The so-called ‘Santa Claus Rally’ appears to be happening again this year with the ASX notching another positive day.

The ASX 200 closed at 7,379 points which was 0.35% higher than Friday, following on from a 1.6% gain last week and positive gains on Wall Street on Friday.

1.5%+ gains in energy, resources and property stocks was enough to drag the bourse into positive territory.

Investors have continued to shrug off fears of the omicron variant as the Federal government signalled it would go ahead with the re-opening of international borders to Japan and Korea as well as to international students, while the Queensland government re-opened to Victoria and New South Wales.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

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Medtech Osteopore (ASX:OSX) announced it had secured a lead role in a clinical-industrial partnership with National Dental Centre Singapore and A*STAR research institutes through A$19m project to develop a next generation jaw implant.

Tennant Minerals (ASX:TMS) and John Lyng Group (ASX:JLG) climbed after completing capital raisings.

Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) rose after telling shareholders it had identified two large IOCG targets at its ‘Whaleshark’ project in WA.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

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

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American West Metals (ASX:AW1) fell on its first trading day on the ASX.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC) announced it was buying UK mental healthcare provider Elysium Healthcare for ~$1.4 billion. Ramsay says the deal gives it a unique opportunity to enter the UK market and to do it with significant scale.

Cashrewards (ASX:CRW) – a consumer rewards business selling business selling itself to ANZ’s venture arm for 35% less than it listed on the ASX less than a year ago – advised shareholders 76% of shares had been sold. However the company felt the need to extend the offer period to Sunday 9 January and warn what would happen if the deal didn’t fall through – namely the requirement to raise additional capital which would be dilutive to remaining shareholders and further sink the share price.

Seven months since announcing it wanted to sell its Minova business, explosives company Orica (ASX:ORI) reached a deal to part ways with the non-core business for $180 million. It will sell Minova to European based investment firm Aurelius Group.

Fintech Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR) processed $1.166 billion in payments in the first ten days of December. This is up 40% compared to the same period in FY21 as was its total transaction volume for the entire month of November.

Viva Leisure (ASX:VVA) completed the acquisition of eight Rebalance Pilates and Yoga studios on Australia’s East Coast. The company says it expects an annual EBITDA contribution of roughly $1 million and post-deal will be operating in 10 locations.

 

TRADING HALTS

Tuesday

Pointerra (ASX:3DP) – contracts award
Minbos Resources (ASX:MNB) – capital raising
Centaurus Metals (ASX:CTM) – updated mineral resource
Adalta (ASX:1AD) – capital raising

Wednesday

Paterson Resources (ASX:PSL) – drill results
MinRex Resources (ASX:MRR) – capital raising
Harvest Technology (ASX:HTG) – capital raising
Tamaska Oil and Gas (ASX:TMK) – acquisition
PolarX (ASX:PXX) – capital raising
Kalamazoo Resources (ASX:KZR) – acquisition
Thor Mining (ASX:THR) – capital raising
Mighty Kingdom (ASX:MKL) – capital raising
Sacgasco (ASX:SGC) – acquisition of dataset
Queensland Pacific Metals (ASX:QPM) – capital raising
MOQ (ASX:MOQ) – trading outlook
Palla Pharma (ASX:PAL) – strategic review

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