Closing Bell: ASX finishes in the green, Real Estate leads the charge

The ASX 200 finishes up 1.56%
The ASX XEC rises 1.52%
All 11 sectors were higher lead by Real Estate

The ASX 200 managed a decent 1.56% lift today, and the ASX XEC was also in the green, up 1.52%.

All of 11 sectors were higher, led by Real Estate, which rallied by 3.23%.

The property market could be looking especially sweet on the West Coast, with REIWA’s quarterly market update this week flaging house prices and rents will grow further in 2023 on the West Coast.

“Perth’s annual median house price has increased 1.5 per cent to $552,000 since the end of 2022,” REIWA CEO Cath Hart said.

“Resilience has been the theme for 2023 so far, with house prices continuing to grow in the face of 12 interest rate rises.

“Demand for homes is strong and is supported by population growth. This is expected to continue, with WA recording a 2.3 per cent increase in its population over the year to December 2022 and forecast to grow another 1.8 per cent in 2023-24.”

Notable small caps stocks in the sector today included RAM Essential Services Property Fund (ASX:REP) up 2.99%, ad Cedar Woods Properties (ASX:CWP) up 2.44%.

NOT THE ASX

US June inflation data came in cooler than Wall Street expected, with the latest CPI data showing consumer prices rose 3% in June from a year earlier, the slowest pace in more than two years.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.2% from May.

Economists had expected a 0.3% increase.

Inflation data is a key factor in the Federal Reserve’s decision making this month and beyond.

Markets have rallied this year in part based on the view that the Fed will successfully rein in inflation without causing a severe recession, and Wednesday’s inflation reading bolstered that view.

“The current figures make a strong case against additional rate hikes,” said Jon Maier, chief investment officer at Global X.

“The Fed, which had potentially planned two more hikes this year, might reassess its strategy.”

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume	Market Cap
ME1	Melodiol Glb Health	0.01	54%	121,072,620	$17,475,599
RBR	RBR Group Ltd	0.003	50%	2,560,995	$3,236,809
AAP	Australian Agri Ltd	0.017	42%	340,239	$3,661,194
AMD	Arrow Minerals	0.004	33%	19,645,801	$9,071,295
CLE	Cyclone Metals	0.002	33%	499,999	$15,396,757
BEZ	Besragoldinc	0.285	30%	5,540,072	$77,849,615
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.0045	29%	6,534,481	$3,392,513
TSN	The Sust Nutri Grp	0.009	29%	4,200	$985,340
MHK	Metalhawk.	0.14	27%	410,378	$7,487,681
CCZ	Castillo Copper Ltd	0.01	25%	3,139,394	$10,396,043
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.02	25%	16,615,559	$9,765,289
ERL	Empire Resources	0.005	25%	155,474	$4,451,740
LSR	Lodestar Minerals	0.005	25%	3,976,009	$7,373,589
MRQ	Mrg Metals Limited	0.0025	25%	743,333	$3,971,837
KIN	KIN Min NL	0.04	21%	626,579	$38,878,968
SUH	Southern Hem Min	0.023	21%	613,166	$8,975,696
1ST	1St Group Ltd	0.006	20%	42,237	$7,084,956
PNX	PNX Metals Limited	0.003	20%	1,271,011	$13,451,562
OZM	Ozaurum Resources	0.05	19%	100,000	$5,334,000
PPG	Pro-Pac Packaging	0.255	19%	15,633	$39,062,858
ACB	A-Cap Energy Ltd	0.051	19%	4,085,804	$52,994,709
ARD	Argent Minerals	0.014	17%	845,129	$14,147,775
CAV	Carnavale Resources	0.007	17%	78,128,833	$16,401,310
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.0035	17%	1,158,659	$8,990,833
LNU	Linius Tech Limited	0.0035	17%	270,000	$11,366,372

The small cap leader today was Melodiol Global Health (ASX:ME1) which reported preliminary net sales of $4.74 million for the June quarter, up 105% from the previous quarter and 202% higher than the prior year comparative period, across its two subsidiaries.

The increase in net sales takes unaudited sales for the first half of CY23 to $7.05 million, which marks a 64% uplift on H1 CY22.

Group revenues in Q2 were boosted by the strong contribution from its subsidiary Health House International (HHI), a medicinal cannabis distributor which ME1 acquired in May.

Arrow Minerals (ASX:AMD) has uncovered two high grade (+58% fe) iron ore targets from rock chip sampling at Kalako, part of the flagship Simandou North project in Guinea.

Scout drilling is continuing, with five holes completed at the Dalabatini target zone and 8 holes completed at the Kowouleni target zone to date.

And Castillo Copper (ASX:CCZ) says the preliminary pit optimisation study for the Big One Deposit, part of the NWQ Copper Project, delivered a $28m Net Present Value (NPV).

Key findings indicate an initially optimised pit shell could potentially deliver up to 6,266t copper (head grade: 1.42% Cu), 4,362oz silver (head grade: 0.31 g/t Ag) and 1,469t cobalt (head grade: 0.33% Co).

The company says the study provides “significant confidence a standalone mining operation can potentially be developed.”

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume	Market Cap
EMC	Everest Metals Corp	0.235	-31%	6,359,435	$44,007,257
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.005	-29%	439,161	$91,466,917
KEY	KEY Petroleum	0.0015	-25%	1,350,001	$3,935,856
OAR	OAR Resources Ltd	0.003	-25%	100,000	$10,284,152
AT1	Atomo Diagnostics	0.039	-25%	5,279,075	$29,686,332
MOB	Mobilicom Ltd	0.0125	-22%	23,870,399	$21,226,827
NIS	Nickelsearch	0.063	-21%	5,449,458	$7,620,829
IAM	Income Asset	0.1	-20%	211,911	$35,002,603
CCO	The Calmer Co Int	0.002	-20%	1,501,768	$1,410,194
RGS	Regeneus Ltd	0.009	-18%	1,551,054	$3,370,806
IBX	Imagion Biosys Ltd	0.024	-17%	12,699,736	$33,862,308
IRX	Inhalerx Limited	0.035	-17%	74,723	$7,970,212
AJX	Alexium Int Group	0.015	-17%	214,567	$11,725,016
PIM	Pinnacleminerals	0.1	-17%	864,771	$3,069,000
MXC	Mgc Pharmaceuticals	0.005	-17%	1,322,355	$20,104,158
CHW	Chilwaminerals	0.165	-15%	50,000	$8,945,625
NUH	Nuheara Limited	0.165	-15%	551,163	$38,428,627
OPN	Oppenneg	0.006	-14%	785,937	$1,697,710
ATV	Activeportgroupltd	0.1	-13%	99,999	$20,304,104
BKG	Booktopia Group	0.135	-13%	9,386	$23,419,760
CUF	Cufe Ltd	0.014	-13%	1,092,423	$15,457,798
IVX	Invion Ltd	0.007	-13%	20,000	$51,373,058
KNM	Kneomedia Limited	0.0035	-13%	4,578,725	$6,019,141
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.0035	-13%	9,591,470	$3,532,684
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.021	-13%	2,464,601	$12,558,254