Closing Bell: Energy, resources and property lead the ASX as ‘Santa rally’ appears on track

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).

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
MLS	Metals Australia	0.002	100	3978810
NPM	Newpeak Metals	0.002	33	3167000
OAK	Oakridge	0.225	29	221948
TRN	Torrens Mining	0.2	25	1340150
YPB	YPB Group Ltd	0.0025	25	8028700
LBY	Laybuy Group Holding	0.265	23	5497757
HFY	Hubify Ltd	0.064	23	933026
AFW	Applyflow Limited	0.006	20	1000000
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.003	20	6782059
LNY	Laneway Res Ltd	0.006	20	600000
VPR	Volt Power Group	0.003	20	47941
AIQ	Alternative Invest	0.13	18	5087
AVZ	AVZ Minerals Ltd	0.695	18	47942886
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.795	18	39560322
M2R	Miramar	0.235	18	235959
JLG	Johns Lyng Group	8.34	17	3652329
3MF	3D Metalforge	0.105	15	256500
CMD	Cassius Mining Ltd	0.015	15	12750
RXH	Rewardle Holding Ltd	0.015	15	486843
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.032	14	2491963
OEX	Oilex Ltd	0.004	14	500000
ALA	Arovella Therapeutic	0.04	14	1700475

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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).

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
ANL	Amani Gold Ltd	0.001	-33	1959941
NTL	New Talisman Gold	0.001	-33	70000
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.15	-29	1094217
EQR	Eq Resources Limited	0.05	-28	23238516
AW1	Americanwestmetals	0.145	-28	2278736
ROO	Roots Sustainable	0.006	-25	5708015
AO1	Assetowl Limited	0.004	-20	1000516
DCX	Discovex Res Ltd	0.004	-20	58004
OXX	Octanex Ltd	0.023	-18	792324
CGB	Cann Global Limited	0.0025	-17	4621407
DDT	DataDot Technology	0.01	-17	963585
EN1	Engage:Bdr Limited	0.0025	-17	6280665
IVZ	Invictus Energy Ltd	0.105	-16	10344488
SFM	Santa Fe Minerals	0.11	-15	100000
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.006	-14	84444
SIT	Site Group Int Ltd	0.006	-14	365325
1ST	1St Group Ltd	0.013	-13	67207
CRS	Caprice Resources	0.165	-13	30727
TRU	Truscreen	0.074	-13	129687
CZR	CZR Resources Ltd	0.007	-13	2105898
DDD	3D Resources Limited	0.0035	-13	610314
ERM	Emmerson Resources	0.145	-12	6833384

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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.