The ASX 200 was unable to break free from its recent shackles, edging lower by 0.11% in the Wednesday session.

But as a measure of a little more risk-on sentiment creeping back into markets, the microcap Emerging Markets index comfortably outperformed with a gain of more than 1%.

Uranium stocks were once again the talk of the town, but the big iron ore miners dragged on the resources index as Fortescue (ASX:FMG) slumped by ~5%.

Bank stocks also lost ground while the ASX tech sector bounced back following a rough start to the week.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

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Nickel play Cannon Resources (ASX:CNR) was the winner on the day, after happening across some thick nickel sulphides in the first three drill holes at its ‘Musket’ prospect, which sits within the Fisher East project in WA.

Iron ore explorer Equinox Resources (ASX:EQN) had a sparkling debut, closing at 27c for a day-one IPO gain of 35% after raising $9m from investors at 20c per share.

There was also a big move higher in infant formula manufacturer Bubs (ASX:BUB), which flagged quarterly sales growth of 265% into China through the daigou channel.

Also outside of resources, clean-tech company 1414 Degrees (ASX:14D), which sells silicon-based thermal storage technology, held its gains after stitching up a deal with oil & gas major Woodside (ASX:WPL).

And among the many uranium winners, Bannerman Resources (ASX:BMN) led the pack with an intraday gain of around 30%.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

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ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Catalyst Metals (ASX:CYL) reported the production of 6,775 ounces of gold from its Henty Gold Mine in Tasmania, produced at a head grade of 4.6g/t and recovery of 92.1%. The company sold 6,366 ounces of gold during the quarter which delivered $15.7 million in cash at a cost per ounce of $1,621.

Ansarada (ASX:AND) announced it was buying governance, risk and compliance SaaS company TriLine GRC. It is paying $5.2 million, funded from cash, which represents 2.3 times EV/LTM revenue.

Health insurer NIB (ASX:NHF) announced a distribution partnership with ING which will allow Australians to buy ING insurance underwritten by NAB. NIB says with ING having over 2 million customers, potential exists for NIB to connect with some of ING’s existing customer base.

PointsBet (ASX:PBH) has become the official and exclusive sports betting partner – as well as a title sponsor – of Curling Canada. Curling is a sport played on ice watched by over 13 million people each season and follows the legalisation of sports betting in Canada in the past summer.

Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) began dosing in its Phase 2 clinical trial studying its PXS-5505 drug in patients with myelofibrosis – a bone marrow cancer. The study is on track to be completed at the end of 2022.

TRADING HALTS

Thursday

Charger Metals (ASX:CHR) – exploration update
Bounty Oil & Gas (ASX:BUY) – capital raising and acquisition
Kingwest Resources (ASX:KWR) – capital raising
Neurotech (ASX:NTI) – patent
Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) – capital raising
Kalium Lakes (ASX:KLL) – financing arrangements

Friday

Firefly Resources (ASX:FFR) – updated mine planning information
Digital Wine Ventures (ASX:DW8) – capital raising and acquisition
Jadar Resources (ASX:JDR) – acquisition
Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) – drilling results
Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT) – capital raising
Titomic (ASX:TTT) – capital raising

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