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The ASX200 was up 0.20% today, finishing on a high for the fourth consecutive day, but the ASX Emerging Companies (XEC) index was 0.37% lower.
A total of 9 out of 11 underlying sectors were in the green, with Utilities the strongest sector, rallying by 1.20%. Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) jumped 3.73%, Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) was up 0.51%, and Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY) rose a tidy 4.42%.
Materials (mining) was the biggest loser, with Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) taking a 6.49% and 4.37% hit respectively.
Regional labour market data was released today and in October 2022, the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven was recorded as having a jobless rate of zero.
Nineteen of 87 regions (SA4 regions) have unemployment rates of 2% or below.
The good news is that the number of people not in the labour force – which has the disturbing acronym ‘NILF’ – has fallen to 7.15 million since peaking at 7.75 million in May 2020.
The biggest proportion of NILFs are senior Australians, CBA chief economist Craig James says.
Those seniors are probably pretty happy to not be working after a lifetime of, well, working, and they’re probably thrilled with the nickname NILFs.
“At present the Reserve Bank is not concerned about the lift in annual wage growth to around 3%.
“The thinking is that 3.5% wage growth and 1% growth in productivity is consistent with 2-3% inflation.
“But structurally the job market has tightened – baby boomers are not being replaced in the same numbers by other demographic groups.
“That means businesses need to get used to 3-4% jobless rates.”
James says is if more of our senior Australians could be tempted back into work, some wage and job market pressures could be eased.
In October 2022, a record 39.6% of NILFs were those aged 65 and over who were permanently not intending to work because they’re running out of runway and would rather spend their dotage pottering around the garden and spending their kids’ inheritance.
“Changes to tax, pension and superannuation laws could encourage older Australians back into the paid workforce,” James reckons.
Good luck with that.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEB | Medibio Limited | 0.0015 | 50% | 717,479 | $3,320,594 |
| HAW | Hawthorn Resources | 0.14 | 40% | 634,239 | $33,351,561 |
| AUK | Aumake Limited | 0.004 | 33% | 2,513,782 | $2,314,341 |
| MGG | Mogul Games Grp Ltd | 0.002 | 33% | 262,438 | $4,895,162 |
| TSC | Twenty Seven Co. Ltd | 0.002 | 33% | 20,000 | $7,982,442 |
| OAR | OAR Resources Ltd | 0.0065 | 30% | 5,109,061 | $11,055,189 |
| AV1 | Adveritas Ltd | 0.1025 | 30% | 2,111,399 | $37,138,572 |
| JTL | Jayex Technology Ltd | 0.0075 | 25% | 6,010,614 | $1,495,371 |
| EWC | Energy World Corpor. | 0.05 | 25% | 2,716,494 | $104,325,388 |
| DW8 | DW8 Limited | 0.0025 | 25% | 11,258,206 | $6,203,045 |
| KFE | Kogi Iron Ltd | 0.005 | 25% | 12,047,190 | $6,528,311 |
| SIH | Sihayo Gold Limited | 0.0025 | 25% | 4,144,300 | $12,204,256 |
| ROC | Rocketboots | 0.115 | 24% | 62,229 | $2,952,750 |
| EML | EML Payments Ltd | 0.65 | 23% | 16,839,346 | $198,211,588 |
| LCL | Los Cerros Limited | 0.044 | 22% | 36,121,956 | $23,423,359 |
| HCT | Holista CollTech Ltd | 0.03 | 20% | 20,000 | $6,970,002 |
| CHK | Cohiba Min Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 9,003,911 | $8,138,304 |
| PKD | Parkd Ltd | 0.024 | 20% | 1,789,669 | $2,004,003 |
| EQS | Equitystorygroupltd | 0.05 | 19% | 98,000 | $1,549,371 |
| WOA | Wide Open Agricultur | 0.32 | 19% | 241,895 | $34,757,579 |
| TSL | Titanium Sands Ltd | 0.013 | 18% | 72,642 | $15,470,376 |
| HRE | Heavy Rare Earths | 0.165 | 18% | 70,910 | $8,328,310 |
| ELE | Elmore Ltd | 0.021 | 17% | 469,168 | $19,958,175 |
| IVZ | Invictus Energy Ltd | 0.29 | 16% | 17,202,015 | $219,605,710 |
The biggest winner was was fraud prevention software player Adveritas (ASX:AV1) which received a conditional non-binding indicative proposal from NASDAQ listed Integral Ad Science, a global leader in digital ad verification, to acquire AV1 for $0.11 cash per share.
They were slim on the details but the board intends to consider the indicative proposal and will proceed to a definitive agreement if it believes a transaction should be put to shareholders for approval.
Energy World Corporation (ASX:EWC) announce plans for a non-renounceable pro-rata entitlement offer to raise $54.5m to refurbish its gas processing facility at Eromanga and bring it back into production;
The funds will also be used to purchase the remaining Right of Way required for the 250kva transmission line that will connect the Philippines Pagbilao power facility to the main grid at NGCPs new regional substation and to complete construction of the 12 km the aforementioned 250kva transmission line.
And advanced South American gold stock has Los Cerros (ASX:LCL) diversified, inking a deal to buy five large projects in PNG prospective for copper, nickel, and gold from private company Footprint Resources.
It gives LCL some juicy exploration targets to play with, in a jurisdiction known for its monster mineral deposits.
It also gives the company options as it waits for “greater clarity on new government mine development policies” in Colombia, where left-leaning Gustavo Petro won Colombia’s June 19 presidential election.
LCL’s 2.6Moz Quinchia project in Colombia is currently the focus of low-cost project development studies.
“This transformational addition to the Los Cerros mineral portfolio offers immediate and material exploration upside as well as jurisdictional and metal diversity, in particular the addition of critical metals to the electric vehicle sector,” managing director Jason Stirbinskis says.
“It also ensures we play to our strengths as successful explorers while our Quinchia project migrates to engineering/development studies.
“I have walked the ground over the key projects and the near term prospectivity of our new PNG portfolio is compelling.
“We are particularly excited to welcome Glenn and John to the company as they bring extensive PNG geological experience, are aligned to our ESG priorities and equip Los Cerros with a unique strategic and technical advantage in both PNG and Colombia across various mineralisation styles.”
Here are the least performing ASX small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BPH | BPH Energy Ltd | 0.0205 | -34% | 98,039,636 | $26,755,006 |
| NNG | Nexion Group | 0.054 | -33% | 1,248,751 | $6,469,680 |
| 99L | 99 Loyalty Ltd. | 0.013 | -32% | 98,550 | $22,033,972 |
| CCX | City Chic Collective | 0.985 | -29% | 16,035,268 | $322,368,920 |
| CCE | Carnegie Cln Energy | 0.0015 | -25% | 3,131,293 | $31,285,147 |
| GES | Genesis Resources | 0.006 | -25% | 300,000 | $6,262,730 |
| WBE | Whitebark Energy | 0.0015 | -25% | 706,634 | $12,929,772 |
| MRQ | Mrg Metals Limited | 0.004 | -20% | 2,207,800 | $8,735,293 |
| MTH | Mithril Resources | 0.004 | -20% | 300,000 | $14,701,165 |
| TAS | Tasman Resources Ltd | 0.008 | -20% | 2,500,000 | $6,711,526 |
| QUE | Queste Communication | 0.025 | -19% | 1,196,200 | $839,242 |
| OEQ | Orion Equities | 0.15 | -19% | 13,878 | $2,895,107 |
| AVM | Advance Metals Ltd | 0.01 | -17% | 200,000 | $5,784,529 |
| MHC | Manhattan Corp Ltd | 0.005 | -17% | 170,000 | $9,157,672 |
| BCK | Brockman Mining Ltd | 0.023 | -15% | 93,826 | $250,566,268 |
| ATU | Atrum Coal Ltd | 0.006 | -14% | 1,666,667 | $9,679,157 |
| CAG | Caperangeltd | 0.12 | -14% | 17,754 | $13,287,162 |
| LKY | Locksleyresources | 0.06 | -14% | 2,041 | $2,411,308 |
| RBR | RBR Group Ltd | 0.003 | -14% | 142,857 | $4,527,259 |
| IRX | Inhalerx Limited | 0.054 | -14% | 300,000 | $11,797,818 |
| AFL | Af Legal Group Ltd | 0.125 | -14% | 273,936 | $11,097,781 |
| OCL | Objective Corp | 12.98 | -14% | 1,317,369 | $1,429,884,655 |
| DMM | Dmcmininglimited | 0.13 | -13% | 704,049 | $4,305,000 |
| PEN | Peninsula Energy Ltd | 0.135 | -13% | 23,485,129 | $154,794,256 |
Anova Metals (ASX:AWV) – pending material project acquisition.
Quantum Graphite (ASX:QGL) – pending results of testing on samples of Uley Graphite.
St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) – capital raising.
Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU) – pending an announcement regarding a Regulatory Approval in respect of the Siviour Graphite Project.
WA Kaolin (ASX:WAK) – capital raising.
Thor Mining (ASX:THR) – capital raising.
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