• The ASX is 1.63% lower after a tech stock meltdown steered everyone south for winter.
  • InfoTech took a solid back-alley beatdown, losing 3.94% for flying too close to the sun.
  • Fleet and logistics mob Eroad bucked the trend, climbing 61% on a takeover bid by Volaris. 

 

Investors holding out for things to get better on the ASX since lunchtime have undoubtedly been left disappointed, as the benchmark slid even lower (admittedly, not by much, but still…) as the afternoon wore relentlessly onward.

By the end of the session for today, the benchmark had fallen 1.63%, a further -0.13% since lunchtime, as the market endured the vice-like grip of a drowning tech sector dragging it below the waves.

Infotech – the year’s best-performing sector by a long way so far – reversed course today and fell 3.94%, after a number of their US compatriots took a hammering on Wall Street overnight, thanks to yet another round of inflationary pressure-driven rate hike heebie-jeebies rattled things in New York.

The US wasn’t alone with its woes – in the UK, inflation data there came back a lot more shop-soiled than economists were hoping, and Asian markets continued to try to make sense of why China had been sounding all bullish on a rate cut-driven stimmy pack, only to barely move the needle at all earlier in the week.

 

IN LOCAL NEWS

Today’s local headlines have painted an interesting picture for what’s in store for Australia, after Research by property marketplace Domain suggested that anyone not already established on the property markets in the nation’s capital cities might want to practice some deep-breathing exercises, or invest in a 44-gallon drum of lube. (Or both).

Domain reckons prices are going to skyrocket – in Sydney’s case, by between 6% and 9% – next year, which is set push prices well beyond reach of pretty much everyone who doesn’t have rich parents, or how hasn’t won Lotto.

The mining sector workforce is set for a bit of a shake-up, after the giant CMFEU trade union learnt that it’s M and E want a divorce.

Workers under the Mining and Energy portion of the CFMEU umbrella have voted to split off to form their own union (with blackjack and hookers, one would hope) which “focuses entirely on the needs and challenges of mining and energy workers, while also working constructively and collaboratively within the broader trade union movement”, according to the union’s general president, Tony Maher.

Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Government has managed to pass crucial legislation today, making bribery even more illegal than ever.

The strengthened laws specifically cover foreign bribery normally associated with shady business practices, stitching closed a number of little loopholes while lessening the burden of proof for prosecutors to go after companies suspected of paying off local officials to do stuff like getting mining licences approved, or keeping mining licences from being mysteriously disapproved, yada yada yada.

In completely unrelated (I swear, officer..) news, PwC is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons again, with the ABC reporting that Australia’s top cop, AFP Commissioner Reece “not Gordon” Kershaw, “has been accused of failing to declare a conflict of interest, after documents produced to the Senate showed he met multiple times with a ‘friend’ who was working for consulting firm PwC over a contract awarded without public tender.”

Greens senator David Shoebridge tabled documents showing that Kershaw met at least five times with that “friend” between July and December 2022, to discuss a $750,000 contract that was then awarded without a tendering process.

That “friend”, according to the documents: former New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick “also not Gordon” Fuller.

In the interests of not attracting any more heat than I’ve managed already today, I’m gonna leave that one right there – but if anyone does happen to come looking for me, tell ‘em you haven’t seen me for a few weeks or something, and I’ll owe you one.

 

TODAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

The names of the day’s Top 3 in Small Caps are the same as they were at lunch time, and the numbers have barely moved as well.

Up top, it’s fleet and safety management company Eroad (ASX:ERD) on +61.7% (down from +69.5 at lunch), on news that it’s received an unsolicited, non-binding indicative proposal from Brillian APAC Pty Ltd, part of the Volaris Group.

The Volaris Group is an operating group of Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Constellation Software Inc (TSX:CSU).

The proposal on the table is for 100% of ERD at $1.30 per share, well above its $1.13 open this morning – and at present, even with the day’s climb, it’s sitting below the Volaris offer price on $1.14 a pop.

In second place is Estrella Resources (ASX:ESR), unchanged from the 57.1% lunchtime level  it reached on news that the company has signed an agreement with Canadian-based geophysical firm Expert Geophysics to commence a world-first helicopter-borne electromagnetic survey (TargetEM) at the company’s Carr Boyd nickel-copper-PGE project, approximately 80km NNW of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Likewise, in third place, it’s Errawarra Resources (ASX:ERW), still at 37.9% this afternoon, and still on no news, after apparently restarting its recent climb that has seen it gain 150% for the month, despite a hiccup that knocked some of the gloss off over the past couple of days.

 

TODAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the least best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

LAST ORDERS

Kicking off with a quick one that I will admit I forgot to mention yesterday, Austral Resources Australia (ASX:AR1) has announced some firm assays from exploration activities at its Lady Annie copper project in Queensland’s Gulf country.

Austral says its recent 18-hole RC drill program has hit some decent copper intersects, including:

  • 18m @ 0.31% Cu from 102m, incl. 5m @ 0.54% Cu from 110m
  • 8m @ 0.4% Cu from 78m incl. 2m @ 0.7% Cu from 82m
  • 14m @ 0.75% Cu from 50m, incl.5m @ 1.65% Cu from 50m

The fresh returns stack up alongside historical drilling by Glencore, which took place prior to 2023, which also found significant Intersections of material logged as oxide or transitional, according to Exploration Manager of Austral Mr Ben Coutts, Competent Person.

I know it’s an ASX / legal requirement, but the phrasing behind labelling someone “Competent Person” like that will never not make me giggle.

Elsewhere, Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) has announced that it has completed the sale of exploration tenements E16/475, E16/483, E16/484 and E16/486 through its subsidiary Siberia Mining, to Beacon Minerals.

OBM looks like it managed to drive a pretty hard bargain on the deal, pocketing $2.5 million in the process while managing to retain the exclusive right to explore for and mine all mineral resources other than gold and silver on the tenements.

The Advanced Health Intelligence (ASX:AHI) mystery appears to have taken yet another twist, with the company announcing today that the execution of a letter of intent with UAE-based e-script medicine management company Pharmak Direct on 21 June 2023 “may have had an impact on the trading price and trading volumes” of it’s American Depositary Shares that trade on the Nasdaq overnight.

AHI’s ASX-listed shares climbed around 27% today, after its US-listed ADSs spiked another 101% in the wake of the Pharmak letter news hitting the ASX yesterday morning – and it appears to be completely separate from the previously-reported “Who knew What When?” saga that took place a few days back.

It’s all very confusing, and a bit of a shambles at the moment – but the instant I can find time to sit down to build a comprehensible timeline to help with making all the pieces fit together, I’ll be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, here’s a list of companies that also felt the need to have a bit of a lie down today.

 

TRADING HALTS

EBR Systems (ASX:EBR) – Capital raising.

Eroad (ASX:ERD) – Takeover offer.

E79 Gold Mines (ASX: E79) – Capital raising.

Decmil Group (ASX:DCG) – Capital raising.

American West Metals (ASX:AW1) – Announcement of exploration results and a capital raising.

Zeotech (ASX:ZEO) – Capital raising.

Kingston Resources (ASX:KSN) – Capital raising.

Strategic Energy Resources (ASX:SER) – Material transaction and a capital raising.

 

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