Closing Bell: Small Caps have punched well above their weight today

• The ASX 200 is pretty flat, small caps up circa 0.5% 
• Materials and energy dragging locally
• Alibaba reports tonight: analysts predicting 30 thieves, down from previous high of 40

Around lunchtime, the major banks started passing on the Central Bank’s latest rate rise. Check your lender, I think the Commbank kicked things off.

Around the town, Asian markets were doing a little better than Pacific markets. The Nikkei is up about 1%. The Hang Seng almost 2% and Shanghai Composite is backing off 0.5%.

The benchmark local index is weak, as per usual, giving away earlier gains, dragged lower by materials, resources and energy stocks. The Emerging Companies (XEC) index is a brave little bugger, up about 0.5%.

Certainly across China and North Asia traders seemed to breathe a little freer now that US Democratic House of Reps Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gotten the hell out of Taipei without speaking too much.

Mrs Pelosi got pretty tight with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday our time, despite a barrage of gorgeous threats and beautiful military exercises arranged for their anxiety by Beijing.

22 Chinese-made fighters flew across the Taiwan Straits during Pelosi’s stay, I feel the number is symbolic.

Since the Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army are constantly breaking across Taiwanese air-space anyway, it must have some other meaning. Maybe I’m reading into it and it just says – we can blow stuff up real good, if required.

Alibaba is dropping what analysts say will be a landmark quarterly earnings tonight. On the downside. It’s share price has popped anyway, up 6%,which – and remember I’m not an investor or a professional – this may mean traders are tapping their feet on a possible floor for the BABA stock price which has been utterly humiliated these last few years.

At home Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s had a crack at the coalition for leaving small business behind as the PM’s climate bill, which looks to consecrate Labor’s 43% emissions target into Aussie law, has passed the lower house hurdle – by 89 to 55 votes backed by the Greens MPs and the so-called teal independents.

Finally, looks like the trade surplus is surely nearing it’s post-pandemic peak – the Bureau of Stats says it topped another record high, delivering a $17.7 billion surplus in June, totally smiting the mighty $14 billion economists expected, with the usual mix of commodities and their absurd prices (talking to you coal) doing the heavy lifting.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

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

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

Yesterday, in what Marley Spoon (ASX:MMM), called an Aussie meal kit first, the US-HQ’d meal kit company, launched Wine Store by Marley Spoon (Ed: my italics but it seemed appropriate because it looks a little fancy).

The new store, MMM says, allows its Australian customers to choose from a selection of wines perfectly paired to their Marley Spoon recipes – delivered directly to their door.

MMM shares are trading about +12%. Just sayin.

Invigor Group (ASX:IVO) has lived up to its name, stacking on 35%, and the second-best of the over-$0.10 crew was Laybuy (ASX:LBY), which added 18% after promising to swing by next week to pick it up.

Topping the charts, though, was Osteopore (ASX:OSX), which has benefited from some excellent news, after reaching an agreement with US firm MellingMedical, which throws open the doors to the massive North American market.

Odyssey Gold (ASX:ODY) topped the best dressed list of Jesstastic Cummins last week and here it is again with another cracking score, this time at the Highway Zone Target, which Jess says is part of the Tuckanarra Project in the Murchison Goldfields in Western Australia.

The highlight intersection returned 84m at 2.5g/t gold, just 25m from surface with the hole ending in mineralisation at 109m.

While ODY has systematically been drilling the targets across Tuckanarra throughout 2022, the holes announced today are the first targeted to intersect the mineralisation in oxide at the Highway Zone.

What’s super interesting is mineralised structures across the Tuckanarra site have shown supergene enrichment where thick intersections are created at the base of oxide – this is now being repeated at the Highway Zone.

Rocketboots (ASX:ROC) putting Thursday through its paces is up circa 20%.

Either there’s a reason hidden inside its numbers loosed onto the market last week  or they’ve finally lived up to their name and put literal rockets in some boots. It’s probably the data thing, though.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

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

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

WHAT YOU MAY’VE MISSED

The receivers have been in and finished the grisly task of offloading assets for Buddy Technologies (ASX:BUD), with certain assets associated with the LIFX business to US-based Feit Electric Company.

Now done with picking over the carcass, the receivers say subsidiaries of BUD that operate the Buddy Ohm business are taking steps to cease operations of that business, which is expected to be complete by mid-August 2022.

Feit Electric’s intention is to provide app and platform support for existing LIFX products and to further develop and expand the LIFX product range, and has has also appointed a distributor for LIFX products in Australia and New Zealand.

In happier news, Empire Energy (ASX:EEG) says it’s been hard at work, hydraulically stimulating 21 stages at Carpentaria-2H – a personal best number of stimulation stages in a single well in the Beetaloo to date.

It’s brought a smile to Empire Energy’s face, and serves as a reminder that we should all try to find someone to hydraulically stimulate us, as frequently and deeply as Empire hydraulically stimulates Beetaloo.

And Estrella Resources (ASX:ESR) has announced some super finds at the excellently-named  Spargoville nickel project, which look like this:

• 3.45m @ 5.46% Ni including 1.2m @ 10.85% Ni
• 2.70m @ 2.47% Ni including 1.05m @ 4.9% Ni
• 11.12m @ 1.68% Ni including 0.7m @ 13.05% Ni
• 2.15m @ 2.35% Ni including 0.6m @ 6.54% Ni

We reckon if Estrella gets a nickel for every good find at Spargoville, the company wouldn’t need to go mining at Spargoville, which would be a shame because we wouldn’t get to write about Spargoville anymore.

Spargoville.

TRADING HALTS

Medical Developments International (ASX:MVP) – And we’re off to a slow start today, with a capital raise. Hmph. MVP indeed.

Proteomics International Laboratories (ASX:PIQ) – On a more interesting note, Proteomics has some juicy goss about licensing of its PromarkerD test in the US market.

Recharge Metals (ASX:REC) – Speaking of gossip, there’s something brewing at Brandy Hill South…

Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) – Nova wants in on the scuttlebutt, promising significant exploration results at RPM! Things are getting exciting!!

Eden Innovations (ASX:EDE) – A bit of a combo-breaker… Eden’s plotting a capital raise.

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) – Trading’s on hold with a private placement in the works.

European Lithium (ASX:EUR) – Back to the scintillating stuff, with news of an offtake agreement coming soon!

MOQ (ASX: MOQ) – Someone’s been scheming with Atturra… we can’t wait for the details!

Atturra (ASX:ATA) – Ooooh… spooky! We were just talking about Atturra, and they show up like this, all sudden and stuff.

Tyranna Resources (ASX:TYX) – And last but not least, Tyranna’s called a General Meeting, seeking approval for its Angolan Minerals project acquisition. Stay tuned for the inside word on how that all goes.