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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 7 February, 2024 – a shocking day in history, as it was on this day in 1569 that King Phillip II surprised everybody by launching the Spanish Inquisition in South America, a move that nobody, quite famously, was expecting.

All jokes aside, though, this was a terrible period in history, as Philip II brought more than a hundred years’ worth of Inquisitorial experience from Europe to the new world, with predictably brutal and violent results – the church inquisitors had honed their skills in ruthlessly murdering anyone who wasn’t Catholic since the late 1300s, in a bid to “wipe out heresy”.

No one is quite sure precisely how many people died at the hands of the Inquisitors, but it is believed that under the auspices of the first-ever Grand Inquistor Tomás de Torquemada (aka Tommy the Ball Twister to his mates) at least 2,000 were burnt at the stake – which was just one of Torquemada’s favoured methods of doing business.

Things have calmed down a bit in Spain since then – but there is a developing story from that part of the world that we’ll be touching on in Lunch Wrap later on today, as French and Spanish farmers are shaping up for Europe’s inaugural Tomato War.

That’s not a joke, by the way – things are about to kick off along the border, after some particularly nasty insults about the quality of each nation’s tomatoes were traded on social media.

For now, though, sit back and enjoy all the words and numbers below, which provide a quick wrap of how the past 24 hours or so panned out, just in case you weren’t paying attention.

And elsewhere on the site this morning we’ve got Eddy Sunarto’s look at who’s been doing what in the wild world of IPOs, while Nadine McGrath’s been looking into why it’s on the heads of tech stocks to start doing something about climate change.

Enjoy your day.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,026.85 (+0.10%)

Silver: US$22.379 (+0.04%)

Nickel (3mth): US$15,803.50/t (-1.92%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,247.09/t (1.52%)

Oil (WTI): US$72.99 (+0.25%)

Oil (Brent): US$78.19 (-0.33%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$128.63/t (-3.14%)

AUD/USD: 0.6513 (+0.00%)

Bitcoin: US$42,748.40 (+0.21%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

LTR Pharma’s about to press the button on a crucial test of its erectile dysfunction nasal spray – they just need some fellas keen to give it a try, it seems.

All essential criteria for the pivotal FDA clinical study have been met. Now all $LTP needs is a bunch of guys to try it. https://t.co/9O9l6fNB7e

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) February 6, 2024

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Company Price % Volume MARKET CAP JAN Janison Edu Group 0.375 47% 1,903,339 $65,178,741 T88 Taitonresources 0.125 47% 97,772 $4,570,836 ACS Accent Resources NL 0.01 43% 1 $3,311,891 YOJDA Yojee Limited 0.038 41% 79,225 $4,581,978 TOY Toys R Us 0.008 33% 368,323 $5,894,781 MKG Mako Gold 0.031 29% 59,315,447 $15,897,826 AUR Auris Minerals Ltd 0.009 29% 614,044 $3,336,382 ERL Empire Resources 0.005 25% 2,410,000 $4,451,740 ESR Estrella Res Ltd 0.005 25% 4,707,222 $7,037,487 PNX PNX Metals Limited 0.005 25% 16,080,000 $21,522,499 XST Xstate Resources 0.02 25% 2,902,138 $5,144,306 KNB Koonenberrygold 0.037 23% 75,298 $3,592,473 ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.027 23% 46,100,704 $14,100,445 NOX Noxopharm Limited 0.067 22% 393,078 $16,073,087 BMG BMG Resources Ltd 0.017 21% 11,703,005 $8,873,160 BRN Brainchip Ltd 0.2 21% 14,723,611 $297,959,423 SNS Sensen Networks Ltd 0.03 20% 49,897 $19,306,790 CCZ Castillo Copper Ltd 0.006 20% 3,974 $6,497,527 RR1 Reach Resources Ltd 0.003 20% 2,334,099 $8,025,743 TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.006 20% 4,850,275 $30,612,897 WML Woomera Mining Ltd 0.006 20% 3,456,220 $6,090,695 ADR Adherium Ltd 0.056 19% 275,357 $15,671,679 SGC Sacgasco Ltd 0.013 18% 1,490,000 $8,576,558 RHY Rhythm Biosciences 0.175 17% 127,546 $33,171,388 AL8 Alderan Resource Ltd 0.0035 17% 4,000,000 $3,320,584

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WINNERS

Janison Education Group (ASX:JAN) was topping the winners list on Tuesday morning, posting a 43% gain on news that the company has inked a deal with the New South Wales Department of Education to deliver the state’s selective education placement tests as computer-based tests via Janison’s digital assessment platform.

The deal, which also includes Cambridge University Press & Assessment, is reportedly worth up to $45 million over the initial five-year term – provided all stages are approved – with an option for the department to extend for a further five-year term.

Mako Gold’s (ASX:MKG) position as market darling looks set to continue again today, with the company landing another 25% jump this morning on the back of a string of happy announcements that kicked off at the end of January with the company’s quarterly.

Since then, Mako has revealed positive rock chip sampling results that suggest a “very high grade” find at Tchaga North, on the company’s 90% owned flagship Napié Project in Côte d’Ivoire.

Since 30 January, Mako has improved from a close of $0.011 to be at $0.032 per share at lunchtime today, and up 220% for the year so far.

And another junior goldie, Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB), was up 23% Tuesday morning, improving on the previous session’s gains when it announced that Phase 2 drilling at the company’s Bellagio prospect has defined widespread gold mineralisation >1g/t Au over >125m area, with the target remaining open down dip and plunge.

The afternoon session saw a couple of small goldies meandering around on no news, including BMG Resources (ASX:BMG) and Australasian Metals (ASX:A8G).

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Company Price % Volume MARKET CAP HXL Hexima 0.011 -31% 980,000 $2,672,634 DY6 Dy6Metalsltd 0.063 -26% 144,462 $3,357,145 GTI Gratifii 0.006 -25% 538,660 $10,953,781 YPB YPB Group Ltd 0.0015 -25% 1,290,990 $1,580,923 WC1 Westcobarmetals 0.042 -24% 212,852 $6,644,018 EG1 Evergreenlithium 0.099 -21% 22,000 $7,028,750 TG1 Techgen Metals Ltd 0.031 -21% 2,795,659 $4,958,170 AZY Antipa Minerals Ltd 0.012 -20% 13,216,376 $62,022,119 SCN Scorpion Minerals 0.02 -20% 918,181 $10,236,405 AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 -20% 80,000 $2,647,498 CTO Citigold Corp Ltd 0.004 -20% 10,000 $15,000,000 NET Netlinkz Limited 0.004 -20% 24,089,340 $19,392,242 RMX Red Mount Min Ltd 0.002 -20% 895,074 $6,683,940 ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.004 -20% 3,688,950 $26,511,136 VML Vital Metals Limited 0.004 -20% 2,041,943 $29,475,335 OD6 Od6Metalsltd 0.11 -19% 127,086 $7,427,092 LPM Lithium Plus 0.165 -18% 563,360 $17,197,640 AMM Armada Metals 0.024 -17% 90,000 $6,032,000 BVR Bellavistaresources 0.1 -17% 150,000 $5,953,317 NAG Nagambie Resources 0.025 -17% 2,470,057 $23,899,070 CZN Corazon Ltd 0.01 -17% 130,200 $7,387,175 FAU First Au Ltd 0.0025 -17% 535,003 $4,985,980 GCM Green Critical Min 0.005 -17% 1,808,357 $6,819,510 IEC Intra Energy Corp 0.0025 -17% 7,117,258 $4,982,345 MSG Mcs Services Limited 0.01 -17% 70,728 $2,377,196

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