Local markets are really depressed this morning, which isn\u2019t unusual for a Monday \u2013 but today, it\u2019s particularly bad. As we trundle into the lunch hour, the ASX 200 benchmark is moping at -1.2%, and \u2013 again, quite typically \u2013 it\u2019s not having a bad day because of anything in particular we\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s someone else\u2019s fault, surely.<\/p>\n
Normally at this stage, I\u2019d offer up a bit of lighthearted news, but I\u2019ve had an unexpectedly lengthy 4-hour commute to work this morning, so let\u2019s all pretend I wrote something amazingly witty, you all had a good laugh, and we\u2019ll get down to business.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So\u2026 the benchmark is well below anything that could possibly be described as happy, with the Materials sector taking a caning.<\/p>\n
The reasons being posited for that include, but are not limited to, a sudden surge in the US dollar against our local bantamweight currency, after the US market spent Friday \u2013\u00a0and I guess most of the weekend \u2013 internalising the notion that the Fed\u2019s really not interested in pursuing an easing strategy at the moment, and probably won\u2019t be until at least May.<\/p>\n
The other gut-punch has come via China, after markets there tanked heavily on Friday, which in turn took a baseball bat to the kneecaps of several crucial commodities, upon which some of the big names in Aussie mining are currently precariously perched.<\/p>\n
That led to a very rapid sell-off among the big players in early trade on Monday, leaving the likes of BHP (ASX:BHP)<\/strong><\/a> down 2.27%, Fortescue (ASX:FMG)<\/strong><\/a> down 2.52% and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO)<\/strong><\/a> short by 2.02% the last time I looked at the tickers.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why the sectors look like this:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Chart via Marketindex.com.au<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A more granular look at the ASX has the XTX All Tech index with one nostril above the high water mark, and everything else well below the surface today \u2013 and it\u2019s reasonable, I reckon, to argue that we\u2019d be in much worse shape if it weren\u2019t for tech heavyweight WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC)<\/strong><\/a> posting a well-timed +2.25% this morning to keep things vaguely afloat.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Chart via Marketindex.com.au<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Because it\u2019s never our fault when things go bad, let\u2019s go check on what\u2019s happened overseas, so we can point fingers and swear loudly with an unwarranted degree of confidence.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, here\u2019s the thing\u2026 Friday\u2019s effort on Wall Street was, undeniably, strong.<\/p>\n The S&P 500 rose by +1.07%. The blue chips Dow Jones index was up by +0.35%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged by +1.74%.<\/p>\n Any way you slice that, it\u2019s a good result \u2013\u00a0achieved through the magic of massive companies seeing massive spikes in trading price, as the market rewarded several of them for winning what are, essentially, a series of one-horse corporate races.<\/p>\n Meta went bananas, up 15% to a record high after smashing earnings expectations \u2013 just days after CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent four hours being soundly thrashed by US Senators during an appearance to talk about child safety online.<\/p>\n Similarly, Amazon cranked out an +8% jump after delivering news to the market that its Q4 sales had come in well ahead of forecasts, at US$170bn.<\/p>\n But it was the delivery of US jobs data that really grabbed the headlines \u2013\u00a0because the US non-farm payroll data arrived with a barn-storming result that blew the doors off market expectations.<\/p>\n According to people whose job it is to count these things, the US added more than 353,000 jobs in January, which was twice the forecast number \u2013\u00a0an astonishing leap by any reasonable measure, which led US President Joe Biden to declare that the US economy is \u201cthe strongest in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the good news. The bad news is \u2013\u00a0at least from where we\u2019re sitting \u2013 that pushed a whole lotta strength into the US dollar, and our Aussie dollarydoo crumbled.<\/p>\n And then came news about China \u2013 specifically, from Barclays which delivered a pretty dire warning that China could face \u201ca prolonged deflationary environment\u201d, which is never good for business here.<\/p>\n As Christian put it this morning, that \u2013 coupled with weakened domestic demand exacerbating overcapacity issues \u2013 is \u201cnot a stellar combo, and not when confidence continues to flag\u201d.<\/p>\n And if commodities weren\u2019t already under enough pressure from China\u2019s economy turning into soft, delicious tofu, the ongoing threat of peace in the Middle East has once again reared its ugly head.<\/p>\n Oil prices skidded for the bulk of last week, losing about 6% \u2013 and not even a fresh round of air strikes by the US could do much to drive prices up over the weekend.<\/p>\n Currently in Japan, the Nikkei is only just treading water on +0.17%, while Chinese markets are reeling from some soft economy body blows. Shanghai markets are down 0.52%, and Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng has fallen 1.27% in early trade.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for 05 February [intraday]:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n WordPress Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Now for some good news, and the party is most definitely on at Bioxyne (ASX:BXN)<\/strong><\/a> this morning, on news that the company\u2019s\u00a0 wholly-owned subsidiary, Breathe Life Sciences has been awarded a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) licence to manufacture medical cannabis. And psilocybin. And MDMA.<\/p>\n That\u2019s huge news for Bioxyne, as the licence also allows Breathe Life Sciences to produce \u201cfinal dose form capsules for supply to authorised prescribers and clinical trials\u201d.<\/p>\n No doubt the company is now in the process of heavily fortifying its headquarters, ahead of the arrival of hordes of zombie-like hippies, armed with bongo drums and terrible BO, to surround the building and demanding to speak to \u201cthe man\u201d about \u201csome stuff\u201d.<\/p>\n Battery anode business Ecograf (ASX:EGR)<\/strong><\/a> has surged 36% this morning, despite not having anything of interest to tell the market \u2013 and I\u2019m not entirely sure why. I\u2019ll try and find out, but don\u2019t hold your breath waiting for an answer just yet.<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s high-flyer Mako Gold (ASX:MKG)<\/strong><\/a> is at it again, rising another 16.6% after delivering a presentation to the 121\/Mining Indaba Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.<\/p>\n The prezzo doesn\u2019t contain any salient information that the market didn\u2019t already know about, by the looks of things \u2013 but it does tie up all of Mako\u2019s recent great news in a pretty format, so there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n Worth mentioning, though, is Friday\u2019s last-minute gut-buster effort from Bougainville Copper (ASX:BOC)<\/strong><\/a>, which saw the company go utterly ballistic in the dying hours of trade at the end of last week \u2013 a +128% jump in 90 minutes that, by rights, should have seen some momentum carried over to today.<\/p>\n However, that hasn\u2019t panned out at all \u2013 BOC is down 12.8% today after profit-taking knocked all the wind out of its sails.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the most-worst performing ASX small cap stocks for 05 February [intraday]:<\/strong><\/p>\n Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n WordPress Table Plugin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU)<\/strong><\/a> has appointed Darryl Cuzzubbo as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, following the departure of Gavin Lockyer. Cuzzubbo\u2019s tenure is \u201ceffective immediately\u201d, however the outgoing chief will be staying on for a short period of time to deliver\u00a0 handover to make the transition as smooth as possible.<\/p>\n BPM Minerals (ASX:BPM)<\/strong><\/a> has informed the market that it has identified several gold in soil anomalies with multi-element geochemical support following exploration at its 100% owned Claw Gold Project is located in the Murchison region of Western Australia, immediately along strike of Capricorn Metals\u2019 (ASX:CMM)<\/strong><\/a> 3.24Moz1 Mt. Gibson Gold Project.<\/p>\n Redivium (ASX:RIL)<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and Classic Minerals (ASX:CLZ)<\/strong><\/a> have announced that the two companies have agreed to extend the deadline date for satisfaction of the conditions of sale of the Forrestania Project, with the new deadline set for 30 April, 2024 \u2013 or such other date as agreed.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post ASX Small Caps Lunch Wrap: Who was running really, really late to work today?<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NOT THE ASX<\/h2>\n
ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
ICYMI \u2013 AM Edition<\/h2>\n