Wall Street mixed as oil and metals fall
US stock markets were mixed on Monday, as oil prices fell to a three-week low on concerns about the virus spread in China and the rising US dollar.
The Dow Jones fell by 0.3%, S&P 500 down by 0.09%, while tech heavy Nasdaq closed higher by 0.16%.
Brent crude dropped by around 2.5%, while base metals also fell across the board with nickel dropping the most by 3%.
Meanwhile, according to data from Refinitiv, of the 443 companies in the S&P 500 index that have reported earnings, 87% have beaten analysts’ expectations.
To cryptos, where Bitcoin is rallying again and is currently trading at US$45,700 level at 8:00am AEST, from the US$44,500 level on Monday.
Nearly US$50 million worth of Ethereum has been destroyed since an upgrade to the platform’s mainnet went live on Thursday night.
Under the upgrade, a fraction of the Ether from gas (transaction) fees were incorrectly sent to an inaccessible address, rather than to the miners.
ASX 200 to open lower on Tuesday
The ASX 200 looks set to open lower his morning, with futures markets (September contracts) pointing down by 0.16% at 8:30am AEST.
Yesterday, the benchmark finished flat, with rises in Bank stocks offset by losses in Mining stocks.
Last night, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg passed the sharemarket continuous disclosure rules, making it less strict now for companies when it comes to disclosing news to investors.
Under the changes, listed companies will only be liable for civil penalties if they have acted with “knowledge, recklessness or negligence” related to market sensitive information.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
Firefinch (ASX:FFX)
Mining operations have commenced at Viper following the fast track of pre-mining activities. Viper has continued to show high grade results from drilling, which includes 9 metres at 15.1g/t gold from 40 metres, including 1m at 98.7g/t.
Selfwealth (ASX:SWF)
The financial company says that it has now hit the 100,000 active traders milestone on its platform. According to the company, a new independent research report shows that SelfWealth is now the fourth largest player in the online broking industry in Australia.
Incannex (ASX:IHL)
The cannabis company announced that its partnership with Monash University has completed an ethics submission for its phase 2a Psi-GAD study that combines psilocybin with specialised therapy to patients with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Simultaneously, Incannex has also submitted a comprehensive information package to the US FDA for the purpose of requesting a pre-IND meeting.
Elevate Uranium (ASX:EL8)
The company says there is encouraging uranium mineralisation identified at Namib IV in Nambia. Significant intersections include 2 m at 435 ppm eU3O8 from surface.
EmVision Medical Device (ASX:EMV)
The company announced that fabrication and assembly of the company’s alpha unit of its 1st Gen portable brain scanner has now been completed and ready for testing. EMVision CEO Dr Ron Weinberger calls the device a ‘game changing opportunity to provide accessible point-of-care neuroimaging for stroke patients’.
At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Firefinch is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
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