Closing Bell: ASX falls 0.41pc led by tech sell off

Pic: Rommel Gonzalez / EyeEm / EyeEm via Getty Images

On a day Facebook was out for 6 hours, the tech sector – in Australia and abroad – was sold off and that was enough to send the ASX into negative territory.

The ASX 200 closed 0.41% down at 7,248 points and tech was easily the worst sector, down 2.97%.

No other sector lost over 1% although only a couple of sectors were positive, one being energy which rose 2.44%.

Nevertheless the ASX’s drop was moderate compared to other markets, boosted by the ASX keeping interest rates on hold and consumer confidence figures holding firm.

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.

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
MLS	Metals Australia	0.002	100	6513085
NPM	Newpeak Metals	0.002	100	1969474
GSN	Great Southern	0.075	27	11846080
AWJ	Auric Mining	0.125	25	215407
ROO	Roots Sustainable	0.01	25	3001763
IBG	Ironbark Zinc Ltd	0.052	24	13932086
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.028	22	29175160
YPB	YPB Group Ltd	0.003	20	48575833
AKG	Academies Aus Grp	0.285	19	325362
AKM	Aspire Mining Ltd	0.098	17	548138
IXU	Ixup Limited	0.21	17	6120060
SMR	Stanmore Resources	1.1	16	342957
LMG	Latrobe Magnesium	0.03	15	1168729
KLL	Kalium Lakes Ltd	0.235	15	4408963
DDD	3D Resources Limited	0.004	14	2233674
FNX	Finexia Financialgrp	0.08	14	15000
K2F	K2Fly Ltd	0.32	14	982388
EXR	Elixir Energy Ltd	0.29	14	9608788
PDI	Predictive Disc Ltd	0.26	13	20169519
TCG	Turaco Gold Limited	0.13	13	1385348
WBT	Weebit Nano Ltd	3.06	13	1117498
EQE	Equus Mining Ltd	0.009	13	1257318

AuMake (ASX:AUK) climbed after completing a capital raising and telling shareholders it stood to benefit as international students returned to Australia beginning in December.

Agtech stock Roots (ASX:ROO) obtained a notice of allowance for a US patent for its plant substrate temperature control device, the Heat Exchange Probe.

Perth based industrial services company SSH (ASX:SSH) upped its revenue guidance by 300% just over a fortnight since listing.

Dairy farm operator Australian Dairy Nutritionals (ASX:AHF) revealed all of its farms achieved organic certification.

In resources, Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) and Castle Minerals (ASX:CDT) rose after project updates.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

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

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

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
VIC	Victory Mines Ltd	0.001	-50	12315525
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.002	-33	8254044
ANL	Amani Gold Ltd	0.003	-25	269901288
GTG	Genetic Technologies	0.007	-22	6800563
TMK	Tamaska Oil Gas Ltd	0.007	-22	10750407
KWR	Kingwest Resources	0.135	-21	3166549
BAS	Bass Oil Ltd	0.002	-20	16475939
NTL	New Talisman Gold	0.002	-20	4551315
TMG	Trigg Mining Ltd.	0.084	-20	4956596
AKN	Auking Mining Ltd	0.245	-18	5404838
NCR	Nucoal Resources Ltd	0.009	-18	14393751
IQ3	Iq3Corp Limited	0.115	-18	25000
AO1	Assetowl Limited	0.005	-17	200715
MEB	Medibio Limited	0.01	-17	10995812
VPR	Volt Power Group	0.0025	-17	600000
PAL	Palla Pharma Ltd	0.325	-16	22689
M8S	M8 Sustainable	0.023	-15	1188981
ARE	Argonaut Resources	0.006	-14	12759731
GRV	Greenvale Mining Ltd	0.275	-14	2161647
GGE	Grand Gulf Energy	0.032	-14	5329149

Kingwest Resources (ASX:KWR), Inca Minerals (ASX:ICG) and Trigg Mining (ASX:TMG) all fell after their respective project updates.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

New Zealand Media (ASX:NZM), which owns several media brands across the Tasman including the New Zealand Herald, tipped full year earnings between $63 and $67 million, slightly below 2020’s $67.3. million figure. The company said its advertising revenues this quarter were 7% above the September quarter last year but had nonetheless been impacted by current restrictions.

Industrial services provider Coventry Group (ASX:CYG) also updated its shareholders on trading conditions. Although lockdowns impacted sales by $2.5-$3.5 million the company said sales nonetheless rose by 12.6% in the first quarter of FY22, coming in at $78.2 million.

Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) subsidiary Envirostream was awarded a 99 year operating license for its battery recycling facility in Campbellfield, Victoria. The license permits Envirostream to process over 500 tonnes of specified electronic waste annually.

Perpetual (ASX:PPT) announced it was buying debt markets and advisory business Laminar Capital. While the purchase price was not disclosed, Laminar has $8 billion in funds under advice along with $21 billion in assets under administration in its digital platform Treasury Direct.

Manganese explorer Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) announced its maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its LR1 deposit which it is in a farm-in agreement in with Carawine Resources (ASX: CWX). The MRE came in at 15 million tonnes at 11.3% manganese.

MetalHawk (ASX:MHK) announced diamond drilling would commence at the Commodore nickel prospect after solid assay results. This prospect, BVNC003 lies just 150m north of the 5.9% nickel sulphide intersection revealed to shareholders last week.

MetalsTech (ASX:MTC) revealed a major coup for the spinout of its lithium assets – Winsome Resources – disclosing that China Jushi, China’s largest fibreglass manufacturer, had agreed to subscribe for 9.9% of shares on issue, equating to $2.7 million. This is in addition to the $3 million cornerstone investment by North America’s Lithium Royalty Corp.

Woodside (ASX:WPL) granted Worley (ASX:WOR) a two year extension to a frame agreement to support the Karratha Gas plant and Pluto LNG assets in WA. The deal covers brownfield engineering services including front-end engineering, technical support and design services.