With the global COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, people and governments across the world are adopting increasingly creative protection measures.
At the community level there are the more conventional containment efforts, such as school closures and event cancellations.
And individually, an increasing number of citizens donning hazmat suits have been spotted out in public.
But in Australia, the local headlines have been dominated by #toiletpapergate, as people across the country scramble to stock up on emergency supplies.
The prevailing view appears to be that in the event of a nationwide home-lockdown, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Anecdotes include various fights breaking out at local shopping malls, while supermarkets try in vain to limit purchases as shelves full of toilet paper are emptied out en masse.
Things are getting a little panicky, and it was no different on local markets today which suffered another round of jitters after a big fall on the S&P500 overnight.
The ASX200 was down 1.61 per cent to 6,293 points, which the Small Ords fell 1.71 per cent to 2,675 points.
WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Friday March 6:
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CODE NAME PRICE % CHANGE MARKET CAP SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.03 +150.00% $4.9M TSO Tesoro Resources Ltd 0.03 +58.82% $9.8M ESE eSense-Lab Ltd 0.01 +57.14% $2.1M FEL Fe Ltd 0.01 +30.00% $6.4M ESH Esports Mogul Ltd 0.01 +20.00% $12.2M HWK Hawkstone Mining Ltd 0.01 +20.00% $6.1M RAC Race Oncology Ltd 0.4 +19.70% $43.2M AHQ Allegiance Coal Ltd 0.11 +19.57% $63.3M DCL DomaCom Ltd 0.06 +18.87% $15.4M PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.06 +18.00% $34.3M HAW Hawthorn Resources Ltd 0.11 +17.02% $37.6M GTG Genetic Technologies Ltd 0.01 +14.29% $32.5M LSR Lodestar Minerals Ltd 0.01 +14.29% $6.8M EHH Eagle Health Holdings Ltd 0.21 +13.51% $75.5M UBI Universal Biosensors Inc 0.18 +12.50% $32.0M CZR Coziron Resources Ltd 0.01 +12.50% $21.5M NXE New Energy Minerals Ltd 0.01 +12.50% $1.5M PUA Pure Alumina Ltd 0.02 +12.50% $4.0M TNR Torian Resources Ltd 0.01 +12.50% $3.3M KAU Kaiser Reef Ltd 0.33 +11.86% $11.2M
The healthcare company saw some unusual price action this morning, surging from 10c to 22c — a gain of 120 per cent.
At 11:40am AEDT, the company’s trading had been temporarily paused “pending a further announcement”.
It remains to be seen what the bullish catalyst was, but some have speculated it relates to a potential health solution targeted at the coronavirus.
In Skin Elements’ half-year report on Monday, the company included a note that said it was in the advanced stages of product testing for a new treatment, Invisi Shield.
“This is being bought forward for immediate release given the global issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company said.
LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm Friday March 6:
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CODE | NAME | PRICE | % CHANGE | MARKET CAP |
---|---|---|---|---|
MRG | Murray River Organics Group Ltd | 0.011 | -56.50% | $26.5M |
RMT | RMA Energy Ltd | 0.001 | -50.00% | $2.1M |
FPL | Fremont Petroleum Corp Ltd | 0.003 | -25.00% | $5.0M |
MRD | Mount Ridley Mines Ltd | 0.002 | -20.00% | $5.4M |
CLZ | Classic Minerals Ltd | 0.002 | -20.00% | $14.4M |
NCR | NuCoal Resources Ltd | 0.002 | -18.18% | $6.9M |
NSB | NeuroScientific Biopharmaceuti | 0.12 | -14.81% | $9.0M |
IGN | Ignite Ltd | 0.01 | -14.29% | $1.1M |
FML | Focus Minerals Ltd | 0.2 | -12.77% | $37.5M |
FAU | First Au Ltd | 0.007 | -12.50% | $2.1M |
ESE | eSense-Lab Ltd | 0.007 | -12.50% | $1.3M |
CLT | Cellnet Group Ltd | 0.14 | -12.12% | $9.1M |
CVW | ClearView Wealth Ltd/Australia | 0.32 | -11.11% | $216.3M |
SCI | Silver City Minerals Ltd | 0.008 | -11.11% | $2.7M |
AJJ | Asian American Medical Group L | 0.04 | -10.87% | $14.3M |
VML | Vital Metals Ltd | 0.009 | -10.00% | $21.4M |
ICN | Icon Energy Ltd/Australia | 0.009 | -10.00% | $5.4M |
EN1 | engage:BDR Ltd | 0.02 | -10.00% | $13.9M |
MEY | Marenica Energy Ltd | 0.05 | -10.00% | $6.3M |