• The ASX 200 rose a tidy 1.29% today with all sectors in the green
  • ABS releases Aussie migrant data employment outcomes for the first time 
  • ACCC gives the thumbs down to Telstra and TPG’s merger plans

 

The ASX 200 gained 1.29% today and the ASX XEC crept up as well, rising 0.71%.

All of 11 sectors were higher, led by Utilities, which rallied by 3.83% with big names like Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) making a 6.64% gain.

This week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released new comprehensive information about the employment outcomes of migrants for the first time.

In 2019–20, migrants held 26.3 per cent of all jobs in Australia (that works out to 5.3 million jobs, worked by 3.6 million migrants) which was slightly below their 29.8 per cent share of Australia’s population.

Of the total number of jobs held by migrants, over half (56.6 per cent) were held by permanent migrants, 29.5 per cent were held by temporary migrants, and 12.9 per cent were held by New Zealand citizens.

ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the addition of migrant information into rich labour market datasets allows us to better understand labour market outcomes of migrants working in Australia.

“The largest employing industries of migrants were administrative and support services (14.1 per cent of jobs held by migrants); healthcare and social assistance (12.1 per cent); and accommodation and food services (11.3 per cent),” he said.

The latest data also offers new insights about permanent and temporary migrants’ personal income.

“Almost 4 million migrant taxpayers earned more than $230 billion in total personal income in 2019–20,” Jarvis added.

In other news, the Australian Competitor & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has drawn a big fat NO on Telstra’s (ASX:TLS) proposal to merge with TPG Telecom Limited (ASX:TPG) for a regional mobile sharing network.

The plan was for TPG to decommission or transfer its mobile sites in regional and urban fringe areas to Telstra, and then acquire mobile network services from Telstra. 

TPG would give Telstra access to most of its regional spectrum and by using part of the Telstra network, TPG’s coverage would increase from 96% 98.8% of the population.

A bit of a red flag from the competition standpoint, ACCC commissioner Liza Carver said.

“While there are some benefits, it is our view that the proposed arrangements will likely lead to less competition in the longer term and leave Australian mobile users worse off over time, in terms of price and regional coverage,” she said.

“Mobile networks are of critical importance to many aspects of our lives, including our livelihood, our wellbeing and our ability to keep in touch with friends and family. 

“Any reduction in competition will have very wide-ranging impacts on customers, including higher prices and reduced quality and coverage.”

 

NOT THE ASX

US stock indices wobbled while bond yields rose after the Bank of Japan surprised investors by raising the cap on a benchmark rate, inching away from its ultra-relaxed monetary policies.

And most European stocks fell too as they digested the news.

Most central banks across the globe have already started tightening monetary policy to tame inflation and catch up to the US dollar, with Japan one of the few outliers.

This adjustment, whereby the BoJ would allow the 10-year Japanese government bond yield to rise to 0.5% from a previous cap of 0.25%, “is widely seen as the beginning of a potential end to their ultra-loose monetary policy,” Deutsche Bank’s strategists wrote in a note. 

“It’s important not to underestimate the impact this could have, because tighter BoJ policy would remove one of the last global anchors that’s helped to keep borrowing costs at low levels more broadly,” Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said.

Though the BOJ’s interest rate increase is small compared with those made in the US, analysts and investors worry that this marks an end to the yearslong era of easy money everywhere.

 

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
EVE EVE Health Group Ltd 0.002 100% 530,839 $5,274,483
KDY Kaddy Limited 0.051 55% 1,116,765 $4,289,648
GTG Genetic Technologies 0.003 50% 612,279 $18,467,930
MBX Myfoodieboxlimited 0.034 36% 41,634 $837,500
FAU First Au Ltd 0.004 33% 934,500 $2,855,980
MEB Medibio Limited 0.002 33% 310,558 $4,980,891
NCR Nucoal Resources Ltd 0.008 33% 187,195 $4,611,674
KNM Kneomedia Limited 0.0155 29% 235,903 $16,245,424
PLG Pearlgullironlimited 0.032 28% 27,599 $1,372,558
BOC Bougainville Copper 0.345 28% 201,498 $108,286,875
NSX NSX Limited 0.05 25% 33,000 $14,433,235
ADG Adelong Gold Limited 0.01 25% 700,000 $3,545,495
EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.005 25% 363,719 $10,844,921
DRO Droneshield Limited 0.21 20% 6,486,203 $78,932,347
CCX City Chic Collective 0.485 20% 11,418,280 $93,927,635
MCE Matrix C & E Ltd 0.275 20% 749,495 $33,596,429
PFT Pure Foods Tas Ltd 0.155 19% 132,812 $14,155,771
MME Moneyme Limited 0.28 19% 265,923 $65,858,098
SIS Simble Solutions 0.013 18% 2,349,780 $4,920,661
LER Leaf Res Ltd 0.021 17% 3,708,269 $20,809,491
AUH Austchina Holdings 0.007 17% 11,373,349 $12,467,302
ERL Empire Resources 0.007 17% 120,000 $6,677,610
RHT Resonance Health 0.059 16% 62,728 $23,503,451
MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.015 15% 2,638,473 $12,473,765
Wordpress Table Plugin

The biggest winner was Droneshield (ASX:DRO) which received a new order for several different types of anti-drone gear worth ~$11m.

“With this transformational next step in DroneShield’s growth, and as the counterdrone industry continues to rapidly grow, we look forward to rapidly fulfilling this contract,” CEO Oleg Vornik said.

This large contract win from a Government agency follows a number of other recent wins for DroneShield in last couple of months, and last month the company welcomed a A$3.7 million investment from Epirus Inc, a high- growth U.S. defense technology company developing software-defined directed energy systems that enable unprecedented counter-electronics effects and power management solutions to optimize power efficiency in defense and commercial applications. 

This includes the LeonidasTM solid-state, software-defined high-power microwave (HPM) technology to enable unmatched counter-electronics effects for a range of use cases. 

And Matrix Composites & Engineering (ASX:MCE) received a ~$44m purchase order from multi-national oilfield services company Saipem to supply a Subsea Umbilicals, Risers and Flowlines (SURF) product.

The company will the produce and deliver the SURF distributed buoyancy modules for Saipem for a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) system within a project in Brazil. 

“We now have approximately $77 million of secured work carrying us through until at least the end of FY24, which gives us a strong financial platform as we continue to enhance our diversification in the energy and resources sectors, as well as broadening our capabilities into clean energy renewables,” CEO Aaron Begley says.

 

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
APL Associate Global 0.2 -55% 1,000 $21,210,591
SYM Symbio Holdings Ltd 1.62 -37% 2,180,953 $217,189,284
BWX BWX Limited 0.22 -25% 10,013,999 $58,996,313
ADY Admiralty Resources. 0.006 -25% 120,350 $10,428,633
GLV Global Oil & Gas 0.0015 -25% 753,983 $5,356,542
WOO Wooboard Tech Ltd 0.007 -22% 26,058 $1,976,132
99L 99 Loyalty Ltd. 0.01 -17% 11,111 $13,916,193
CFO Cfoam Limited 0.0025 -17% 400,000 $2,201,522
RLG Roolife Group Ltd 0.01 -17% 529,999 $8,426,770
PXX Polarx Limited 0.017 -15% 22,619,510 $23,361,674
AAP Australian Agri Ltd 0.018 -14% 275,634 $6,407,089
MOB Mobilicom Ltd 0.006 -14% 99,294 $9,318,958
OXX Octanex Ltd 0.006 -14% 79,974 $1,812,844
SI6 SI6 Metals Limited 0.006 -14% 5,524,899 $10,467,762
THR Thor Mining PLC 0.006 -14% 102,039 $10,095,490
QHL Quickstep Holdings 0.47 -13% 97,962 $38,732,156
PYC PYC Therapeutics 0.061 -13% 842,854 $222,664,827
ADX ADX Energy Ltd 0.007 -13% 589,126 $28,103,300
IPB IPB Petroleum Ltd 0.007 -13% 400,000 $3,650,959
JXT Jaxstaltd 0.035 -13% 188,235 $13,703,128
ICR Intelicare Holdings 0.021 -13% 847,781 $3,120,596
NFL Norfolkmetalslimited 0.15 -12% 99,258 $5,070,249
EVR Ev Resources Ltd 0.015 -12% 2,355,176 $15,792,729
KNB Koonenberrygold 0.062 -11% 307,660 $5,302,951
Wordpress Table Plugin

 

TRADING HALTS

Earlypay (ASX:EPY) –  update regarding its previously reported FY23 Outlook & Guidance

Opyl (ASX:OPL) – Capital raise

Nuheara (ASX:NUH) – Capital raise

Infinity Lithium (ASX:INF) –  update regarding the Investigation Permit Valdeflorez at its San José Lithium Project

IRIS Metals (ASX:IR1) – Capital raise and material transaction

Fiji Kava (ASX:FIJ) – Capital raise

PhosCo (ASX:PHO) –  announcement to the market in relation to the Chaketma Mining Concession Application

Vital Metals (ASX:VML) –  outcome of a review with respect to optimising the Tardiff Project and the Saskatoon Plant.

 

 

 

Read MoreSmall Caps

Featured Companies

You might be interested in