Closing Bell: ASX snaps 2-day losing streak, a healthcare IPO slumps 40%

Local stocks edged higher on Thursday, as the ASX 200 closed up by 0.13% following two days of losses.

Banking stocks fell again after getting hammered yesterday, while money moved back into big-name gold stocks as inflation jitters continue to linger in the background.

The big end of town outperformed the microcap Emerging Companies index which fell by 0.76%. But along with the usual round of resources winners, a number of small cap tech stocks outperformed in Thursday trade.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

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Investors who hopped on board with Sunstone Metals (ASX:STM) backed a winner, after the company flagged a serious gold hit at its ‘Bramaderos’ project in southern Ecuador this morning.

Combined with its monster copper-gold strike at El Palmar (also in Ecuador), shares in STM have now surged almost 400% in the space of a few weeks.

Switching from minerals to tech, venture technology investment company Fatfish Group (ASX:FFG) also ripped higher today, although it didn’t have any news to report.

The gains and volume changes were heady enough to prompt a price query from the ASX, to which FFG replied it wasn’t aware of any information that would prompt a 40% moonshot in its stock price.

Also rising strongly was game developer Mighty Kingdom (ASX:MKL), which moved higher by a similar amount, also on no news.

Staying with tech, BNPL player PayRight (ASX:PYR) posted strong gains after an October trading update, where it flagged record monthly Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) processed through its platform of $11.3 million — up 21% from September.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

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

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There’s been plenty of hot IPOs for junior explorers lately, including another one which surged yesterday.

But biopharmaceutical company Tissue Repair Ltd (ASX:TRP) didn’t find such demand on day one, after falling by around 40% on debut.

The company, which specialises in advanced healing products for chronic wounds, listed after raising $22m from investors at $1.15 per share.

However, the stock closed at 69.5c for an initial fall of 39.57%.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

The New Zealand Commerce Commission gave transportation technology company Eroad (ASX:ERD) the OK to complete the acquisition of Cortex. The deal come just a fortnight before it is set to complete.

Latrobe Magnesium (ASX:LMG) told shareholders the recent surge in magnesium prices could substantially boost its earnings. If the current price of US$6,150 per metric tonne held long term it would increase its estimate of earnings from its 10,000tpa plant by ~$56 million.

Cettire (ASX:CTT) signed an agreement with Staff International to integrate products into Cettire’s platform and allow Cettire customers to access the brand. It also gave a trading update in which it reported active customers gained 220% and sales revenues grew 172% in the first four months of FY22 compared to the first four months of FY21.

Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) announced it was buying Frank Family Vineyards, a luxury wine business based in California’s Napa Valley. It will pay US$315 million which implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of 13.2 times.

Hiremii (ASX:HMI) shares rose despite the company telling shareholders it lost one its key clients – UGL. Arguably the good news was the company removing overhead costs associated with the order, a move the company said would improve its working capital and cash burn rate.

TRADING HALTS

Friday

eMetals (ASX:EMT) – acquisition and capital raising
Ultima United (ASX:UUL) – new project
Magnis Energy Technologies (ASX:MNS) – response to Australian article

Monday

Element 25 (ASX:E25) – operational update
Advanced Human Imaging (ASX:AHI) – NASDAQ listing update
Consolidated Zinc (ASX:CZL) – capital raising
Tietto Minerals (ASX:TIE) – capital raising
Poseidon Nickel (ASX:POS) – drilling results
RareX (ASX:REE) – exploration results
Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) – metallurgical test work
iCandy (ASX:ICI) – capital raising
ECS Botanics (ASX:ECS) – supply and tolling agreement