Local markets had a breather in the form of a mid-week public holiday, but things weren’t much better once trading recommenced on Thursday.

After initially jumping by more than 1%, the ASX microcap Emerging Companies index reversed course with the broader market and finished 1.47% lower.

Today’s dip marks the fourth straight day of declines for the composite microcap index, during which time it has slumped by 13.4% from last week’s highs.

The falls reflect broader jitters on markets, with money pulling out of equities as investors assess the prospect of tighter monetary policy, IG.com analyst Kyle Rodda says.

After treading water overnight, things look decidedly glum for US stocks in afternoon Asian trade, with Nasdaq futures pointing almost 2% lower as at 4:30pm EST.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

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On the winner’s list, Alara Resources (ASX:AUQ) held its gains after getting its workers village all set up at the ‘Washhi Majaza’ copper-gold project in Oman, where production is expected to commence within the next 12 months.

And Africa-based explorer Hangara Resources (ASX:HAR) launched its IPO with a successful debut, finishing 30% higher after raising $6.5m at 20c per share.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow fell after making announcements during the trading day).

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Leading the laggards, Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) took a tumble, falling by around 30% after presenting the final tranche of results from an RC drilling program at its Cork Tree Well project, located in the Laverton Gold belt of Western Australia.

Ecommerce play Harris Technology (ASX:HT8) also slumped following the release of its quarterly 4C filing. HT8 booked Q2 sales of $13.66m and had net operating cash outflows of $2.294m.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Ansarada’s (ASX:AND) share price rose 8.19% to $1.92 today after the global provider of information governance software reported record customer and revenue growth. In its Q2 FY2022 results Ansarada saw a 17% growth year-on-year in pro forma customer numbers. Subscription numbers grew 32% to 2738 year-on-year in the quarter, while cash flows from operations jumped to $4.4 million, up from 2.5 million in Q1 FY2022.

Iron measurement device maker Resonance Health (ASX:RHT)  is entering China. Resonance has been contracted by Chinese pharmaceutical company Hangzhou Zede Pharma-Tech Co to provide liver concentration quantification services for its Phase IIb clinical study assessing the safety and efficacy of a new treatment for severe iron overload in transfusion dependent thalassemia patients aged over 16.

Athena Resources (ASX:AHN)  announced completion of data interpretation and development of a 3D inversion model at Moonborough within its Byro Base Metals Project in Western Australia. Results suggest the near surface gravity anomaly at the Moonborough Intrusion extends to depth and is unlikely related to surface regolith conditions as previously interpreted.

NZ-based aged care homes provider Oceania Healthcare (ASX:OCA) has announced the resignation of director Patric McCawe who joined the company in 2017. He has been heavily involved in Oceania’s corporate transactions including its IPO in 2017, inaugural bond offering in 2020 and a capital raise last year.

TRADING HALTS

The following companies went into trading halts on Thursday and are expected to exit in the coming days.

Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) — Exploration update
Superior Resources (ASX:SPQ) — Capital raising
Comet Resources (ASX:CML) — Acquisition
Veris Ltd (ASX:VRS) — Divestment transaction
Westar Resources (ASX:WSR) — Exploration results
IODM Ltd (ASX:IOD) — Capital raising
Rumble Resources (ASX:RTR) — Exploration results