ASX Small Caps and Weekly IPO Wrap: It was a belter for the techies, but(t) a spanking for everyone else

The ASX 200 benchmark fell 1.14% as debt ceiling and inflation woes juggled the market’s plums pretty hard
Tech stocks bucked the trend magnificently, though, thanks to Nvidia’s efforts to crack the Magic Trillion mark
Blaze Resources won the Small Caps war with a super-duper 110% lift for the week

The ASX has US chipmaker Nvidia to thank for saving it from a complete disaster this week, after it gave enough of a boost to the local InfoTech sector to off-set some of the rest of the local market’s less-than-ideal performance.

Overall, the benchmark took a bit of a battering, shedding 1.14% as the US debt ceiling worries, US and UK inflationary issues and – late in the week – Germany ticking into a technical recession sat on the market’s chest and made it difficult to breathe, or concentrate.

But the Nvidia surge towards becoming a trillion dollar company boosted InfoTech well past the rest of the market, with the XTX All Tech index finishing the week 3.32% higher, after gaining ground on Monday, yesterday and today.

The more broadly defined InfoTech sector was up 6.9% for the week, a tiny speck in the distance from where second placed Energy was left standing on +1.3%.

Telcos and Financials closed the week flat, and the rest of the sectors were pure, deep-fried garbage.

Materials fared worst, down 3.6% for the week, below Consumer Discretionary (-2.8%) and Real Estate (-1.67%).

The Biggest Loser

Normally, I do my best to avoid mocking high profile investors for their obvious mis-steps – except if it’s CNBC’s resident foghorn Jim Cramer, because he looks like a 1,000 year old baby and picks winners about as well as one, too.

But I can’t go past throwing a couple of well-aimed rocks at Cathie Wood, because of the nes that her flagship Ark Innovation ETF dumped its holding of Nvidia just before the stock went on an AI frenzy.

ARKK had been sitting on about 750,000 Nvidia shares since August 2020, but cut that position to under 39,000 shares by November, before selling all of them completely in January.

Wood patiently dorksplained in February that Nvidia was “way overvalued”, saying at the time that “we like Nvidia, we think it’s going to be a good stock. It’s priced — it’s the ‘check-the-box’ AI company.”

“But for our flagship fund, where we’ve consolidated towards our highest conviction names, part of that [selling Nvidia stocks] has to do with valuation,” she told CNBC.

The Nvidia stock price has risen by 165% since January 1st, leaving Cathie’s face so covered in egg, it’s begining to look like the floor of an untidy barn.

Ah well… you can’t win ‘em all, right?

And on that note, here’s a more in-depth look at the week that was.

Monday: Benchmark down 0.22%.

InfoTech clearly had some advanced “I can see through time” AI witchcraft happening on Monday, choosing a slow day to launch this week’s tilt at Total Market Domination™.

Despite a fairly mundane market-wide effort, InfoTech took the going with a 1.2% surge thanks to an interesting double-rally over the course of the session.

Energy (+1.0%) and Health Care (+0.5%) were the only other sectors making meaningful stabs into positive territory.

The Small Caps winner for the day was Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8), which picked up where it left off at the end of last week and resumed its effort to reach interstellar space, adding 34.5% to take its gains for the month past 160%.

Wildcat’s climb was on news it had entered into a conditional, binding agreement to acquire 100% of the Tabba Tabba Tantalum Mine and Lithium-Tantalum Project, 50km from Port Hedland in the Pilbara, WA.

In second place was Westar Resources (ASX:WSR) booming 33% on no news and closing in on its recent 15 May high of $0.052 per share, while Noble Helium (ASX:NHE) closed up 25.8% after releasing a very promising operational update from its North Rukwa project in Tanzania.

Tuesday: Benchmark Flat.

After a half-decent +0.3% launch in the morning, the benchmark suffered a major heart attack, flatlining just in time for the market to groan to an undignified close, like it was flat on its back in the middle of a shopping mall, surrounded by ghoulish, gawking rubberneckers.

Financials finished up top on +0.77%, while the story of the day was a fairly spectacular fall from grace by InfoTech, thanks to a solid bed-shitter from BrainChip (ASX:BRN), after it sensationally revealed that it had earned itself a strike today, after shareholders gave the company’s remuneration report the Big Don’t Argue.

The news sent BrainChip’s trading price a-fallin’ hard, just days after breaching the $900m market cap milestone, down more than 17.6% in a single day to land at $720m, on a memeworthy $0.420 a share.

Westar Resources (ASX:WSR), was the Small Caps winner, in spite of having the ASX hobble the stock for nearly 90 minutes in the middle of the day with a speeding ticket.

When the Watch Dogs yanked on the “WTF is even happening?” handle, WSR had already soared 76%, and the trading pause obviously slowed things down a little.

But the Westar team was on the ball, responding in double-quick time to the speeding ticket it had to have seen coming from a mile away, but the hot streak was over by the time it was reinstated, leaving the company sitting on a still happy (but might have been happier…) 64% gain for the day.

In second place was an at-the-time baffling jump for Sultan Resources (ASX:SLZ) which appeared to have attracted what looks like semi-unwarranted attention from somewhere, after a massive spike in interest on no news saw the company snag a 23.4% gain.

Now, I don’t want to be a tattle-tale, or allege anything untoward – but I am honour-bound to mention here that since that “inexplicable” spike on Tuesday, Sultan has today gone public with news that it’s raised a bunch of money and is finalising the purchase of two hot lithium projects in Ontario, Canada’s ‘Goldilocks’ zone.

RTG Mining (ASX:RTG) finished third with a solid 22% today on the back of an after-hours announcement to the market that landed right in the middle of dinner time, saying the company has reached a comprehensive settlement of all outstanding issues with the Villar Family-controlled Sage Capital and TVI Resource Development (TVIRD), and a binding Memorandum of Agreement signed.

Wednesday: Benchmark down 0.64%.

It was a weird old day on the market on Wednesday, after InfoTech nosedived at open, rallied hard to be miles ahead of the market, and dropped dead around 2:45pm. It was actually pretty remarkable to watch.

Across the course of the day, Energy (+0.6%) and Utilities (+0.25%) were the only sectors hauling things uphill, with a late surge from Consumer Staples to +0.2% the only genuine positive shunt after lunch.

The early morning brawl between morning’s fight between Rubix Resources (ASX:RB6) and BMG Resources (ASX:BMG) to see who could bag the biggest win was decided, with Rubix taking line honours on 41.7%.

That’s because Rubix has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the Ceiling Lithium Project in the James Bay Region of Quebec, Canada.

In second place, carbon fibre wheel manufacturer Carbon Revolution (ASX:CBR) jumped 36% on news that the company has established a new US$60 million debt program.

BMG finished third, closing out the session up 23.1% on news that its 20-hole RC drilling program at the Bullabulling Project in WA has bitten into some juicy pegmatite.

Thursday: Benchmark down 1.05%

The benchmark sagged 0.8% when the bell went Thursday morning, and then – in a sleepy orgy of merciless somnambulance – it piddled and puddled even lower to close at -1.05%.

A woeful effort all round, really. Except for InfoTech, which went gangbusters because of that Nvidia surge in the US, which caused local investors to get giddier than a busload of highschool girls over anything that even might have a computer chip in it. Or near it.

The tech sector outperformed the rest of the market by close to 3.5%, and the rest of the market mood continued deep into the Weird, and the day’s Small Caps winners list reflects just how strange things got.

At the top of the ladder was IncentiaPay (ASX:INP), up a marvellous, but extremely puzzling, 74.1% on no news.

Next best was revenue stage particle surface chemistry pioneers AnteoTech (ASX:ADO), which is up 35% because the company has a fancy new website, and changed the font on its logo.

In (technically) third place was Skin Elements (ASX:SKN), up 33.3% on volume so thin it could walk the catwalks of Paris and Milan.

In fourth place, but worth mentioning on the basis its volume was a bit more robust, was Halo Technologies (ASX:HAL), up 30.7% despite recently avoiding a potential issue at its AGM, after nearly 30% of the proxy votes were against the company’s remuneration report.

Friday: Benchmark up (no, really…) 0.24%

We were due for a win, and even though it’s a little one, it still works for me – which is, coincidentally, the title of my new sextape.

InfoTech (of course) won the day, up 1.36%, with Materials finally digging its gold-plated thumb out of its shiny pink manganese butthole, putting on 1.14% for the day.

In Small Caps, it was Blaze Minerals’ (ASX:BLZ) turn to pack on a few kilos, up 110% on news that it has entered into a Heads of Agreement with Exiro Minerals to acquire 100% of the North Spirit lithium project in Ontario, Canada.

North Spirit is made up of 1,698 claims over roughly 340km2, located 30km along strike to the southeast from Frontier Lithium’s world class PAK and Spark lithium project, which is why everyone’s all excited about it.

In second place was Lepidico, with the lithium minnow riding the new lithium boom 25% higher, on no news other than today is the one-month anniversary of the last quarterly it produced, which – I will admit – I have not read.

WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) came in third, back in the news again despite having no fresh news of its own. I can’t explain why, but it finished up 17.2%, continuing its climb towards $5.00 per share… and, for anyone keeping score, today’s rise puts WA1 up +2,511.11% over the past 12 months.

Worth mentioning is Ark Mines (ASX:AHK) up 16.7% today, in what looks a little bit like a delayed reaction to the company’s news on Monday that the drills have started spinning at Sandy Mitchell, the company’s fully-owned advanced Rare Earths project in North Queensland.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks from 22-26 May:

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

Code	Company	Price	% Week	Market Cap
BLZ	Blaze Minerals Ltd	0.021	110%	$3,675,082
1ST	1St Group Ltd	0.007	75%	$9,918,938
TIG	Tigers Realm Coal	0.008	60%	$91,466,917
ADO	Anteotech Ltd	0.05	52%	$110,696,680
WSR	Westar Resources	0.056	51%	$10,811,407
CLE	Cyclone Metals	0.0015	50%	$13,633,872
HAL	Halo Technologies	0.18	50%	$22,014,186
LVE	Love Group Global	0.08	45%	$3,242,734
RB6	Rubixresources	0.25	43%	$6,872,250
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.005	43%	$21,208,909
CYQ	Cycliq Group Ltd	0.007	40%	$2,085,100
NAE	New Age Exploration	0.007	40%	$10,051,292
VSR	Voltaic Strategic	0.07	40%	$24,753,669
SRJ	SRJ Technologies	0.06	40%	$5,688,963
ZEU	Zeus Resources Ltd	0.032	39%	$12,710,700
WA1	Wa1Resourcesltd	4.84	39%	$157,291,047
K2F	K2Fly Ltd	0.11	38%	$19,284,628
SVY	Stavely Minerals Ltd	0.165	38%	$52,203,795
EBR	EBR Systems	1.15	36%	$283,607,185
PR1	Pureresourceslimited	0.265	36%	$6,669,002
SW1	Swift Networks Group	0.019	36%	$11,263,137
OZZ	OZZ Resources	0.08	36%	$6,115,949
AYM	Australia United Min	0.004	33%	$7,370,310
DC2	Dctwo	0.024	33%	$3,137,186
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.004	33%	$5,081,976
GMN	Gold Mountain Ltd	0.004	33%	$5,909,798
MCT	Metalicity Limited	0.002	33%	$7,451,303
SKN	Skin Elements Ltd	0.012	33%	$5,593,619
SRY	Story-I Limited	0.008	33%	$3,011,239
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.11	33%	$8,470,000
DBO	Diabloresources	0.049	32%	$3,552,500
RNT	Rent.Com.Au Limited	0.029	32%	$15,923,281
KNG	Kingsland Minerals	0.34	31%	$10,060,749
INP	Incentiapay Ltd	0.013	30%	$15,180,764
NYM	Narryermetalslimited	0.13	30%	$4,115,813
ABC	Adbri Limited	2.06	29%	$1,272,623,732
NTM	Nt Minerals Limited	0.009	29%	$7,206,290
VN8	Vonex Limited.	0.027	29%	$11,216,687
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.0115	28%	$76,377,726
NSM	Northstaw	0.14	27%	$16,817,780
TSK	Task Group Holdings	0.52	25%	$186,360,735
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.005	25%	$10,810,796
BMG	BMG Resources Ltd	0.015	25%	$6,544,854
ENX	Enegex Limited	0.025	25%	$9,222,900
ESR	Estrella Res Ltd	0.01	25%	$14,835,719
GNM	Great Northern	0.0025	25%	$4,272,627
ICN	Icon Energy Limited	0.005	25%	$3,840,068
RML	Resolution Minerals	0.005	25%	$6,286,459
SIH	Sihayo Gold Limited	0.0025	25%	$12,204,256
C1X	Cosmosexploration	0.485	24%	$22,237,500

So, how did the Small Caps winner’s list shake out for the week?

Today’s winner also took out top spot for gains this week – Blaze Minerals’ 110% gain today to its gain for the week to… 110%. Amazing.

AnteoTech’s rebranding seems to have paid off in spades, slotting it into second place with a 52% gain since this time last week.

And in third place, it’s Westar, missing its chance to place second by a single, slim percentage point, closing out the week up 51%.

Down the very bottom, however, was Payright (ASX:PYR), which phoned in a shocker and dropped 53% after announcing an application for voluntary delisting, share consolidation and a name change.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the least-best performing ASX small cap stocks from 15-19 May:

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

Code	Company	Price	% Week	Market Cap
PYR	Payright Limited	0.007	-53%	$6,166,196
GGX	Gas2Grid Limited	0.001	-50%	$4,077,102
KEY	KEY Petroleum	0.001	-50%	$1,967,928
GFN	Gefen Int	0.005	-44%	$340,501
CPH	Creso Pharma Ltd	0.009	-44%	$23,106,142
RPG	Raptis Group Limited	0.02	-39%	$1,269,727
KNM	Kneomedia Limited	0.005	-38%	$9,028,712
TYM	Tymlez Group	0.005	-38%	$4,368,781
8VI	8Vi Holdings Limited	0.4	-37%	$17,376,383
RHY	Rhythm Biosciences	0.375	-36%	$85,719,110
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.0045	-36%	$2,820,323
29M	29Metalslimited	0.6775	-35%	$308,513,339
RBR	RBR Group Ltd	0.002	-33%	$3,236,809
VPR	Volt Power Group	0.001	-33%	$10,716,208
FFT	Future First Tech	0.019	-32%	$12,867,058
HVM	Happy Valley	0.017	-32%	$4,112,182
UNI	Universal Store	3	-32%	$240,903,343
OLL	Openlearning	0.027	-31%	$7,500,334
DSK	Dusk Group	1.06	-30%	$66,003,937
IS3	I Synergy Group Ltd	0.007	-30%	$2,023,563
YOW	Yowie Group	0.028	-30%	$6,557,037
CSF	Catalanoseafoodltd	0.05	-29%	$2,022,240
GES	Genesis Resources	0.005	-29%	$3,914,206
SIS	Simble Solutions	0.005	-29%	$3,014,754
TNY	Tinybeans Group Ltd	0.13	-28%	$11,049,382
AAP	Australian Agri Ltd	0.011	-27%	$3,661,194
HIQ	Hitiq Limited	0.022	-27%	$5,940,395
REZ	Resourc & En Grp Ltd	0.011	-27%	$4,998,058
MRI	Myrewardsinternation	0.017	-26%	$3,979,461
MRQ	Mrg Metals Limited	0.003	-25%	$5,957,756
SCU	Stemcell United Ltd	0.003	-25%	$3,854,189
TD1	Tali Digital Limited	0.0015	-25%	$6,590,311
WEL	Winchester Energy	0.003	-25%	$3,061,266
ECG	Ecargo Hldg	0.025	-24%	$15,381,250
AX1	Accent Group Ltd	1.835	-24%	$1,052,436,220
TTT	Titomic Limited	0.064	-24%	$15,295,357
TYR	Tyro Payments	1.155	-24%	$603,543,841
14D	1414 Degrees Limited	0.053	-23%	$11,918,157
FG1	Flynngold	0.061	-23%	$6,275,286
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.007	-22%	$12,257,755
TSI	Top Shelf	0.265	-22%	$22,304,926
DAF	Discovery Alaska Ltd	0.032	-22%	$7,495,510
SRT	Strata Investment	0.16	-22%	$27,107,772
OBM	Ora Banda Mining Ltd	0.125	-22%	$209,448,229
PNN	Power Minerals Ltd	0.445	-21%	$32,912,099
IMI	Infinitymining	0.13	-21%	$9,942,181
AND	Ansarada Group Ltd	0.86	-21%	$76,828,588
TEE	Topendenergylimited	0.17	-21%	$7,571,375
MCL	Mighty Craft Ltd	0.095	-21%	$35,956,443
BBX	BBX Minerals Ltd	0.061	-21%	$31,514,428