Lunchtime ASX small cap wrap: Who’s getting ready to shut up shop today?

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We trust you enjoyed your weekend (hopefully spent at home watching movies). Because after two days of respite, financial markets reopened this morning and promptly crashed again.

The ASX initially slumped by 7 per cent, before crawling (slightly) off the mat to a loss of around 5 per cent in midday trade.

That followed an aggressive move by the US Federal Reserve to maintain global liquidity, as it slashed rates by 100 basis points over the weekend. The Fed also said it would increase its purchases of government bonds, and extend its discount-lending provisions for major US banks.

In response, US stock market futures went “limit-down” — a stop-trigger mechanism which kicks in when futures fall by 7 per cent.

The price action on local markets this morning follows the biggest intra-day swing of all time on Friday, when the ASX ended 4 per cent higher after an 8 per cent drop.

While uncertainty around the health repercussions from the outbreak continues to far outweigh any certainty on the outlook, financial markets appear to be rapidly trying to calculate the repercussions for earnings if economies in the US, UK and Australia come to a complete halt.

Among the latest news-flow this morning;

– Victoria has declared a state of emergency, giving authorities increased power to authorise enforced quarantine;
– More schools are closing in NSW. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state rose to 134 yesterday;
– The Australian dollar is trading at GFC lows of around 61 US cents;
– ASIC stepped in to put limits on trading activity on the ASX;
– Schools have been closed across the greater New York City area, with possible closure of bars and restaurants on the way; and
– Spain has brought in the military to enforce a national lockdown.

Amid all that, the ASX200 went into midday trade 5.3 per cent lower at 5,246.50 points, while the Small Ords index was down 5.27 per cent at 2,163.40 points.

WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Monday March 16:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

TBG Diagnostics Ltd (ASX:TDL)

TBG — which makes molecular diagnostics kits in the US, Taiwan and China — saw some unusual price action on very low volumes (37k) this morning. Shares in the company surged by almost 300 per cent to 10c.

The lightly-traded stock released an announcement February 27 that one of its subsidiaries had been selected by authorities in China’s Hunan province as a designated COVID-19 testing lab.

However, there’s been no news since then other than the release of the company’s preliminary final report on February 28. TBG goes through some sessions without any trades at all on the ASX, but (at this stage) unseen developments appear to have been the catalyst for a high bid order this morning.

LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Monday March 16:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.

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