Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Tuesday

NASDAQ closes at all-time high

Wall Street was mixed, but the tech-heavy NASDAQ managed to close at its all-time high, a record it set in February.

The Dow Jones lost 0.18% and S&P500 was up by 0.18%.

The NASDAQ rose by 0.87%, and reached its all-time high, as Tesla’s sales increased by 70 per cent and doubled during the quarter. Tesla’s profit was US$438 million in the quarter.

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In the currency markets, the Australian dollar hit an overnight high, and traded as high as US$78.15, as commodity prices rose. The Aussie has since retreated to US$78.00 around 8am AEST.

Iron ore continued its bullish run, gaining another 4% to US$193.58/tonne, after a 2.4% gain yesterday.

Bitcoin has risen by more than 10% to trade at US$54,100 level at 8am AEDT, from the US$47,900 level on Monday. The crypto has lost by roughly the same amount in the month of April.

Closer to home

The ASX200 is set to open higher today on the back of US equities. The index closed lower by 0.21 per cent on Monday.

Cleanaway Waste Management (ASX:CWY) will proceed with the acquisition of a portfolio of Suez’s Sydney assets for $501 million. The original agreement to buy all of Suez’s assets has now been terminated. Cleanaway said it has secured a debt facility to fund the deal.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Life 360 (ASX:360)
The San Francisco-based mobile app tech company is set to rise, after announcing that it has entered into a non-binding agreement to acquire Jiobit – a provider of wearable location devices for young children, pets, and seniors. The upfront consideration would amount to US$37 million, with the possibility that the total consideration increases to US$54.5 million if certain performance targets are achieved in the two full calendar years following completion.

Mydeal.com.au (ASX:MYD)
The online home and lifestyle goods marketplace has just reported a solid Q3 FY21, with gross sales increasing by 104.5 per cent to $44.7 million. Its quarterly revenue also increased 175.8 per cent year-on-year to $8.3 million. The company says that 56 per cent of all transactions are from returning customers.

SECOS (ASX:SES)
The packaging company reported strong sales of $7.5 million in the March 2021 quarter, up 33 per cent year-on-year. Its Biopolymer sales were up 75 per cent in the same period. The company says it expects sales to exceed $8 million for the next quarter, subject to shipping availability. It also expects sales to increase further in the September 2021 quarter as new capacity becomes available from its new Malaysian biopolymer plant.

Hubify (ASX:HFY)
The teleco company has taken a strategic stake in Australian and US-based company, Internet 2.0. Internet 2.0 provides defence-grade cybersecurity for SMB, SME and enterprise markets using a combination of proprietary technology and managed services. Hubify says it is strategically investing $0.5 million into Internet 2.0 for a 4.2 per cent equity. The funds will be reinvested in marketing and sales to drive Hubify’s Cyber Security revenue in Australia.

Damstra Technology (ASX:DTC)
Workplace solutions tech company, Damstra, has announced a strong quarterly revenue of $6.9 million, up 66 per cent on pcp. It was the highest ever monthly revenue in March 2021. The company has also recorded its highest ever gross margin, which has has expanded to 81 per cent from 67 per cent on a year-to-date basis.