Last Orders: What you might have missed on the ASX today

Small cap companies have started the week on a good note – and have once again outperformed their blue chip counterparts.

The Small Ordinaries index of 100 small cap companies has finished up 0.8 per cent to 3,012.4, compared to just a 0.3 per cent gain for the ASX200.

The Emerging Companies index did even better, rising 1.3 per cent to 1,848.6.

The ASX-listed owner of the National Stock Exchange of Australia, NSX Limited (ASX:NSX), was one of the biggest gainers on the ASX on Monday. Its shares rose 45.3 per cent to 38.5c after the company completed the integration of its trade acceptance service into the ASX Clear system. Clearing and settlement services have now commenced with a number of stockbrokers including Bell Potter and Morgans.

Elsewhere on the ASX:

Announcements

– Norwood Systems (ASX:NOR) rose 7.4 per cent to 2.9c after announcing it had partnered with New York City-based artificial intelligence company Amelia to create a new type of voicemail service that would replace “canned” recorded voicemail greetings with a “dynamic and engaging virtual persona” that could screen calls. The service would be sold to telco providers both locally and globally.

– Imugene (ASX:IMU) rose 15 per cent to 11.5c after the Sydney biotech company announced its HER-Vaxx drug candidate appears to lengthen the life of patients with advanced gastric cancer. Patients who received the B-cell peptic cancer immunotherapy plus chemotherapy have a median survival time of 14.2 months, compared to 8.8 months in patients only receiving chemotherapy. The phase 2 study involving 68 patients is ongoing across eastern Europe and India.

– MGC Pharmaceuticals (ASX:MXC) rose 4.7 per cent to 2.2c after completing its $1.4 million acquisition of Medicinal Cannabis Clinics, an Australian telehealth medicinal cannabis clinic. The assets will provide MGC with an operating platform with import and distribution capability that will significantly expand market access, MGC said.

– Eden Innovations (ASX:EDE) announced its carbon-strenghtened EdenCrete concrete additive would be used in a 10-story building in Wichita, Kansas.

– Antisense Therapeutics (ASX:ANP) fell one per cent to 9.9c after completing its dual listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.