Closing Bell: ASX holds steady but microcaps slide into the weekend

The ASX 200 was up 0.39% and ASX XEC slips 0.42%
10 out of 11 sectors were higher lead by Communications
The Real Estate sector was the only one in the red

The ASX 200 was up 0.39% today and the ASX XEC was down 0.42%.

A total of 10 out of 11 sectors were higher, led by Communication Services which rallied by 0.86%.

Notable small caps stocks in the sector included Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) up 4.98%, Tuas (ASX:TUA) up 5.20% and oOh!Media (ASX:OML) up 2.86%.

Leading the laggards was the Real Estate sector, down 0.26%.

NOT THE ASX

Chinese stocks closed mixed yesterday as companies along the electric vehicle supply chain dragged the market.

Concerns rose over EV sales after weak earnings and guidance from major car maker Nio.

Tesla’s newly unveiled plan to drop the use of rare earth metals in its future permanent magnet electric motors further weighed on rare earth miners.

Battery makers CATL and Fujian Nebula Electronics lost 2.7% and 7.3% respectively, while China Rare Earth Resources fell 6.4%.

European stocks rose despite eurozone CPI data topping expectations.

February inflation reached 8.5% year-over-year, surpassing the 8.2% forecast. The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 index edged up Thursday to close 0.4% higher after spending most of the session in the red.

“Eurozone inflation data has sparked another bout of upside for Treasury yields,” IG analyst Joshua Mahony wrote.

“The Nasdaq once again faces pressure thanks to lofty valuations and the potential for an economic downturn to dent future growth prospects.

“However, a decline in latest US initial jobless claims continues the theme of job market strength.”

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
MGG	Mogul Games Grp Ltd	0.0015	50%	3,965,562	$3,263,441
AJQ	Armour Energy Ltd	0.007	40%	147,447	$11,659,991
DDT	DataDot Technology	0.004	33%	1,192,392	$3,731,608
MDX	Mindax Limited	0.064	28%	880,664	$99,652,884
IHR	intelliHR Limited	0.1375	28%	3,205,715	$36,549,045
EQS	Equitystorygroupltd	0.042	27%	100,000	$1,217,363
RBX	Resource B	0.165	27%	1,400,575	$7,419,078
VAL	Valor Resources Ltd	0.005	25%	616,638	$15,092,139
ASO	Aston Minerals Ltd	0.13	24%	5,147,086	$116,920,748
OM1	Omnia Metals Group	0.32	21%	3,533,866	$7,856,007
WOO	Wooboard Tech Ltd	0.006	20%	2,001,240	$1,149,774
SRR	Saramaresourcesltd	0.125	19%	130,955	$3,936,869
PFT	Pure Foods Tas Ltd	0.165	18%	57,074	$15,363,588
TSN	The Sust Nutri Grp	0.02	18%	60,541	$2,050,309
AGR	Aguia Res Ltd	0.057	16%	14,673	$21,258,858
SHO	Sportshero Ltd	0.022	16%	5,031,399	$10,925,021
ZGL	Zicom Group Limited	0.066	16%	50,000	$12,229,920
FXG	Felix Gold Limited	0.115	15%	83,878	$8,316,640
HPC	Thehydration	0.08	14%	300,000	$10,239,079
CLA	Celsius Resource Ltd	0.017	13%	1,569,200	$27,858,061
PXS	Pharmaxis Ltd	0.051	13%	82,859	$32,355,801
EV1	Evolutionenergy	0.27	13%	459,589	$36,150,000
CYQ	Cycliq Group Ltd	0.009	13%	43,871	$2,780,133
LCY	Legacy Iron Ore	0.018	13%	1,076,729	$102,509,219
M4M	Macro Metals Limited	0.0045	13%	140,000	$7,828,311

The small cap leader today was HR software company IntelliHR (ASX:IHR), who in January entered a Scheme Implementation Deed (SID) with Humanforce Holdings for Humanforce to acquire all the issued shares in IHR for $0.11 cash per share.

The company has now received an unsolicited counterproposal from The Access Group for $0.14 per share.

That’s a tidy 122% premium to the closing price of IHR shares on 30 January 2023.

The board is considering whether it constitutes a ‘Superior Proposal’ under the terms of the Humanforce SID, and Humanforce now has a five business day matching right.

In the meantime, IHR directors maintain their existing recommendation in favour of the Humanforce proposal.

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
BMER	Blackmountainenergy	0.003	-40%	540,390	$850,000
CLZ	Classic Min Ltd	0.002	-33%	48,237,423	$3,777,791
GLH	Global Health Ltd	0.12	-31%	293,994	$10,150,592
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.025	-31%	4,755,035	$20,346,643
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.0015	-25%	1,044,722	$31,285,147
VPR	Volt Power Group	0.0015	-25%	112,130	$21,432,416
BTC	BTC Health Ltd	0.02	-23%	48,536	$7,328,005
NCR	Nucoal Resources Ltd	0.007	-22%	9,354	$6,917,511
GLVDB	Global Oil & Gas	0.016	-20%	1,879,782	$6,857,615
X2M	X2M Connect Limited	0.061	-19%	11,851	$10,565,533
IEC	Intra Energy Corp	0.005	-17%	3,000,000	$4,234,690
MCT	Metalicity Limited	0.0025	-17%	264,300	$10,513,618
RDN	Raiden Resources Ltd	0.005	-17%	65,000	$9,927,495
ZMM	Zimi Ltd	0.041	-16%	420,231	$4,366,024
MEI	Meteoric Resources	0.105	-16%	21,760,159	$190,931,192
PCL	Pancontinental Energ	0.011	-15%	26,222,798	$98,204,897
OLL	Openlearning	0.017	-15%	986,672	$5,357,382
CXU	Cauldron Energy Ltd	0.006	-14%	50,000	$6,520,976
NZS	New Zealand Coastal	0.003	-14%	2,132,097	$5,789,035
RIM	Rimfire Pacific	0.006	-14%	10,207,957	$13,838,380
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.006	-14%	1,101,922	$7,582,395
AKO	Akora Resources	0.14	-14%	22,035	$11,730,909
GNM	Great Northern	0.0035	-13%	1,559,563	$6,836,204
SHG	Singular Health	0.092	-12%	260,365	$11,911,896
OPA	Optima Technology	0.05	-12%	76,253	$14,163,121