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Weekly ASX Small Cap Wrap: Let the chips fall where they may
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As the week draws to a close, Australia’s federal government is still locked in a battle with Facebook about whether the social media giant will pay for news.
For now, Facebook has wiped all Aussie news from its platform. And the stoush has drawn the interest of global media outlets, with more talks scheduled between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Mark Zuckerberg.
Over on markets it hasn’t been a particularly memorable week, with the ASX microcap Emerging Companies Index on track for its fourth straight day of falls after a 2.22pc gain on Monday.
But within the headline numbers, a bunch of ASX small caps generated some barnstorming returns on a mixture of strong news flow and monster trading volumes.
13 stocks posted a weekly return of 100 per cent of more (up from 11 last week), led by a Canberra casino operator that booked in a historic two-day surge on Thursday and Friday.
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS
The two-day returns for AQS, which has traded in a narrow range beneath 10c since 2015, would have to rival any short-term rally in ASX history.
Out of nowhere, shares in AQS (which acquired the Canberra Casino in 2014) shot higher by more than 200 per cent on Thursday. When the ASX asked why, AQS said it didn’t know.
That was followed by a monumental rally to end the week, capping a run from less than 4c to more than 50c.
AQS has been undertaking a multi-year application process with the ACT government for a $300m project development that would expand the casino into a broader entertainment precinct.
FFG was one of a number of ASX fintech stocks this week to surge higher on no news, and closed almost 300pc higher for the week.
Other companies on the fintech winner’s list were Credit Intelligence (ASX:CI1), up 100pc, and Novatti (ASX:NOV), up 55pc.
While various ASX players look to build out their business models, the gains are a possible indicator that investors are on the lookout for the next big thing in the wake of 2020’s barnstorming gains in the BNPL sector.
IOUpay was another fintech company that posted huge gains to start the week.
But the company also followed that up with some material news flow, announcing a marquee $50m share placement to institutional investors.
IOU’s core operating market is Malaysia, where it recently obtained a financial services licences and is looking to leverage its local partnerships to build out a BNPL service in the region.
Outside of fintechs and surging casino operators, cannabis pharmaceuticals company MGC Pharma also rose strongly in what was a busy week.
As well as becoming the first medicinal cannabis player to list on the London Stock Exchange, MXC also struck an exclusive three-year deal with Swiss PharmaCan for world-wide distribution of its clinically proven anti-inflammatory treatment.
And on the resources front, PRL stood out after the market stood up and applauded its pivot to hydrogen.
In a previous life, Province operated as a furniture assembly business (AssembleBay) and a vanadium explorer (ScandiVanadium).
But the stock went vertical after PRL announced it had acquired the Gascoyne and HyEnergy projects in WA’s north-west, which comprise a number of development opportunities including a green hydrogen play.
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for February 15-19 [intraday]:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Company | Price | ReturnWRoll% | MktCap$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AQS | Aquis Ent Ltd | 0.5 | 1371 | $ 4,107,705 |
| FFG | Fatfish Group | 0.16 | 266 | $ 134,653,315 |
| PRL | Province Resources | 0.078 | 239 | $ 58,938,865 |
| TTA | TTA Holdings Ltd | 0.048 | 220 | $ 3,435,585 |
| FGO | Fargo Enterprises | 0.012 | 200 | $ 14,229,080 |
| ACS | Accent Resources NL | 0.115 | 161 | $ 53,593,138 |
| MXC | MGC Pharmaceuticals | 0.115 | 145 | $ 211,736,789 |
| RXH | Rewardle Holding Ltd | 0.019 | 138 | $ 7,368,501 |
| OEX | Oilex Ltd | 0.0035 | 133 | $ 12,500,328 |
| ASP | Aspermont Limited | 0.046 | 130 | $ 106,208,942 |
| IOU | Ioupay Limited | 0.645 | 126 | $ 281,551,291 |
| SHG | Singular Health | 0.45 | 125 | $ 21,521,100 |
| CI1 | Credit Intelligence | 0.058 | 100 | $ 80,963,282 |
| MGL | Magontec Limited | 0.035 | 94 | $ 17,263,872 |
| BD1 | Bard1 Life Sciences | 2.85 | 79 | $ 237,058,783 |
| RFX | Redflow Limited | 0.085 | 77 | $ 91,249,907 |
| MAY | Melbana Energy Ltd | 0.028 | 75 | $ 62,554,988 |
| CRO | Cirralto Ltd | 0.115 | 74 | $ 197,636,305 |
| ADY | Admiralty Resources. | 0.024 | 71 | $ 26,660,098 |
| IP1 | Int Payment Tech Ltd | 0.048 | 71 | $ 69,937,775 |
| PUR | Pursuit Minerals | 0.052 | 68 | $ 27,216,224 |
| ADX | ADX Energy Ltd | 0.01 | 67 | $ 24,651,477 |
| T3D | 333D Limited | 0.005 | 67 | $ 5,508,621 |
| AO1 | Assetowl Limited | 0.013 | 63 | $ 6,428,566 |
| SHO | Sportshero Ltd | 0.055 | 57 | $ 25,648,307 |
| NOV | Novatti Group Ltd | 0.41 | 55 | $ 104,492,007 |
| CXM | Centrex Metals | 0.04 | 54 | $ 10,997,003 |
| BPH | BPH Energy Ltd | 0.18 | 50 | $ 109,562,488 |
| LSR | Lodestar Minerals | 0.015 | 50 | $ 13,691,334 |
| ANL | Amani Gold Ltd | 0.0015 | 50 | $ 18,773,993 |
| ANW | Aus Tin Mining | 0.0015 | 50 | $ 7,962,318 |
| CLZ | Classic Min Ltd | 0.0015 | 50 | $ 17,034,968 |
| CYQ | Cycliq Group Ltd | 0.003 | 50 | $ 6,911,078 |
| PBX | Pacific Bauxite Ltd | 0.003 | 50 | $ 1,189,842 |
| VMG | VDM Group Limited | 0.003 | 50 | $ 20,782,983 |
| FFT | Future First Tech | 0.087 | 47 | $ 49,779,527 |
| XAM | Xanadu Mines Ltd | 0.047 | 47 | $ 51,316,552 |
| DOU | Douugh Limited | 0.24 | 41 | $ 86,254,515 |
| SI6 | SI6 Metals Limited | 0.024 | 41 | $ 33,384,017 |
| CTT | Cettire | 1.03 | 41 | $ 371,707,265 |
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for February 15-19 [intraday]:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Company | Price | ReturnWRoll% | MktCap$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GGX | Gas2Grid Limited | 0.005 | -62 | $ 5,343,987.94 |
| AGY | Argosy Minerals Ltd | 0.11 | -37 | $ 150,032,604.48 |
| MHC | Manhattan Corp Ltd | 0.018 | -36 | $ 23,873,016.47 |
| ECT | Env Clean Tech Ltd. | 0.001 | -33 | $ 9,601,032.79 |
| YPB | YPB Group Ltd | 0.002 | -33 | $ 9,442,102.58 |
| A3D | Aurora Labs Limited | 0.14 | -33 | $ 22,934,470.50 |
| TOM | Tomizone Limited | 0.002 | -33 | $ 850,401.35 |
| EGR | Ecograf Limited | 0.68 | -32 | $ 294,829,282.08 |
| MCT | Metalicity Limited | 0.013 | -32 | $ 22,970,925.32 |
| GMR | Golden Rim Resources | 0.009 | -31 | $ 22,763,647.22 |
| WML | Woomera Mining Ltd | 0.023 | -30 | $ 7,484,106.17 |
| STK | Strickland Metals | 0.024 | -29 | $ 10,528,788.03 |
| AWN | AWN Holdings Limited | 1 | -28 | $ 41,184,208.00 |
| AWJ | Auric Mining | 0.18 | -28 | $ 7,491,175.03 |
| RMI | Resource Mining Corp | 0.016 | -27 | $ 5,214,305.31 |
| NME | Nex Metals Explorat | 0.03 | -27 | $ 8,010,708.72 |
| BGL | Bellevue Gold Ltd | 0.76 | -26 | $ 642,654,092.12 |
| MSV | Mitchell Services | 0.42 | -26 | $ 84,676,464.50 |
| PCH | Property Connect | 0.0015 | -25 | $ 1,028,795.21 |
| CII | CI Resources Limited | 0.9 | -24 | $ 106,334,618.44 |
| AD1 | AD1 Holdings Limited | 0.042 | -24 | $ 25,387,168.72 |
| SPA | Spacetalk Ltd | 0.115 | -23 | $ 20,672,680.63 |
| 88E | 88 Energy Ltd | 0.0085 | -23 | $ 95,954,313.88 |
| TMX | Terrain Minerals | 0.007 | -22 | $ 5,150,327.06 |
| BEM | Blackearth Minerals | 0.145 | -22 | $ 23,294,172.45 |
| AZS | Azure Minerals | 0.35 | -21 | $ 109,370,430.96 |
| SNG | Siren Gold | 0.049 | -21 | $ 27,245,107.80 |
| CTE | Cryosite Limited | 0.25 | -21 | $ 11,246,295.12 |
| 3DA | Amaero International | 0.6 | -21 | $ 74,990,605.08 |
| EMV | Emvision Medical | 2.18 | -20 | $ 152,847,777.60 |
| AAJ | Aruma Resources Ltd | 0.075 | -20 | $ 7,735,147.67 |
| CAN | Cann Group Ltd | 0.695 | -20 | $ 187,915,414.94 |
