• Small caps rise 4% this week
  • ASX 200 has best week since march
  • IOUpay leads return of the BNPLs

 

Well, the benchmark index is set to deliver its best week since mid-March, the 2% gain as much a measurement of plucky resilience in the face of adversity as it is how utterly crap this last quarter has been.

I’ll be brief as Christianly possible.

Small Caps have gained almost 4% this week.

Elsewhere around the traps, equity markets mostly rose over the last week on moonshot wishes that all these central banks will muzzle inflation without getting bit by a recession.

Local markets trotted obediently after Wall Street wins, ending higher on some very surprising strength in Tech, the BNPL sector, consumer discretionary stocks, healthcare and the REITs. Until today, only the miners and energy names were getting hit with a big stick.

Regional markets did okay business, but it’s worth noting a lot of brokers reckon Chinese stocks are due a run, led by those neglected tech daddies.

And EU markets fumbled and fizzled. They’re pretty exposed and if energy costs don’t lead to recession, the war on Europe’s door might.

Bond yields were up everywhere except here.

Oil has been foiled. West Texas Intermediate fell back toward $US102 a barrel, putting the US benchmark on course for a weekly loss of over 6%

Are energy prices volatile?

That depends if a price range for oil of more than $US16 – including a drop to under $US100 for both WTI and the other one – are mad enough for your tastes.

After plunging with every other currency but the greenback, the $A rose slightly despite the $US display of fortitude.

Metal prices fell but the iron ore price got up off its very sore hiney some.

On a typically quiet Friday UK PM Boris Johnson fell on his own sword, ex-Japan PM Abe Shinzo was shot.

 

IPOs this week:

MetalsGrove Mining (ASX:MGA) met the markets this week listing on July 6 with an IPO of $7m at $0.20 and has a pretty rosy future despite the initial early tumbles. MGA had a bit of rocky start to listed life with its share price falling to $0.145, a 27.5% drop from its listing price, but it has already recovered those losses to be trading even.

The company has a portfolio of lithium, tin, tantalum, manganese, copper, gold and base metal exploration projects in WA and the NT.

Its assets include the Woodie Woodie North project and the Upper Coondina project in WA. In NT, it holds the Edwards Creek project, the Box Hole project and the Bruce project.

The plan is to use IPO funds for exploration at the Upper Coondina lithium tin and tantalum in WA, and the Bruce rare earths project in the NT.

And after a pre-listing clarification to clarify that it has successfully acquired the Kookynie Gold Project Regener8 Resources (ASX:R8R) – as described in its prospectus – R8R says it has issued 5,000,000 Shares and 1,500,000 Vendor Performance Rights for said Project to GTI Energy (ASX:GTR). And provided a cash payment of $150,000 by way of reimbursement costs.

“It is exciting for the company to have secured tenements containing historical high-grade workings, identified mineralisation and high priority, walk-up targets whilst in the company of peers that are actively finding encouraging results,” chairman Robert Boston said ahead of the big day.

The company plans to kick off maiden exploration and apply modern techniques to the “historically significant, underexplored tenement package.”

The stock is down over 12%.

Still planning an ASX-listing this month:

Chalkos Metals (ASX:CKM)

Listing: 20 July

IPO: $8m at $0.20

The copper explorer has tenements in the prospective North West minerals province of QLD – adjacent to the world-class Mt Isa mines.

The company is embarking on an aggressive drill program with target testing underway.

 

Australia Sunny Glass Group (ASX:AG1)

Listing: 26 July

IPO: $7.5m at $0.35

This Australian-based holding company, through its subsidiaries, operates a glass production and supply business for structural building facades.

The group has a fully automated processing plant which it says is highly efficient, accurate and scalable and an R&D focus on the development of cyclone resistant glass using new laminating and bonding techniques.

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS:

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for July 4 – July 8:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Wordpress Table Plugin

This is pretty interesting. After going ex-div on Wednesday, the winding down infrastructure and engineering play Cardnon has ended the week up about 220%, following its pretty terrific 170 cents unfranked payout.

Only a few weeks back, Cardno (ASX:CDD) got its shareholders excited about the prospect of potential M&A transactions.

In a short statement to the ASX, CDD announced a strategic review “following receipt of a number of unsolicited approaches from interested parties”.

Cardno was keen too – appointing financial and legal advisors – and said it would continue to keep its shareholders posted as its largest shareholder, Crescent Capital Partners, supported the review.

The statement was enough to send Cardno as much as 25% higher on the day, but heavens to Betsy it’s been a rollercoaster run over the last year or so for shareholders.

In a return for tech as well this week, IOUPay (ASX:IOU) went berserk – up about 120% – before an ASX speeding ticket snapped its ASX domination on Tuesday. Following the case,  our Gregor Stronach got on the blower – the IOU board saying thought its shareholders could’ve been price-factoring or perhaps, because we’re such a solid BNPL play, it could’ve been previous terrific announcements.

Either way, welcome to Friday!

And Oceana Lithium (ASX:OCN) has followed up a terrific IPO with a terrific week. With two lithium projects – the Solonopole Project in Brazil and the Napperby project in the NT – the lithium play has added an acceptable 83% in week two of life as a listed firm looking for things like lithium, coltan (tantalum and niobium) and tin.

Its  site out at Napperby is in the Pine Creek Pegmatite province, which hosts Core Lithium’s (ASX:CXO) Finniss project.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS:

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for July 4 – July 8:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Wordpress Table Plugin

Nah. Not going to. It’s been a good week.