The ASX200 gained a wee bit this week (1.08%) and closed slightly up by 0.59% today.

Most sectors finished the week higher, led by Materials which gained 2.7%, followed by Utilities up 1.94%, Industrials up 1.69% and O&G up 1.62%.

Speaking of oil, prices jumped back above US$100 a barrel to US$108.16 despite the US increasing crude inventories and the International Energy Agency lowering its global demand growth estimates due to China’s lockdown.

And that lockdown has stranded workers and closed factories – which is straining global supply chains even further.

But let’s think about that one after Easter, deal?

 

How did this week’s IPOs perform?

Narryer Metals (ASX:NYM)

Led by former Cassini boss Richard Bevan, this explorer is focused on giant nickel-copper-PGE discoveries in South Australia and WA.

NYM’s underexplored ‘Narryer’ project in WA is on “the edge of the ancient craton that hosts Chalice Mining’s (ASX:CHN) Julimar Ni-Cu-PGE discovery”.

There is also potential for ionic rare earths at Narryer, similar to Krakatoa Resources’ (ASX:KTA) recent REE discovery at Mt Clere.

The Sturt and Ceduna projects in SA are in strategic geological domains that have been under-explored, it says.

NYM raised $5m at 20c per share, listing today at $0.275.

The share price peaked at $0.30 by early afternoon, before settling at  $0.28.

 

Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL)

The explorer holds tenements in Queensland and Western Australia and lithium rights to certain tenements in the Yalgoo Lithium province.

The portfolio contains lithium, rubidium, nickel, cobalt, copper and gold, which the company says places them in an ideal position as the battery metals industry develops into the future.

The company IPOd at $8.12m at $0.25 and surged on debut on Wednesday.

The share price was up 41.37% from its listing price of $0.290, peaking at $0.43 this morning before leveling out at $0.41 by the end of the trading day.

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS:

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for April 11 – 14:

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A good week for exploration stocks.

Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA) exploded out of a trading halt on Tuesday to announce a “major clay hosted rare earth discovery” at its ‘Mt Clere’ project in WA.

Clay hosted deposits – like the ones exploited in major producer China — are commonly considered to be some of the cheapest and most readily accessible sources of heavy rare earths.

On Thursday, Megado Gold (ASX:MEG) announced the purchase of a high grade rare earths project in the US.

Battery focused International Graphite (ASX:IG6) continued its steady ascent after hitting the bourse with a bang last week.

Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) boosted resources by ~600% — to 104 million tonnes at 10.5% manganese — at the ‘Flanagan Bore’ project (51% ownership) in the Pilbara.

Manganese is an essential ingredient in steel making but is increasingly finding a niche in the EV market, where it is a major component in long range nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries.

And coal stock MC Mining (ASX:MCM) has completed a Bankable Feasibility Study – the most advanced of all project studies – on its Makhado hard coking coal project in South Africa.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for April 11-14:

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Construction company Decmil (ASX:DCG) was hammered after supply chain issues, price escalation, and border challenges caused losses on several contracts.

Outgoing CEO Dickie Dique said the forecast financial result was very disappointing as it was largely influenced by two issues – cost overruns at a Queensland Road project and the financial collapse of a subcontractor in WA – which did not reflect the success of other projects in the company’s work portfolio.

“Decmil is required to book the expected total loss on those projects in its FY22 results. It may recover some of those losses in claims in FY23,” he says.