The ASX benchmark rises +0.30pc despite mid-morning headwinds from Jim Chalmers<\/p>\n
Six of 11 Sectors ended higher with Health Care out in front<\/p>\n
Small caps led by Sigma as momentum for Chemist Warehouse merger builds<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the hope of any outsize gains shot through the heart with the Energy Sector to blame, local markets ended Wednesday slightly higher, but otherwise the same.<\/p>\n
At 4.15pm on Wednesday December 13, the S&P\/ASX 200 (XJO) index was up 22.5 points, or +0.31%.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Via Google<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Traders in Sydney looked to unscrew another champagne session, only. to close with a very divided bourse. It was a split decision on Wednesday, with six sectors in the green at the close, with Property again in the money, the big banks rising and Materials making some inroads.<\/p>\n Healthcare stocks and a diverse group ofg miners lifted the benchmark into positive territory, although there were undoubtedly higher hopes when Wall Street clocked its highest level in nearly two years on the inflation numbers of November which did not disgrace (the CPI came in largely as expected), which in this climate is certainly enough to bolster hopes the Fed won\u2019t touch the rates trigger later tonight \u2013 or perhaps again for the current cycle.<\/p>\n At home healthcare led the horses in by closing +1.1% higher.<\/p>\n Sigma Healthcare (ASX:SIG)<\/strong><\/a> jumped more than a third s the clear beneficiary in a proposed Chemist Warehouse merger.<\/p>\n The heavyweight healthcare giant CSL (ASX:CSL)<\/strong><\/a> also rose +1%<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Via MarketIndex<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Iron ore movement\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Iron ore (63.5%fe) for Tianjin moved above US$137 in December, equalling the 18-month high touched of early November month following hints of higher demand across major consumers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Iron ore imports from China were up+3.4% from November, pointing to a pickup in demand from China\u2019s key steel manufacturers, as per a production report.<\/p>\n That\u2019s helped Fortescue (ASX:FMG)<\/strong><\/a> find a new record high and allowed Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO)<\/strong><\/a> to hit a new 3 year hclosing high.<\/p>\n BHP (ASX:BHP)<\/strong><\/a> lifted almost 1%.<\/p>\n The Chinese government has said it\u2019d issue CNY 1 trillion in debt to target infrastructure and manufacturing projects, magnifying previous signals from lenders, miners, and metallurgists that infrastructure expenditure in China is likely going to to offset the debt crisis in the property sector.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And damned if we\u2019re not still watching gold\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Looking poised at US$1,990 on Tuesday \u2013 after two straight sessions of falling prices \u2013\u00a0 the metal most associated with marriage, wealth and danger has had a subdued 24 hours, trading in a tight range at near 3-week lows after US November CPI was flat and before the US Federal Reserve\u2019s looming interest rate decision.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And in the US\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The US Consumer Price (CPI) data for November which everyone\u2019s been waiting for came in much unchanged last month.<\/p>\n US inflation \u2013 stripping out food and energy prices \u2013 eased to 4% year-on-year in November.<\/p>\n Wall Street closed higher and US bond yields tripped lower overnight as happy buyers of the mega-cap stocks could almost taste the rate cuts \u2013 Strong gains were seen from mega-cap tech names such as Nvidia (2.2%), AMD (2.4%) and Meta Platforms (2.8%).<\/p>\n Oracle however crashed -12.5% on a shocker of a trading update.<\/p>\n The S&P 500 ended up +0.45%, the Dow Jones, +0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite added +0.7%. New intraday 12-month highs all round.<\/p>\n Eight out of 11 sectors ended higher, led by technology, financials and materials, while the energy sector was the biggest laggard.<\/p>\n The US Federal Reserve concludes its 2-day policy meet on Wednesday (New York time) and comes out with a final 2023 decision on interest rates.<\/p>\n The Fed is broadly expected to keep its key rate unchanged to complete what would be a hat-trick of pauses.<\/p>\n According to the CME FedWatch Tool, there\u2019s now instead a circa 80% chance of a rate cut in May.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At 4pm in Sydney, Futures tied to the 3 major US indices were ahead of the Wednesday open in New York:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/p>\n WordPress Tables Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Leading the market today is Healthcare large capper Sigma Healthcare (ASX:SIG)<\/span><\/a> , which has gone flying this morning on news of a multi-billion dollar merger being put together to allow retail behemoth Chemist Warehouse to backdoor list on the ASX, and flood it with suspiciously inexpensive designer label perfume.<\/p>\n The actual news from Sigma this morning was only tangentially related to that merger, as it was all about the completion of a fully underwritten 1 for 1.85 pro-rata accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer to raise approximately $400 million.<\/p>\n Sigma CEO Vikesh Ramsunder said that the offer had been well-supported, and that Sigma plans to use the funds raised on increased working capital requirements and progress business growth initiatives, including relaunching Sigma\u2019s Amcal and Discount Drug Store brands and expanding the company\u2019s \u201cprivate and exclusive label\u201d product range.<\/p>\n Ramsunder also said that, in the event the proposed merger does go ahead, \u201csome of the net proceeds from the Entitlement Offer may instead be used to partially fund the cash consideration by Sigma under the Proposed Merger\u201d. So there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB)<\/a><\/span> celebrated a win through an announcement featuring two words investors love to read: \u201cvisible gold\u201d.<\/p>\n Drilling at the company\u2019s the Bellagio gold prospect has hit widespread quartz veins below the weathered zone, containing visible gold down dip from the Koonenberry\u2019s previously reported intercept of 10m @ 1.61g\/t Au, which \u2013 just so we\u2019re clear \u2013 did not have any visible gold.<\/p>\n \u201cBelow the strongly weathered zone, quartz veins are associated with sericite-silica hydrothermal alteration and trace arsenopyrite over a +125m wide zone,\u201d KNB says.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is significant as sericite-silica alteration is a common feature of many orogenic gold systems\u201d \u2013 orogenic referring to the crumple zone that makes mountain ranges when two tectonic plates collide.<\/p>\n I looked it up, so that you didn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n Another worth a mention in the winner\u2019s list was American West Metals (ASX:AW1)<\/span><\/a> , which is on the rise after revealing that it is sitting on the only known domestic Indium resource in the United States.<\/p>\n Indium is one of those rare critical minerals that most people have never heard of, but without which they wouldn\u2019t be able to play Candy Crush or send shockingly lewd Tinder messages to each other, as it\u2019s a pretty important element in the manufacture of things like mobile phones and emojis.<\/p>\n AW1\u2019s Indium resource isn\u2019t just unique in terms of its geological placement, but also pretty big \u2013 the company is reporting a JORC compliant resource of some 23.8Moz of indium at the site, nestled cheek-by-jowl with an equally impressive total of 119 Koz of gold, 1.3Mt zinc, 49Kt copper and 10Moz silver.<\/p>\n A late run through the afternoon came from West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1)<\/span><\/a> , which has been running hot for a few days now, with pretty much no visible reason for doing so.<\/p>\n If that sounds a bit mean spirited, please take note that two days ago, the watchdogs at the ASX noticed things moving fast for West Cobar, and asked for an explanation \u2013 receiving in return a well-written shrug of the shoulders.<\/p>\n Annnnd\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Come on up fans of\u00a0Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8) <\/span><\/a>which<\/span> climbed nicely on news that assays have confirmed the presence of significant lithium mineralisation from surface at the company\u2019s Falcon East Extension within the Falcon Lake Lithium Project in Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/p>\n WordPress Tables Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ)<\/a><\/span> \u2013 pending an update on final wireline logging and fluid sampling results from Mukuyu-2 Side Track well.<\/p>\n Linius Technologies (ASX:LNU)<\/a><\/span> \u2013\u00a0 <\/span>pending the release of an announcement to the market concerning a capital raising initiative.<\/p>\n HeraMED (ASX:HMD)<\/a><\/span> \u2013 pending the release of an announcement to the market about the planning and executing a capital raising.<\/p>\n Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS)<\/a><\/span> \u2013 pending the release of an announcement with regards to a proposed capital raising.<\/p>\n Future Metals (ASX:FME)<\/a><\/span> \u2013 pending the release of an announcement regarding a capital raising.<\/p>\n South Harz Potash (ASX:SHP)<\/a><\/span> \u2013 pending an announcement to the market in relation to the outcome of a capital raising.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Closing Bell: Super Sigma lifts benchmark after oil saps energy stocks<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ASX Sectors on Wednesday<\/h2>\n
<\/h2>\n
TODAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS<\/h2>\n
TODAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS<\/h2>\n
TRADING HALTS<\/h2>\n