Closing Bell: Massive gains but Why Now, Not Later?

Small cap index up 3%
ASX 200 is up 1%
Wall Street jumps as The Fed asks how high

The ASX 200 is up 1% and the Emerging Companies (XEC) index is about 3% higher and the wee buy now pay later’s are the heroes of the dish.

But first…

Overnight in America…

On Wall Street, the tech-phat Nasdaq Composite found 4.1% after better than expected results from Microsoft and Google’s single-parent Alphabet. The S&P 500 also spiked over 2.5%.

The US Federal Reserve lifted the target federal funds rate by another 75 basis points following its two-day meet which came to a conclusion early this morning our time – and after I’d been telling everyone it would be Wednesday morning our time.

The Fed, in their ongoing smackdown with unrelenting US inflation, has suggested market participants brace for more increases are “until inflation shows clear signs of a pullback.”

Among other signposts, Meta shares are down 50% year-to-date and The House of the ‘Book reported year-on-year revenue growth was negative for the first time ever, leaving Josh Gilbert at eToro roundly unimpressed.

“At a time when its main revenue stream, advertising, is under pressure, Mark Zuckerberg also has to face mounting losses from its metaverse push, Reality Labs.”

The venture lost another USD$2.8 billion in the quarter, as total operating expenses for Meta grew by 35% year-over-year.

“After Meta’s defeat in launching its own currency, it is tough to fathom its metaverse play coming to fruition with increasing competition in the space and having to face bigger challenges in the short-term, namely user retention.

“With many users moving to platforms like TikTok, investors will be questioning if its social media platforms have hit peak growth and the company needs to speed up its transformation.”

Why now, not later?

I don’t know.

But we sure sound like I’m on top of it here, in this piece of fine art from this morning.

What we do know is that the buy now, pay later juniors – if not the whole cabal – are singing siren songs of seduction with former best buds, Sezzle and Zip leading the latest wave of enthusiasm.

Looks like the Thursday pay now play belongs to Laybuy (ASX:LBY) which is up around 88%.

Code	Company	Price	% Today	Market Cap
LBY	Laybuy Group Holding	0.145	88%	$19,621,078.48
SZL	Sezzle Inc.	1	42%	$141,589,090.95
OPY	Openpay Group	0.46	37%	$53,023,578.57
PYR	Payright Limited	0.145	26%	$8,994,634.96
IOU	Ioupay Limited	0.125	25%	$55,401,206.50
ZIP	ZIP Co Ltd..	1.475	19%	$853,099,588.36
NOV	Novatti Group Ltd	0.22	10%	$67,059,504.20
HUM	Humm Group Limited	0.535	9%	$242,681,475.82
FFG	Fatfish Group	0.037	9%	$35,228,415.82
SPT	Splitit	0.275	6%	$122,568,415.06
DOU	Douugh Limited	0.042	5%	$23,794,171.16
SQ2	Block	104.34	5%	$3,788,691,748.00
LFS	Latitude Group	1.64	1%	$1,687,499,999.25
APT	Afterpay Limited	0	0%	$19,966,186,812.40
ZBT	Zebit Inc.	0	0%	$4,069,314.16
CI1	Credit Intelligence	0.115	-8%	$10,017,127.50

Sezzle, was up 17% at around lunchtime, roaring out of the ASX-enforced pit stop after literally doubling in size after lunch on Wednesday.

A tiny bit behind but catching fast was Zip up about 15% for the day and 200% for a pretty decent July.

Elsewhere on the ASX, sector leadership turned again to Resources, Energy and Materials, while the Tech sector – outside BNPL – led the laggards.

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks [intraday]:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
LBY	Laybuy Group Holding	0.15	95%	27,528,681
MCM	Mc Mining Ltd	0.245	75%	376,811
TGM	Theta Gold Mines Ltd	0.095	51%	772,631
PSC	Prospect Res Ltd	0.125	51%	54,836,840
EVE	EVE Health Group Ltd	0.0015	50%	753,500
KGN	Kogan.Com Ltd	4.65	49%	5,740,179
OPY	Openpay Group	0.485	45%	6,638,982
SZL	Sezzle Inc.	1	42%	33,303,320
IPD	Impedimed Limited	0.073	35%	7,931,252
GTN	GTN Limited	0.485	35%	64,554
ART	Airtasker Limited	0.3825	34%	3,026,044
GTG	Genetic Technologies	0.004	33%	22,656,169
DXN	DXN Limited	0.0065	30%	1,130,981
1ST	1St Group Ltd	0.009	29%	1,444,185
ADS	Adslot Ltd.	0.014	27%	1,400,000
IOU	Ioupay Limited	0.125	25%	20,492,513
XST	Xstate Resources	0.0025	25%	180,133
RCW	Rightcrowd	0.077	24%	32,409
NXM	Nexus Minerals Ltd	0.27	23%	1,639,065
OIL	Optiscan Imaging	0.135	23%	494,136
CTT	Cettire	0.655	22%	2,619,548
HXL	Hexima	0.014	22%	2,868,159
RBL	Redbubble Limited	1.15	22%	2,621,680
VAL	Valor Resources Ltd	0.0085	21%	22,252,272
ZMI	Zinc of Ireland NL	0.04	21%	25,134

MC Mining (ASX:MSM) has shot up 50% on no immediately visible news.

And look who’s back in business – Kogan (ASX:KGN) – boosted by a decent July Business Update.

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks [intraday]:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
MEB	Medibio Limited	0.001	-50%	3,250,000
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.002	-33%	2,887,686
CLE	Cyclone Metals	0.003	-25%	6,968,667
X2M	X2M Connect Limited	0.105	-25%	70,230
GRL	Godolphin Resources	0.09	-22%	261,768
SEG	Sports Ent Grp Ltd	0.23	-21%	4,035
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.008	-20%	19,206,856
MMI	Metro Mining Ltd	0.0195	-19%	11,743,071
FGL	Frugl Group Limited	0.015	-17%	53,140
SIX	Sprintex Ltd	0.06	-15%	92,883
ICE	Icetana Limited	0.0255	-15%	319,917
CBH	Coolabah Metals Limi	0.17	-15%	297,500
CTV	Colortv Limited	0.006	-14%	248,857
ICG	Inca Minerals Ltd	0.055	-14%	1,450,767
SRX	Sierra Rutile	0.37	-14%	5,627,661
CFO	Cfoam Limited	0.0035	-13%	2,379,917
RIE	Riedel Resources Ltd	0.007	-13%	346,147
NOU	Noumi Limited	0.175	-13%	131,177
NUH	Nuheara Limited	0.21	-13%	146,406
STG	Straker Translations	0.98	-12%	56,722
FLX	Felix Group	0.22	-12%	91,753
GRE	Greentechmetals	0.22	-12%	93,052
SPA	Spacetalk Ltd	0.053	-12%	1,454,477
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.265	-12%	543,011
CNQ	Clean Teq Water	0.5	-12%	24,926

Real estate firm Acumentis Group (ASX:ACU), down sharply, we’re not all over why, and Godolphin Resources (ASX:GRL), down 22% after sharing news of the completion of a $1.6m raise to keep its highly prospective Narraburra Rare Earth Project going.

WHAT YOU MAY’VE MISSED ON THE ASX TODAY

Inca Minerals (ASX:ICG) completed its maiden Australian drilling program at Greater Frewena Group Project in the Northern Territory, hitting 8 from 8 holes with copper +/- zinc-lead sulphides, which is beyond expectations Inca had coming into this leg of its exploration.

Meanwhile, NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) would like the market to know that its Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Walsh, has given notice of his intention to retire. Walsh hasn’t set a precise date, but it’s expected that he will step down in the latter part of 2022, capping a successful 8-year tenure that has seen group revenue increase from $1.1 billion to over $2.5 billion.