Good morning everyone, and welcome to 7 February, 2024 – a shocking day in history, as it was on this day in 1569 that King Phillip II surprised everybody by launching the Spanish Inquisition in South America, a move that nobody, quite famously, was expecting.

All jokes aside, though, this was a terrible period in history, as Philip II brought more than a hundred years’ worth of Inquisitorial experience from Europe to the new world, with predictably brutal and violent results – the church inquisitors had honed their skills in ruthlessly murdering anyone who wasn’t Catholic since the late 1300s, in a bid to “wipe out heresy”.

No one is quite sure precisely how many people died at the hands of the Inquisitors, but it is believed that under the auspices of the first-ever Grand Inquistor Tomás de Torquemada (aka Tommy the Ball Twister to his mates) at least 2,000 were burnt at the stake – which was just one of Torquemada’s favoured methods of doing business.

Things have calmed down a bit in Spain since then – but there is a developing story from that part of the world that we’ll be touching on in Lunch Wrap later on today, as French and Spanish farmers are shaping up for Europe’s inaugural Tomato War.

That’s not a joke, by the way – things are about to kick off along the border, after some particularly nasty insults about the quality of each nation’s tomatoes were traded on social media.

For now, though, sit back and enjoy all the words and numbers below, which provide a quick wrap of how the past 24 hours or so panned out, just in case you weren’t paying attention.

And elsewhere on the site this morning we’ve got Eddy Sunarto’s look at who’s been doing what in the wild world of IPOs, while Nadine McGrath’s been looking into why it’s on the heads of tech stocks to start doing something about climate change.

Enjoy your day.

 

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,035.89 (+0.55%)

Silver: US$22.41 (+0.24%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,020/t (-1.32%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,359.50/t (-1.44%)

Oil (WTI): US$73.42 (+0.88%)

Oil (Brent): US$78.70 (+0.91%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$127.39/t (-1.20%)

AUD/USD: 0.6523 (+0.60%)

Bitcoin: US$43,151 (+1.75%)

 

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

LTR Pharma’s about to press the button on a crucial test of its erectile dysfunction nasal spray – they just need some fellas keen to give it a try, it seems.

 

YESTERDAY’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:

Code Company Price % Volume MARKET CAP
JAN Janison Edu Group 0.375 47% 1,903,339 $65,178,741
T88 Taitonresources 0.125 47% 97,772 $4,570,836
ACS Accent Resources NL 0.01 43% 1 $3,311,891
YOJDA Yojee Limited 0.038 41% 79,225 $4,581,978
TOY Toys R Us 0.008 33% 368,323 $5,894,781
MKG Mako Gold 0.031 29% 59,315,447 $15,897,826
AUR Auris Minerals Ltd 0.009 29% 614,044 $3,336,382
ERL Empire Resources 0.005 25% 2,410,000 $4,451,740
ESR Estrella Res Ltd 0.005 25% 4,707,222 $7,037,487
PNX PNX Metals Limited 0.005 25% 16,080,000 $21,522,499
XST Xstate Resources 0.02 25% 2,902,138 $5,144,306
KNB Koonenberrygold 0.037 23% 75,298 $3,592,473
ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.027 23% 46,100,704 $14,100,445
NOX Noxopharm Limited 0.067 22% 393,078 $16,073,087
BMG BMG Resources Ltd 0.017 21% 11,703,005 $8,873,160
BRN Brainchip Ltd 0.2 21% 14,723,611 $297,959,423
SNS Sensen Networks Ltd 0.03 20% 49,897 $19,306,790
CCZ Castillo Copper Ltd 0.006 20% 3,974 $6,497,527
RR1 Reach Resources Ltd 0.003 20% 2,334,099 $8,025,743
TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.006 20% 4,850,275 $30,612,897
WML Woomera Mining Ltd 0.006 20% 3,456,220 $6,090,695
ADR Adherium Ltd 0.056 19% 275,357 $15,671,679
SGC Sacgasco Ltd 0.013 18% 1,490,000 $8,576,558
RHY Rhythm Biosciences 0.175 17% 127,546 $33,171,388
AL8 Alderan Resource Ltd 0.0035 17% 4,000,000 $3,320,584
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WINNERS

Janison Education Group (ASX:JAN) was topping the winners list on Tuesday morning, posting a 43% gain on news that the company has inked a deal with the New South Wales Department of Education to deliver the state’s selective education placement tests as computer-based tests via Janison’s digital assessment platform.

The deal, which also includes Cambridge University Press & Assessment, is reportedly worth up to $45 million over the initial five-year term – provided all stages are approved – with an option for the department to extend for a further five-year term.

Mako Gold’s (ASX:MKG) position as market darling looks set to continue again today, with the company landing another 25% jump this morning on the back of a string of happy announcements that kicked off at the end of January with the company’s quarterly.

Since then, Mako has revealed positive rock chip sampling results that suggest a “very high grade” find at Tchaga North,  on the company’s 90% owned flagship Napié Project in Côte d’Ivoire.

Since 30 January, Mako has improved from a close of $0.011 to be at $0.032 per share at lunchtime today, and up 220% for the year so far.

And another junior goldie, Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB), was up 23% Tuesday morning, improving on the previous session’s gains when it announced that Phase 2 drilling at the company’s Bellagio prospect has defined widespread gold mineralisation >1g/t Au over >125m area, with the target remaining open down dip and plunge.

The afternoon session saw a couple of small goldies meandering around on no news, including BMG Resources (ASX:BMG) and Australasian Metals (ASX:A8G).

 

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

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

Code Company Price % Volume MARKET CAP
HXL Hexima 0.011 -31% 980,000 $2,672,634
DY6 Dy6Metalsltd 0.063 -26% 144,462 $3,357,145
GTI Gratifii 0.006 -25% 538,660 $10,953,781
YPB YPB Group Ltd 0.0015 -25% 1,290,990 $1,580,923
WC1 Westcobarmetals 0.042 -24% 212,852 $6,644,018
EG1 Evergreenlithium 0.099 -21% 22,000 $7,028,750
TG1 Techgen Metals Ltd 0.031 -21% 2,795,659 $4,958,170
AZY Antipa Minerals Ltd 0.012 -20% 13,216,376 $62,022,119
SCN Scorpion Minerals 0.02 -20% 918,181 $10,236,405
AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 -20% 80,000 $2,647,498
CTO Citigold Corp Ltd 0.004 -20% 10,000 $15,000,000
NET Netlinkz Limited 0.004 -20% 24,089,340 $19,392,242
RMX Red Mount Min Ltd 0.002 -20% 895,074 $6,683,940
ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.004 -20% 3,688,950 $26,511,136
VML Vital Metals Limited 0.004 -20% 2,041,943 $29,475,335
OD6 Od6Metalsltd 0.11 -19% 127,086 $7,427,092
LPM Lithium Plus 0.165 -18% 563,360 $17,197,640
AMM Armada Metals 0.024 -17% 90,000 $6,032,000
BVR Bellavistaresources 0.1 -17% 150,000 $5,953,317
NAG Nagambie Resources 0.025 -17% 2,470,057 $23,899,070
CZN Corazon Ltd 0.01 -17% 130,200 $7,387,175
FAU First Au Ltd 0.0025 -17% 535,003 $4,985,980
GCM Green Critical Min 0.005 -17% 1,808,357 $6,819,510
IEC Intra Energy Corp 0.0025 -17% 7,117,258 $4,982,345
MSG Mcs Services Limited 0.01 -17% 70,728 $2,377,196
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TRADING HALTS

Culpeo Minerals (ASX:CPO)– pending an announcement on a proposed capital raising.