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

It’s been a fairly dark day on the markets today, but small cap investors can take heart that at least emerging companies haven’t been hit as hard as the blue chips.

The Small Ordinaries index of the 200 companies in the ASX300 (but not the ASX100) finished down 1.37 per cent, while the ASX100 and the ASX200 both fell 1.61 per cent.

Xplore Wealth (ASX:XPL) was one of the biggest gainers on the ASX, as its shares resumed trading a day after announcing it would be purchased by HUB24 (ASX:HUB) for $60 million.

If the buyout is approved, Xplore shareholders will receive 20c in cash or its equivalent in Hub24 shares – a 203 per cent premium to Xplore’s last trading day before the announcement.

Xplore shares gained 187.9 per cent to 19c, while HUB24 shares were up 8.4 per cent to $22.72.

Magnetite Mines (ASX:MGT) was among the biggest losers, its shares dropping 30 per cent to 0.7c after announcing that a $20 million farm-in transaction by Braemar Mining Developments into the Razorback Iron Ore Project wouldn’t occur.

In other news:

Announcements

– Brainchip Holdings (ASX:BRN) fell 1.4 per cent to 36.5c after announcing it had closed the September quarter with $US12.2 million in cash, after spending $US2.2 million in operating expenses. The artificial intelligence computer chip company said it had subsequently increased its cash balance and had $US20.3 million in the bank as of Monday.

– Zoono Group (ASX:ZNO) gained 13.4 per cent to $1.61 after the Kiwi hand sanitizer manufacturer announced that independent testing in the United Kingdom, the UAE and Poland had confirmed the antimicrobial properties of its products.

The testing including a trial in the London Underground across 72 “hot” touch areas in 23 trains. Between eight and 30 days after application, the tests found no signs of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, no presence of E.coli and – in 70 of the 72 tests – no presence of Staphylococcus bacteria. In the other two tests, there was a very small amount of Staphylococcus.

– Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) dropped 2.7 per cent to 36c after naming senior executives to its Ta Khoa nickel-copper-platinum project in Vietnam. The company is working to produce downstream nickel products for the lithium-ion battery project and developing Ta Khoa into a fully integrated mine-to-market nickel business.

– Regeneus (ASX:RGS) dropped 6.9 per cent to 13.5c after announced it had received a milestone payment of $5.6 million from Kyocera Corporation for its stem cell treatment Progenza for knee osteoarthritis in that country. Regeneus and Kyocera signed the partnership deal back in August.