Closing Bell: ASX falls into a sea of red ahead of the Fed

J-Pow and the gang are back on deck with a bang later tonight, and ASX investors appeared to buckle up in the safety seat ahead of the all-important Fed meeting.

The ASX 200 finished around 0.7% lower, with a steeper fall of 1.4% in the microcap Emerging Companies index.

The defensive posture accompanied a small rise in bond yields ahead of the Fed announcements, with markets on edge for any indication that US interest rates may start rising quicker than currently anticipated.

There were more falls in tech as Afterpay (ASX:APT) dropped further below $90 to its lowest levels since May.

Large cap gold stocks also got a clip ’round the ears, while the iron ore majors traded flat.

Across other risk assets, the Aussie dollar came under pressure before steadying late in the session to hold above US71c.

On the IPO front, Africa-based nickel-copper play Armada Metals (ASX:AMM) joined the boards after raising $10m from investors at 20c per share.

The company plans to start work on its drill-ready Nyanga Project in Gabon along the nickel and copper-rich Congo Craton Margin.

All up, AMM is targeting 18 sites across a holding area of 3,000sqm, with five targets considered drill-reay with drilling set to commence early next year.

Shares in the company fell by 25% on day one to close at 15c.

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
AOU	Auroch Minerals Ltd	0.13	30.0%	1,377,725
KNM	Kneomedia Limited	0.018	28.6%	1,881,276
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.0025	25.0%	1,183,897
LGM	Legacy Minerals	0.2	21.2%	220,117
CFO	Cfoam Limited	0.012	20.0%	2,039,351
RRR	Revolver Resources	0.46	17.9%	850,103
HLO	Helloworld Travl Ltd	2.66	16.2%	3,162,514
BBC	Bnk Bank Corp Ltd	1.2	15.9%	1,932,476
WNX	Wellnex Life Ltd	0.105	15.4%	1,127,468
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.015	15.4%	2,164,463
MIO	Macarthur Minerals	0.385	14.9%	58,308
AXI	Axiom Properties	0.07	14.8%	42,433
NOR	Norwood Systems Ltd.	0.016	14.3%	107,500
RNX	Renegade Exploration	0.008	14.3%	63,000
ATR	Astron Corp Ltd	0.48	14.3%	53,666
NUC	Nuchev Limited	0.61	13.0%	24,600
BKY	Berkeley Energia Ltd	0.18	12.5%	889,626
DCX	Discovex Res Ltd	0.0045	12.5%	276,666

Explorer Auroch Minerals (ASX:AOU) ripped higher into the close to finish 30% higher on no news.

There was a solid move in SaaS-based digital learning company KneoMedia (ASX:KNM), which jumped off recent lows of 1.4c on no news to climb by more than 20%.

Among stocks with announcements, Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM) led the pack after announcing that re-assay results had revealed higher grade gold intercepts at LGM’s Harden mine project in the Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales, where the company is conducting the first drill program for more than 100 years.

Health supplements company Wellnex Life (ASX:WNX) was also among the daily leaders, jumping by more than 20% on no news.

Financial services company BNK Banking Corporation (ASX:BNK) posted a gain, after striking a deal to sell its mortgage broking aggregation platform Finsure for $151.6m in cash to MA Financial (ASX:MAF).

And recently listed copper explorer Revolver Resources (ASX:RRR) jumped again after flagging a big anomaly at its ‘Diane’ project in Queensland which could be an extension to the currently defined deposit, and follows on from a separate drill hit last week.

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.

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
BAS	Bass Oil Ltd	0.0015	-25.0%	762,800
QGL	Quantum Graphite	0.12	-22.6%	1,284,312
AMM	Armada Metals	0.155	-22.5%	5,295,799
CGB	Cann Global Limited	0.002	-20.0%	7,734,195
CTO	Citigold Corp Ltd	0.008	-20.0%	2,566,713
CLA	Celsius Resource Ltd	0.017	-19.0%	49,637,092
MM1	Midas Minerals	0.135	-18.2%	104,402
AFW	Applyflow Limited	0.005	-16.7%	20,860,501
LCT	Living Cell Tech.	0.005	-16.7%	4,707,767
ROO	Roots Sustainable	0.005	-16.7%	9,148,533
CAD	Caeneus Minerals	0.011	-15.4%	14,961,108
RVS	Revasum	0.595	-15.0%	507,332
MKL	Mighty Kingdom Ltd	0.145	-14.7%	589,472
RCR	Rincon	0.15	-14.3%	85,352
ESH	Esports Mogul Ltd	0.006	-14.3%	847,201
MEB	Medibio Limited	0.006	-14.3%	22,276,679
TPSDD	Threat Protect Ltd	0.38	-13.6%	2,725
THR	Thor Mining PLC	0.013	-13.3%	7,054,151

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Coal company Coronado (ASX:CRN) advised shareholders it would not be able to make up for production impacted by a fatal accident at Curragh as well as above average rainfall. The company forecasts just over 17 million metric tonnes to be produced for 2021 although sales volumes won’t be impacted due to stockpiling.

Real estate investor Irongate (ASX:IAP) received another bid from 360 Capital that was 7.2% higher than the previous offer presented back in mid-October. Irongate says it would consider the offer and was committed to maximising shareholder value.

Emyria (ASX:EMD) reported positive preliminary results from a pre-clinical study of its CBD formulation. The company says it will move to human clinical trials at the start of next year and is hoping to achieve Schedule 3 registration in the next 12 months.

Alloggio (ASX:ALO) is forking out $8 million to buy Great Ocean Road Accomodation Centre. This business is one of the largest holiday property management businesses in Australia managing over 600 holiday properties in the Great Ocean Road region.

MA Financial Group (ASX:MAF) announced earnings per share for FY21 would exceed the upper end of its prior guidance range of 30-40%. In FY22 it expects another 15-25% growth inclusive of the acquisition of mortgage aggregator Finsure which was announced today.

TRADING HALTS

Thursday

Credit Clear (ASX:CCR) – capital raising
IDT Australia (ASX:IDT) – response to government mRNA announcement
Shekel Brainweigh (ASX:SBW) – capital raising
333D (ASX:T3D) – capital raising
CSL (ASX:CSL) – capital raising and acquisition
PepinNini (ASX:PNN) – capital raising
BNK Banking (ASX:BBC) – divestment transaction
MA Financial (ASX:MAF) – acquisition