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

Small caps have finished the week with just a marginal decline, escaping a larger dip in the broader market.

The Small Ordinaries closed Friday down 0.1 per cent, or 1.9 points, to 3,034.8, while the ASX200 dropped 0.5 per cent to 6,601.1 in its second losing day in a row.

But it was just the second decline in eight sessions for the Small Ords, which finished the week up 1.55 per cent. With just one more trading day left in the month, the index of 100 small-cap companies is on pace to finish November with a 10.9 per cent gain – its best month since April. It hasn’t had a losing week since late October.

The Emerging Companies micro-cap index meanwhile finished Friday up 0.22 per cent to 1,858.8 – up 1.84 per cent for the week and 11.5 per cent in November.

Energy explorer Octanex (ASX:OXX) was the biggest winner on Friday, gaining 53.9 per cent to 2c on the date of its annual general meeting.

Elsewhere in the ASX small-cap space:

Announcements

– Quantify Technology (ASX:QFY) gained 20 per cent to 0.3c after announcing that GSM Innovations had received an order for 10,000 of its Zimi smart home devices. Quantify has agreed to acquire GSM and thus the order will count for revenue for Quantify.

– Holista Colltech (ASX:HCT) dipped 1.5 per cent to 6.6c after the natural wellness company announced it had hired a third-party consulting firm to advance its NatShield and Protectene range of products to be labelled as effective in killing the COVID-19 virus. The application to the Therapeutic Goods Administration is to re-classify the disinfecting products as “therapeutic goods”.

– Six Sigma Metals (ASX:SI6) gained 33.3 per cent to 1.2c after announcing that drilling would soon begin at its Mailebe North Project in Botswana. The crew will drill a 550 deep diamond drill hole in the hopes of defining a new nickel discovery.

– Cirralto (ASX:CRO) announced that it had successfully raised $2.8 million in a placement to professional investors at 3c per share. Shares in the B2B payment company are in a trading halt.

– TALi Digital (ASX:TD1)‘s shares finished up 26.7 per cent to 3.8c, and traded as high as 4.3c. In response to a letter from the ASX, the early childhood attention intervention company told the ASX the only explanation it had that was an investor presentation from its AGM on Tuesday has generated significant interest in the company, which makes apps for diagnosing and correcting attention deficit disorder.

– InteliCare Holdings (ASX:ICR) announced it had received a $410,611 tax refund for its research and development work on its internet of things platform. Shares in the aged care technology company edged lower to 25c.