Closing Bell: The ASX gained 0.6 per cent in the first hour but finished downward as investors ponder Sydney COVID's situation

Closing Bell is Stockhead’s daily recap of the trading day on the ASX covering the overall direction of the market, biggest winners and losers as well as other news you might’ve missed during the trading day.

Today, ASX shareholders were taken on a rollercoaster ride. The benchmark ASX 200 gained 0.6% in the first hour but gradually declined to close just below the red by 0.02% – at 7,332 points.

The ASX Emerging Companies Index however finished 1.33% higher at 2,190.

The best sectors were resources and materials, which rose over 0.8% while property trusts led the laggards, retreating 0.86%.

After weeks of shrugging off Sydney’s outbreak, it arguably has finally hit home for investors that having New South Wales cut off from the rest of the country might threaten the entire nation’s economic recovery.

Investors were also unimpressed by the federal government’s support package to address this concern, which was formally unveiled this afternoon after been foreshadowed for several days.

While it has inevitable for a few days that the lockdown will be extended, the NSW state government will announce tomorrow just how long current restrictions might last for.

Most other markets in Asia have gained today, following Wall Street’s latest record high with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong leading the charge gaining over 1.5%.

TODAY’S BIGGEST WINNERS

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

Stocks highlighted in yellow rose (or fell) after making announcements during intraday trade.

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
YFZ	Youfoodz	0.905	77	4889727
IND	Industrialminerals	0.35	75	4668032
ICQ	Icar Asia Ltd	0.48	60	16229815
RXH	Rewardle Holding Ltd	0.016	33	6315465
KGD	Kula Gold Limited	0.057	33	62650044
SOR	Strategic Elements	0.31	29	6067025
EAX	Energy Action Ltd	0.335	26	280
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.005	25	4729799
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.16	23	74364
SW1	Swift Media Limited	0.028	22	6207989
BSM	Bass Metals Ltd	0.006	20	3024520
IDA	Indiana Resources	0.07	19	58179470
MCE	Matrix C & E Ltd	0.165	18	407000
NZS	New Zealand Coastal	0.014	17	2897071
RFG	Retail Food Group	0.086	16	21841441
LBT	LBT Innovations	0.115	16	1262275
RVS	Revasum	0.36	16	134919
SHV	Select Harvests	7.53	16	1260048
ODY	Odyssey Gold Ltd	0.11	16	3764070
NVX	Novonix Limited	2.62	15	9052439

Youfoodz (ASX:YFZ) received a takeover bid from HelloFresh at 93 cents per share, which came after a horror 7 months for shareholders as a listed company since debuting at $1.50 a pop.

Today’s new listee, WA mineral sands company Industrial Minerals (ASX:IND), rose by over 70% on its first trading day.

Among other winners were resources stocks such as Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA) and Kula Gold (ASX:KGD) both with exploration results.

And almond company Select Harvests (ASX:SHV) says the company is set to record a record almond crop of 28,250 metric tonnes in 2021 and is seeing solid progress being made toward’s next year’s crop.

TODAY’S BIGGEST LOSERS

Code	Company	Price	%	Volume
YFZ	Youfoodz	0.905	77	4889727
IND	Industrialminerals	0.35	75	4668032
ICQ	Icar Asia Ltd	0.48	60	16229815
RXH	Rewardle Holding Ltd	0.016	33	6315465
KGD	Kula Gold Limited	0.057	33	62650044
SOR	Strategic Elements	0.31	29	6067025
EAX	Energy Action Ltd	0.335	26	280
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.005	25	4729799
GTE	Great Western Exp.	0.16	23	74364
SW1	Swift Media Limited	0.028	22	6207989
BSM	Bass Metals Ltd	0.006	20	3024520
IDA	Indiana Resources	0.07	19	58179470
MCE	Matrix C & E Ltd	0.165	18	407000
NZS	New Zealand Coastal	0.014	17	2897071
RFG	Retail Food Group	0.086	16	21841441
LBT	LBT Innovations	0.115	16	1262275
RVS	Revasum	0.36	16	134919
SHV	Select Harvests	7.53	16	1260048
ODY	Odyssey Gold Ltd	0.11	16	3764070
NVX	Novonix Limited	2.62	15	9052439

Uranium aspirant Berkeley Energia (ASX:BKY), received news that it was not granted a permit to build its proposed uranium concentrate plant as a radioactive facility.

ANNOUNCEMENTS YOU MAY’VE MISSED

Aerial mapping company Nearmap (ASX:NEA) climbed with a financial update that exceeded previous guidance. It expects its Annual Contract Value (ACV) to close FY21 at $133.8 million predominantly thanks to its record performance in North America.

Still with the US, medtech PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) says its revenues are on the rebound after being hit thanks to COVID-19. It reported revenue from BTM device is up 49% in FY21 over FY20 and it made US$4.9 million in revenue in the past quarter compared to US$3.3 million in the June quarter in FY20.

One of the best performing recent listees,, Australian Rare Earths (ASX:AR3), announced it had been granted another exploration license which increased its tenure at Koppamurra in South Australia by over 40% to 2,136 square kilometres. The company says it will undertake a significant drilling program in December quarter of this year.

Hydrogen aspirant Global Oil and Gas (ASX:GLV) says COVID-19 lockdowns in WA and NT hit a planned on-ground survey planned to commence earlier this month. The survey is now expected to begin at the end of the month travel restrictions permitting.

PNG Bank BSP Financial (ASX:BFL) says local regulators believe it breached AML/CTF laws and have consequently issued it a formal warning and required it to replace its CEO as well as appoint an external auditor. The company says it would consider its legal options.