September 2021 was the worst month for the ASX since March 2020 but the 50 best stocks gained 57% or more.

Despite a positive close on September 30, the ASX finished the month down 2.59% and nearly 4% lower since mid-August.

While the stimulus has allowed the market to shrug off concerns about weak economic growth, central banks indicated the end is nigh – spooking investors. Also provoking the bears was Chinese property developer Evergrande teetering on the brink of collapse.

But in better news, the Melbourne Demons won the AFL premiership – in the process making St Kilda the holder of the longest premiership drought.

The COVID vaccine roll-out in Australia continued to accelerate from 19,697,498 jabs to 27,750,501. We also entered into the AUKUS pact enabling us to build nuclear-powered submarines.

And perhaps not everyone was affected by market jitters.

 

Here are the top 50 ASX small cap winners for the month of September 2021>>>

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The top 3 ASX winners in September

With a 1043% gain, ViaGold Rare Earths Resources (ASX:VIA) was the top winner despite not having any news this month.

The company is a rare earths processor backed by Chinese state-owned enterprise Guangdong Rare Earths Industry Group Co.

Its 4C filing for the June quarter showed positive net operating cashflows of $976,000, on cash receipts of $14.6m.

The ASX finally gave it a speeding ticket on the second last day of the month and ViaGold said it was not aware of any reason that would explain the sudden rise in the share price.

It was almost a tie for second spot but just prevailing was Hannans (ASX:HNR).

This company, up 386% in September, is a nickel explorer that has begun a shift into lithium-ion battery recycling in electric vehicle-embracing Scandinavia.

Hannans also got a speeding ticket and it said the shift bought the company to the attention of investors for the first time. It ended the month in a voluntary suspension, a move the company said would give it time to finalise an exclusive due diligence on a licence to recover nickel, cobalt and lithium from lithium-ion batteries in the UK and Ireland.

In third spot is uranium play Aura Energy (ASX:AEE) with a 385% gain. Aura Energy was suspended for several months but recently re-entered the bourse and it timed its run well.

The uranium sector has run hot with the rise in spot prices – triggered by the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust buying more uranium.

Aura has a project in Mauritania and says it is “one of the most compelling uranium development projects in the world today”.

The company says it has executed an offtake agreement for the project, with financing discussions currently advancing.

 

Other notable winners

No less than six uranium stocks also made the Top 50. But sectors outside resources produced winners too.

Another sector that ran hot in the past month has been travel and tourism.

Two to make the list have been in the caravan trade in Apollo Tourism and Leisure (ASX:ATL), which is a direct provider, and Camplify (ASX:CHL), which is a sharing community.

Coincidentally, Apollo is an investor in Camplify with a 17.8% stake it first acquired in 2017.

The caravan trade hasn’t been as badly affected by travel restrictions and is tipped to do well (when travel is allowed), as tripping around the country is deemed less risky than flying to the other side of the world.

Papyrus (ASX:PPY) was a top 10 winner with a 155% gain. This company is developing technology that converts the waste trunk of the banana palm into products used in the packaging, furniture, and construction industries.

It has spent several years testing to see if its technology could produce commercially viable volumes of fibre but a couple of weeks ago it completed a successful trial.

The best performing health stock was Hexima (ASX:HXM), which has not looked back since the end of July when it completed the enrolment for a Phase 2b clinical trial of its candidate medication for onychomycosis – a nail fungal infection.

In tech, the top performer was data technology company Pureprofile (ASX:PPL).

It has gained since releasing its FY21 results, recording $3.1 million in earnings (up 124% from FY20) and $30 million in revenue (up 24% from the year before).

Singaporean telco Tuas (ASX:TUA) was another solid performing tech stock, also booming off the back of financial results.

Although the group recorded an EBITDA loss of S$2.5 million, its revenue was S$34.3 million and it tripled its subscriptions.

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