Limited 0.003 20 8378467
LCY Legacy Iron Ore 0.025 19 10265605
BNO Bionomics Limited 0.13 18 1284776
ECS ECS Botanics Holding 0.033 18 7997720
CL8 Carly Holdings Ltd 0.053 18 1968799
WR1 Winsome Resources 0.365 18 7323138
CPO Culpeominerals 0.21 17 142520
TRP Tissue Repair 0.56 17 264008
SIS Simble Solutions 0.028 17 597081
TUA Tuas Limited 2.26 16 1034132
ANX Anax Metals Ltd 0.093 16 938725
HXL Hexima 0.4 16 136916
ENT Enterprise Metals 0.015 15 133334
HPP Health Plant Protein 0.195 15 10513
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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).

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Code Company Price % Volume
NVX Novonix Limited 8.21 -32 16764476
WOO Wooboard Tech Ltd 0.0015 -25 124876
TPS Threat Protect Ltd 0.004 -20 360300
SPQ Superior Resources 0.015 -17 20318961
BKY Berkeley Energia Ltd 0.155 -16 540648
OXX Octanex Ltd 0.024 -14 28092
WEL Winchester Energy 0.013 -13 7029034
MCM Mc Mining Ltd 0.083 -13 10800
SIX Sprintex Ltd 0.07 -13 100000
JDR Jadar Resources 0.057 -12 54268200
EMD Emyria Limited 0.395 -12 1076505
DBO Diabloresources 0.115 -12 90228
GT1 Greentechnology 0.335 -11 778553
SE1 Sensera Ltd 0.017 -11 7282743
AUQ Alara Resources Ltd 0.026 -10 1846031
CM8 Crowd Media Limited 0.035 -10 6829360
AUE Aurumresources 0.18 -10 194746
CLG Close Loop 0.27 -10 2472463
MNB Minbos Resources Ltd 0.135 -10 1906366
AFR African Energy Res 0.036 -10 741299
SI6 SI6 Metals Limited 0.009 -10 1615401
CTT Cettire 3 -10 2752632
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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