Closing Bell: Microcaps bloodbath continues as US stock futures fall again

Well, that was brutal.

After two days of steady falls, local markets executed a proper face-plant on Tuesday as the microcap Emerging Markets index slumped by 5.03%.

For some recent history, you’d have to go back to the heady days of March 2020 to find an intraday selloff as savage as that.

Combined with the previous two trading sessions, the composite microcap index has now slumped by ~12% — moving into official correction territory (a fall of +10%) in just three days.

As financial conditions start to tighten, local investors had to deal with a hot domestic inflation print this morning as trimmed mean CPI — the RBA’s preferred measure of inflation — came in at its highest q/q level since 2008.

The trimmed mean measure “was a massive overshoot on the RBA’s forecast for underlying inflation”, CBA said.

As a result, CBA economists now expect the first RBA rate hike to happen in August — ahead of its prior forecast (November).

Turning to global markets, things are looking grim as well. US futures are live, and pointing to falls of more than 1% on the S&P500 in afternoon Asian trade.

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
BAS	Bass Oil Ltd	0.002	33.3%	2,784,068
AFW	Applyflow Limited	0.005	25.0%	10,988,244
PNX	PNX Metals Limited	0.006	20.0%	3,825,786
CDA	Codan Limited	9.78	16.8%	2,647,734
IGN	Ignite Ltd	0.14	16.7%	4,185
MYG	Mayfield Group Ltd	0.35	16.7%	20,000
1ST	1St Group Ltd	0.014	16.7%	2,994,204
MBK	Metal Bank Ltd	0.007	16.7%	107
OEX	Oilex Ltd	0.0035	16.7%	1,098,438
BEZ	Besragoldinc	0.12	14.3%	233,541
SMS	Starmineralslimited	0.2	14.3%	51,129
PGO	Pacgold	0.8	12.7%	596,293
RNO	Rhinomed Ltd	0.2925	12.5%	840,186
AUH	Austchina Holdings	0.009	12.5%	28,853,211
SIH	Sihayo Gold Limited	0.009	12.5%	20,000
AUQ	Alara Resources Ltd	0.028	12.0%	1,709,850
MOQ	MOQ Limited	0.155	10.7%	130,033
RGL	Riversgold	0.021	10.5%	1,186,240
TOE	Toro Energy Limited	0.021	10.5%	58,662,663
MOB	Mobilicom Ltd	0.044	10.0%	20,114
SZL	Sezzle Inc.	2.35	9.8%	4,432,425
TGM	Theta Gold Mines Ltd	0.17	9.7%	62,000
BID	Bill Identity Ltd	0.23	9.5%	112,148
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.023	9.5%	1,181,837
RDG	Res Dev Group Ltd	0.07	9.4%	543,731

Among stocks with news, winners were more few and far between on Tuesday, although did someone say BNPL?

Penny stock recruitment business Applyflow Ltd (ASX:AFW) got a boost after announcing it had booked the first revenues for Applypay — its instalment-based finance offering for recruitment services fees.

The platform “permits employers to use Applypay to pay recruiter invoices upfront in return for employers making four equal monthly instalment payments to Applypay”, AFW said.

Also on the winner’s list was digital health player 1st Group (ASX:1ST), which inked a $2.5m equity funding deal with private equity firm Adcock in connection with the acquisition of telehealth platform Visionflex.

And wearable nasal technology company Rhinomed (ASX:RNO) got a lift following the release of its December 4C filing, where the company flagged a 63% lift in cash receipts to $2.53m.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

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

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

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
CLE	Cyclone Metals	0.003	-33.3%	9,487,679
OAR	OAR Resources Ltd	0.006	-33.3%	65,734,856
CGB	Cann Global Limited	0.002	-33.3%	4,741,946
CAD	Caeneus Minerals	0.009	-30.8%	87,092,133
BNR	Bulletin Res Ltd	0.1	-25.9%	7,140,901
NPM	Newpeak Metals	0.0015	-25.0%	114,468,126
NTL	New Talisman Gold	0.0015	-25.0%	442,906
VMG	VDM Group Limited	0.0015	-25.0%	1,748,635
ALV	Alvomin	0.27	-22.9%	596,803
HCD	Hydrocarbon Dynamic	0.011	-21.4%	1,707,438
VAR	Variscan Mines Ltd	0.044	-21.4%	2,232,591
LRV	Larvotto Resources	0.15	-21.1%	1,373,942
NAG	Nagambie Resources	0.05	-20.6%	1,112,906
1MC	Morella Corporation	0.027	-20.6%	83,573,676
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.002	-20.0%	8,000,148
PCL	Pancontinental Energ	0.002	-20.0%	175,514,952
SE1	Sensera Ltd	0.016	-20.0%	2,783,287
YPB	YPB Group Ltd	0.002	-20.0%	1,439,801
NIS	Nickelsearch	0.205	-19.6%	1,307,257
WR1	Winsome Resources	0.37	-19.6%	6,173,917
SLZ	Sultan Resources Ltd	0.165	-19.5%	2,962,131
RDM	Red Metal Limited	0.105	-19.2%	1,052,841
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.13	-18.8%	61,993,755
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.022	-18.5%	7,308,384

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

All bets are now live in New York for online gaming company PointsBet Holdings (ASX:PBH) in New York.

PBH today announced its wholly-owned subsidiary PointsBet New York LLC has successfully launched online and mobile sports betting in New York. Shares in the company fell almost 9% in Tuesday trade.

New York marks the ninth operational state for PointBet’s premium sports betting product following other launches in New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, West Virginia and Virginia.

Rectifier Technologies (ASX:RFT) which services the home and car batteries markets has renewed its exclusive supplier agreement with Brisbane-based EV charger maker Tritium (NASDAQ:DCFC,DCFCW).

Tritium commenced trading on the Nasdaq this month following a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), a so-called “blank cheque” company.

Rectifier will provide a high-powered power supply for Tritium’s range of high-powered chargers (HPC) through the agreement which is effective until March 31, 2023.

Gateway Mining (ASX:GML) and DiscovEx Resources (ASX:DCX) have announced encouraging soil sampling results at their Edjudina joint venture in Western Australia.

Results at the Hornet East Prospect show a continuous +10ppb gold anomaly, open to the south that has been defined across multiple sample lines and extends for approximately 1.2km.

And lastly, Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) has completed a $25 million share placement plan (SPP) as part of its $100m acquisition of Helloworld Corporate Travel.

A total of ~1.2 million shares will be issued under the SPP at $21 per share, the lower end of a five-day VWAP of $21.54 up to and including January 20, 2022, when it closed.

Managing Director and CEO James Pherous said the strong support for the capital raise from retail and institutional investors is an endorsement of the company’s acquisition of Helloworld Corporate.