Bots sucking life from ASX, page-105

Yes but bot's don't just trade in single share units. It's impossible to distinguish larger transactions from bots/individuals but the timing of certain trades during this period raises question.

For instance someone sells into the bid at 9c to wipe it out, and 3 seconds later a 1 share transaction goes through to take the SP to 8.9. Rinse and repeat over the course of the day, where there is minimal buying interest from the market and you end up with a chart as posted above.

Algo's can test the market by pushing down the price to see at which level buyers will surface. If there's little activity on the stock then price can move substantially off little effort.