Trading was so fitful on the benchmark Aussie index that at 4pm in Sydney it kinda looks as if the ASX200 was in cardiac arrest for most of Thursday\u2026<\/p>\n
Volatile enough for ya?! Via MarketIndex<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At 4.15 on Thursday December 21, the S&P\/ASX200 was down 34 points, or -0.45 per cent, to 7504.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Via Google<\/em><\/p>\n The benchmark backtracked off Wednesday\u2019s 11-month highs following some late profit taking in New York overnight, where the rallying Wall Street majors hit fresh record highs, before traders unwound the good work with a late fire sale.<\/p>\n Up early on Thursday was the tram behind the stock which bares its teeth when required \u2013 Pacific Smiles (ASX:PSQ)<\/strong><\/a>. The board has palmed the offer from Genesis Capital saying it\u2019s \u201cmaterially undervalued\u201d, offering instead some decent 2024 guidance \u2013 with underlying earnings expected to come in between $26mn and $28mn.<\/p>\n Leading thin gains across the board were the Heath Industrial and Utilities sectors aided by relatively decent runs for AGL Energy (ASX:AGL)<\/strong><\/a> , Steadfast (ASX:SDF)<\/strong><\/a>, Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL)<\/strong><\/a> \u00a0and Ramsay Health Care (ASX:RHC)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In the heavily weighing resources space Meridian Energy continued its daily balancing up, this time up over 4%, while the lithium lads \u2013 Allkem (ASX:AKE)<\/strong><\/a> , Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS)<\/strong><\/a> and IGO (ASX:IGO)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 with a guest appearance from REE lad Lynas (ASX:LYC)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 were driving Mining losses.<\/p>\n Via MarketIndex<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At last, oil pauses<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Meanwhile, WTI crude futures fell under US$74 during our session on Thursday, biding adieu to an awful six days of rising prices.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Via Tradingeconomics<\/p>\n Oil traders are all about the Red Sea at the moment, but probably should\u2019ve been looking closer to home, where (fortunately for lovers of Xmas road trips)\u00a0EIA data-crunchers in the states reckon US crude stockpiles jumped by 2.9 million barrels last week, mocking expectations for a 2.3 million barrel shortfall.<\/p>\n Apparently US crude production also leapt to a record 13.3 million barrels a day last week, up from the previous all-time high of 13.2 million bpd.<\/p>\n That\u2019s taken the sting out of these Iran-backed Yemeni-Houthi attacks on merchant shipping, which has done all sorts of spannering to global trade.<\/p>\n And the latest on that is \u2013 aside from being scary \u2013 the impact on actual oil supply\u2019s been negligible \u2018cos the bulk of Middle East crude finds customers in the other direction, via the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Any which way but loose\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Trading in mainland China\u2019s been thin, painful and largely pointless for most of the year, and it\u2019s getting harder for punters on both the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component to make sense, let alone money.<\/p>\n Both were another -0.3 to -0.5% lower after lunchtime on Thursday, headed directly toward the lowest levels of 2023.<\/p>\n As reported by this fine publication on Wednesday, China\u2019s extremely central bank, the People\u2019s Bank of China (PBoC) held the equivalent of a standard benchmark lending rate unchanged, disappointing everyone including local miners who\u2019ve been hoping for some stimmy and\/or cheaper cash policies to facilitate some action and nudge China\u2019s sonambulant economy.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also reports President Xi Jinping told\u00a0 his US counterpart Joe Biden during their recent summit in San Francisco that, by the way, China will<\/em> reunify Taiwan with the mainland, any which way\u2026<\/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 Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n CPT Global (ASX:CGO)<\/strong><\/a> is off on a mission all unto itself on Thursday. Up a casual +70%, no one knows why, least of all CGO, as revealed in this missive to the ASX speeding police this arvo:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Via ASX<\/em><\/p>\n An emphatic no, from CGO\u2019s law-talking team.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, friend of the show and niobium hunter WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1)<\/strong><\/a> gained 25% after revealing some positive assay results from its West Arunta project in WA.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, another friend of the show, Emanuel \u201cTru\u201d Datt from Datt Capital snapped up a 5.03% stake in WA1 for circa $11mn.<\/p>\n Loving lithium in Canada is the minnow Narryer Metals (ASX:NYM)<\/strong><\/a> which jumped nicely earlier today.<\/p>\n Fresh news? Nope. For what it\u2019s worth, though, this time exactly a month ago\u2026<\/p>\n The company completed fieldwork for the season across its three project areas \u2013 Pontax East and Le Moyne Projects (James Bay, Quebec), and the Hailstone Project, in gorgeous North West Ontario.<\/p>\n NYM reported that all three identified pegmatite intrusives on the ground, although geochemical analysis to determine the full nature of the mineralisation still remains TBD.<\/p>\n No one minds too much.<\/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 Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Peppermint Innovation (ASX:PIL)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Pending an important announcement to be made regarding the acquisition of an Artificial intelligence (AI) and Customer Experience (CX) business by the Company<\/p>\n Tietto Minerals (ASX:TIE)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Pending the removal of an ASX release that was lodged in error<\/p>\n Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 In relation to a capital raising<\/p>\n Australian Pacific Coal (ASX:AQC)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 In relation to a capital raising<\/p>\n XPON Technologies (ASX:XPN)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 In connection with the proposed disposal of a material business<\/p>\n Mamba Exploration (ASX:M24)<\/strong><\/a> pending an announcement regarding an acquisition and capital raising<\/p>\n Frugl Group (ASX:FGL)<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Pending an announcement in relation to the outcome of a placement to sophisticated and professional investors<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Closing Bell: Local markets end Thursday lower after volatile, silly and ultimately futile session<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/h2>\n
ASX Sectors on Thursday<\/h2>\n
TODAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS<\/h2>\n
TODAY\u2019S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS<\/h2>\n
TRADING HALTS<\/h2>\n