Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the market opens

On Stockhead today, is Block’s big bounce a lead for fintechs, lithium-ion supply needs to quintuple, and Bevan Slattery dumps $39m in shares in his own company.

But first, the day ahead.

Local shares are set to open higher today. At 8am AEDT, the ASX 200 April futures is pointing up by 0.35%.

Detailed skilled job vacancies data will also be released for February by the National Skills Association.

WHO’S LISTING?

Kaolin explorer Pinnacle Minerals (ASX:PIM).

Pinnacle holds the Bobalong and Holly projects in WA and the White Knight and Camel Lake projects in SA.

TRADING HALTS

The following companies went into trading halts yesterday, and are expected out in the next few days:

Incannex Healthcare (ASX:IHL) – business acquisition transaction

Bluglass Ltd (ASX:BLG) – capital raising

Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) – capital raising

MARKETS (updated at 8am AEDT)

Gold: $US1,921.37 (-0.75%)

Silver: $US24.77 (-1.69%)

Oil (WTI): $US111.76 (-0.32%)

Oil (Brent): $US114.55 (-0.93%)

Aust Coking Coal (steelmaking): $614.30/t (-1.1%)

Newcastle Coal (thermal): $330/t (+0.2%)

Iron 62pc Fe: $US149.68 (-0.53%)

AUD/USD: $US0.7467 (-0.04%)

Bitcoin: $US42,585 (+3.53%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING YESTERDAY?

Ionic’s killer Tranche 4 drilling at the Makuutu project got you talkin’, with all holes intersecting rare earths clay which is the company’s speciality.

Ionic has now received all assays from its Tranche 4 drilling at the Makuutu project with all holes in the sixth and final tranche intersecting the rare earths clay which is Ionic’s speciality. https://t.co/FsoTVLkHv8 #ad #ASX $IXR

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) March 22, 2022

YESTERDAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP WINNERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during the trading day).

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

ResApp (ASX:RAP) was up as high as 60% yesterday.

And why not? The medtech busted out of a trading halt to reveal a “92% sensitivity” for its smartphone-based COVID-19 detector – apparently the bloody thing uses a “cough audio-based algorithm”. Strewth.

More medtech business on Tuesday. Noxopharm (ASX:NOX) also rose strongly after announcing that the US FDA had granted an Orphan Drug Designation to its Veyonda drug for use in soft-tissue caner treatments

In small cap resources, RiversGold (ASX:RGL) was the best performer after a field visit confirmed confirmed multiple lithium-bearing pegmatite dykes within the company’s Tambourah project in WA.

And KGL Resources (ASX:KGL) shares popped over 10% yesterday afternoon after the miner secured a deal with Glencore for the sale of copper concentrate from KGL’s Jervois copper project.

The sale price is volume based for copper concentrate and calculated by reference to the London Metals Exchange cash settlement price.

Oil and gas explorer Buru Energy (ASX:BRU) was up a delightful 33.33% after positive results from recently completed flow testing at its Rafael 1 well in Western Australia’s Canning Basin.

Results of the field measurements including ideal gas composition with high condensate content and low level of inerts with ~2% CO2 content in a conventional free flow reservoir. The initial reservoir pressure of ~6200 psi was measured with no observed pressure depletion during the test flow.

Elsewhere, EOS and XTek were winners again following news the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has a new wing command –  Defence Minister Peter Dutton announcing the formation of Defence Space Command.

“Space is becoming more congested and is already contested, particularly as the boundaries between competition and conflict become increasingly blurred through grey zone activities,” Dutton said in a speech at an Air Force conference. Space focused defence tech companies look set to benefit.

YESTERDAY’S BIGGEST SMALL CAP LOSERS

(Stocks highlighted in yellow rose after making announcements during the trading day).

Down about 5% on Tuesday was Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT); the clinical dermatology company not getting the resounding nod of market approval after appointing investment banker Daniel Sharp as a non-executive director.

Executive chair Vince Ippolito said Sharp’s arrival comes at a critical juncture, coinciding with the advancement of BOT’s drug commercialisation portfolio and broadening strategic opportunities.

Sharp is currently a non-executive director of health informatics company Alcidion Group and on the investment committee of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.