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

Small caps have recouped some losses sustained during the previous two-day losing streak, and beaten the overall market.

The Small Ordinaries index on Wednesday finished up 19.7 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 3,084.4.

The ASX200 in contrast gained just 7.5 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 6,686.6.

Sectors were mixed, but energy raced ahead, gaining 4.3 per cent as the price of Brent crude hit an 11-month high of $US57 a barrel.

Consumer staples and technology were both down more than one per cent, while telecom shares collectively rose 1.4 per cent.

Fremont Petroleum (ASX:FPL) was one of the biggest gainers, rising 66.7 per cent to 0.5c after announcing that a 21-well workover program had commenced on leases the US-focused oil and gas company acquired in October.

Announcements

– Praemium (ASX:PPS) gained 15.6 per cent to 70.5c after the wealth management platform reported record December quarter inflows of $1.1 billion, up 128 per cent from a year ago.

– Audinate Group (ASX:AD8) rose 0.6 per cent to $7.84 after the audio/visual networking company announced it had generated $US11.1 million ($15.4 million) in unaudited half-year revenue, about the same as the same period last year. The strengthening Aussie dollar had adversely impacted unaudited revenue in AUD, the company said.

– Buddy Technologies (ASX:BUD) was flat at 4.7c after the smart lighting company announced it had executed a broad manufacturing agreement with Nanchang Innotech Homestart Co, the current manufacturer of Buddy’s LIFX Switch smart light bulb.

– BluGlass (ASX:BLG) rose 8.1 per cent to 9.3c per cent after the semiconductor technology developer announced its 405nm laser design had demonstrated strong initial performance during tests. The company says it is on track to provide samples to customers in early 2021.

– OptiScan Imaging (ASX:OIL) dropped 4.4 per cent to 11c after the microscopic imaging company announced it had received $350,000 in orders from Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

– Trigg Mining (ASX:TMG) went into a trading halt before responding to an ASX price query. The potash explorer said that given the holidays, the market may have missed a December 21 announcement about drilling results at its Lake Throssell Sulphate of Potash project, which was subsequently publicised by World Fertilizer Magazine. Trigg shares finished up 18.5 per cent to a three-month high of 16c.

Trading halts

Thursday:

Orthocell (ASX:OCC) – FDA investigation outcome
Nuenergy Gas (ASX:NGY) – price query response
Fe (ASX:FEL) – ASX query
Lodestar (ASX:LSR) – capital raising
Cipherpoint (ASX:CPT) – capital raising

Friday: 

Sagalio Energy (ASX:SAN) – price query
Prominence Energy (ASX:PRM) – capital raising
Global Oil & Gas (ASX:GLV) – capital raising
Whitebark Energy (ASX:WBE) – investment outcome
DiscovEx Resources (ASX:DCX) – capital raising & acquisition
Galileo Mining (ASX:GAL) – price query