It was a fairly turbulent night on global markets, but the ASX 200 put in a fairly solid day of trade on Thursday to snap a two-day losing streak.

Risk-on sentiment held sway as the microcap Emerging Companies index rose more than 1%, while the ASX 200 rose by 0.7%.

It followed an overnight session where UK gas prices went haywire and stocks fell, before the gas market settled and prices fell back.

Then US lawmakers settled everyone’s nerves by closing in on a temporary fix for the latest raise-the-debt-ceiling fiasco (trillion-dollar coin anyone?)

After that, stocks went up. And gains on the ASX followed the Wall Street market as tech stocks outperformed, with the ASX Information Technology index posting a gain of more than 2%.

 

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

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

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Product authentication company YPB Group (ASX:YPB) ticked higher in percentage terms, after announcing it’s secured a commercial trial in the south-east Asian market for MotifMicro1 (MM1) — its anti-counterfeit solution that can be ready by a smartphone.

The client, Holographic Label Sdn. Bhd. “has been in the security printing industry for over 20 years”, YPB said.  The agreement “provides a framework for HLSB to order MM1 from YPB, pursuant to purchase orders. HLSB placed its first order for US$4,000 of MM1”, YPB said.

In resources, Sunstone Metals (ASX:STM) held its gains from morning trade after announcing a big copper-gold hit at its ‘El Palmar’ project in Ecuador.

Also rising strongly was tech company Prophecy International Holdings Ltd (ASX:PRO), which landed a $5.518m contract with the NYSE-listed health insurance giant Humana Inc.

The deal is for the deployment of eMite — PRO’s SaaS-based call centre analytics platform. Annual recurring revenues from eMite will now exceed $10m, Prophecy said.

TODAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

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

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Diversified resources play Intra Energy (ASX:IEC) dipped more than 15%, following two days of solid gains which prompted a speeding ticket from the ASX.

In response, IEC said it wasn’t aware of any information that would prompt the gains, which saw it rise by 10% and 18.18% on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

The ACCC is investigating the purchase of the Newcastle Agri Terminal by logistics giant Qube (ASX:QUB). It is alleged that the ACCC wasn’t given enough time or information to assess the transaction and that there was potential for anti-competitive behaviour.

Mayne Pharma (ASX:MYX) received a response from the FDA in relation to its abbreviated new drug application for its generic version of Nuvaring. While Mayne said the FDA raised a few questions in it, the company nonetheless said it was closer to approval and there were no objections to the facility, manufacturing process, drug substance or bioequivalence.

BNPL company Openpay (ASX:OPY) secured a US$271.4 million funding facility with Goldman Sachs and Atalaya Capital Management to help it launch into the US. The company says it secured attractive rates which will allow it to scale up quickly.

Regusa Minerals (ASX:RAG) secured Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development approval to conduct gold mining and processing at its Lonely Mine Gold project in Zimbabwe. The certificate was issued for a period of 2 years and enables full commercial development to proceed as and when determined by the company.

Collins Foods (ASX:CKF) signed a deal with KFC to be its franchisee in the Netherlands. The deal will be effective on December 31 for a period of 5 years and provide for up to 130 net new outlets.

TRADING HALTS

Friday 
Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) – announcement clarification
Structural Monitoring Systems (ASX:SMN) – capital raising
Metal Hawk (ASX:MHK) – capital raising
Regal Investment Fund (ASX:RF1) – capital raising

Monday
Seafarms Group (ASX:SFG) – project cost update
Alchemy Resources (ASX:ALY) – capital raising
Vanadium Resources (ASX:VR8) – capital raising
New Talisman Gold Mines (ASX:NTL) – rights issue update

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