• Small caps burn rest of field. Again. Up 1.8%
  • ASX 200 dips. Again
  • DM1 jumps 75% over two sessions

 

The ASX Emerging Companies (XEC) index has climbed more than 1.8% higher on Wednesday while its erstwhile brethren which measures the favoured 200 on the ASX is down a deflating o.2%.

Turth be told, the leads out of New York were ordinary for a fourth straight session. The triumvirate of Wall Street majors were all 1% lower by the time business was called overnight.

Little caps care not for such. Tech stocks and goldies leading the winners.

Meanwhile, inflation remains the favoured theme, with the investment genii at Goldman Sachs now warning the English that Britain’s inflation could soon become really great, topping well over 22% by next year.

Pretty maddeningly, oil prices have gone and entirely retraced the stonking gains of Tuesday, now both the global benchmark Brent crude and the US Nymex have lost around 5.5% per barrel, to fall well below the US$100 mark.

There’s growing whispers of a potential Iranian nuclear deal behind the scenes but when prices fluctuate as these ones are doing, the daily price swings appear to have little to do with math and more to do with chaos theory.

At home, the ANZ bank has lowered its 2022 GDP forecast for China, pegging the world’s second-largest economy to 3%, from 4%. Not good for China-facing resources companies nor the AUD, everyone’s favourite proxy for a healthy China.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

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Shares in 4DMedical (ASX:4DX) have jumped on Wednesday, climbing circa 33% after reporting a clinical trial found its XV Technology can detect constrictive bronchiolitis on US veterans exposed to harmful chemicals.

That type of chest problem can usually only be detected through a very painful, expensive and invasive surgical biopsy, the garden variety pulmonary function tests and CT scans don’t get near it.

The timing of the study is also welcome –  US Pres Joe Biden recently legislating the expansion of healthcare benefits for veterans exposed to said toxic substances.

4DX says is now looking to apply what its learned to try and detect other lung diseases so patients can get treated all the faster.

Nitro Software (ASX: NTO) went into a trading halt last night after a Potentia Capital Consortium decided its 41.4 million shares or 17% of total Nitro capital wasn’t going to cut it. Potentia Capital and co-investor HarbourVest Partners, lobbed an unsolicited, conditional,  non-binding and not entirely unwelcome bid to acquire the rest of Nitro at $1.58 cash per share.

The offer is subject to a six-week due diligence period, access to the usual transaction documents as well as Nitro Board getting on board. That’ll be where the rubber hits the glycerine.

Nevertheless, up 40% or so. A good day’s work.

Desert Metals (ASX:DM1) remains well in play after Tuesday’s rare earth revelations.

The WA explorer has now found some 75% since yesterday’s announcement that a rare earths (REE) system at the Innouendy project could be, in the hallowed words repeated most recently by Reuben, The Big One.

A now completed 12,745m drilling program hit “encouraging” thicknesses of clays (up to 80m thick, average hole depth 41m) across an extensive area surrounding previous REE hits, like 20m @ 2139ppm from 16m.

Clay-hosted REEs, which makes up the vast majority of rare earths produced in the world, are getting more attention following a spate of discoveries.

“If the high value REE grades previously reported are repeated over significant downhole thickness and areal extent, analysis from the current drilling program will be used to help define a resource,” DM1 said.

Tesoro Gold (ASX:TSO) has pulled up a 434.6m long intersection grading 1.22g/t gold from 15m depth at the 1.1Moz El Zorro project in Chile.

That includes 90m section grading over 3g/t.

In the hallowed words repeated most recently by Reuben: Gigantic.

These intercepts from the main Ternera deposit “confirm continuity and consistency of mineralisation down plunge and have potential to improve resource classification and extend mineralised zones”, TSO said.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

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Oleg’s DroneShield (ASX:DRO), is down but 17% is a good reflection of the co’s outlook, considering it just came clean about a net loss for FY22, in the words of Stronach, “had climbed a gonad-mashing 990% to $4.9 million.” A loss many punters naturally felt in their nethers.

Best and Less (ASX:BST) released its FY22 results late on Tuesday and those mixed and muddying numbers have been swiftly followed by the less best news that parent and majority shareholder Allegro Funds has entered into a great big block trade agreement with Bell Potter, flogging some 11.1% of its issued shares in BST leaving Allegro with 32.4% BST’s issued stock.

In a letter to BST Allegro said:

The primary purpose of the sell own is to enhance liquidity in BST stock as it is our view that the Allegro Entities’ holding in BST has constrained trading liquidity in the stock. 

Allegro remains highly supportive of BST and its management team and has strong conviction around the ongoing strategy, performance and value of the Company. 

 

Despite the block sale, Allegro is still BST’s largest shareholder and intends to continue to maintain its representation on the Board of Directors.

Neverthebestandless is down about 15%.

 

WHAT YOU MAY’VE MISSED ON THE ASX TODAY

Aside from the news that the last-ever leader of the Soviet Union has gone to the Great Central Committee Meeting in the Sky, and more FY22 results than any sane human could consume, there are a few little tidbits from around the ASX that might have flown under your radar.

For instance, Newfield Resources (ASX:NWF) has announced that it has entered into a $55 million equity funding facility with SBC Global Investment Fund, a fund of L1 Capital Global Opportunities Master Fund.

Newfield says the money is going towards expanding its Tongo Diamond Mine in Sierra Leone, as it moves towards getting it up to production stage, through access to both working and expansion capital over the next 36 months.

And OceanaGold Corporation (ASX:OGC) put out a reminder that as of this afternoon, it’s off the official list of the ASX.

There will be a short farewell in the break room at 4.30pm, with light refreshments (and thank you Sharon for popping down to the supermarket), but please remember to stack the chairs up properly when you’re done and wipe down the countertops – we don’t need the cockroach problem getting any worse than it already is.

 

TRADING HALTS

And lastly, it’s the bit of our end-of-day wrap up that we know you all look forward to the most, because there is simply nothing more riveting than being told which things you’re not allowed to buy or sell.

Dart Mining (ASX:DTM) – Dart’s got a placement up its sleeve, with details due later in the week. Hardly surprising since it went through the roof already this week. It’s all Barry’s fault.

Techgen Metals (ASX:TG1) – Techgen’s gonna spill the beans on whether it’s bitten into the beef with its maiden RC drilling campaign at the John Bull Project. Meanwhile, John Cow is nowhere to be seen, and authorities are working round the clock to establish the identity of John Doe.

Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) – Botanix is kicking off a capital raise, planting the seeds of future growth, so they may blossom with the springtime and give us all hayfever for Botanix to cure. The circle of life continues.

Epsilon Healthcare (ASX:EPN) – And the last cool sounding company – Epsilon Healthcare – approaches, bearing tidings of completion of a capital raise. Outstanding.

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