SP AusNet (SPN) In one of the stronger small cap rallies of the day, shares in the oil and gas distributor jumped as much as 4.6 per cent on Wednesday after it upgraded its full-year earnings guidance. Its shares have sagged about 25 per cent since their high of $1.494 in June last year, swept up in the sector-wide de-rating of utility stocks on concerns about debt levels and rising bond yields. But in a hopeful development for the chronic underperformer, the company said net profit in the year ended March 31 was expected to be some 15 per cent higher than its previous forecast of $147.5 million, issued in November. Despite a short-lived revival in SP AusNet's stock on the back of February's favourable refinancing of $1.55 billion of syndicated bank debt, the stock has still largely sidestepped, up just 3.3 per cent since the beginning of 2008. Despite two strong sessions that have added about 10 per cent to the stock, it still trades just 12.5¢ from its March 17 low of $1.125. Of the nine analysts that cover the stock, five maintain a "hold" rating with an average price target of $1.40 a share, which compares to Wednesday's closing price of $1.25. The company will release its full-year earnings for the 12 months ended March 31 on May 22. Novogen (NRT) Shares in the listed biotech got a much-needed boost after its subsidiary Marshall Edwards business reported successful results from testing of its triphendiol pancreatic cancer drug. The drug was recently granted orphan drug status by the US Food and Drug Administration, taking it one step closer to filling the void in drug treatment for pancreatic cancer sufferers, where fewer than 20 per cent of patients are candidates for surgery. Despite the latest 11 per cent, two-session leg-up to 97¢, Novogen shares have been a chronic underperformer for the better part of four years. Shares have fallen 88 per cent since mid-2003 in a seemingly terminal decline that has left the stock with little institutional coverage. The stock has also underperformed the Small Ords Index in the year-to-date by 21.8 per cent to 16.9 per cent and, despite Wednesday's rally, still trades just 14¢ from its low of 83¢ on March 14. Southern Cross Goldfields (SXG) Just a week into its life as a listed company, the gold and nickel explorer's first exploration update helped push the stock up 5 per cent from 20¢ to 21¢. Recent mapping of its Bullfinch North nickel tenement, one of several projects in the Southern Cross region of Western Australia, has raised hopes of an upgrade to its resource estimates after it identified nickel sulphides close to previously mapped deposits. The mining junior is spun off from emerging iron ore explorer Polaris and, like so many listed wannabes this quarter, struggled to raise its minimum subscription ahead of its March 20 listing. Shares have performed relatively well in their first week - and still trade ahead of their 20¢ listing price despite the sharp pullback in the gold price in the last week. Southern Cross listed last Thursday at 20¢ a share, just as the post-$US1000 an ounce rout set in, but it has still managed to make headway since, even as the gold price sank more than 10 per cent back to the current $US940.72 an ounce level, with most other gold producers falling accordingly.