Tech stocks drag Wall Street lower

All major indices in the US fell overnight, even as fresh data shows improvement in the US labour market.

US unemployment claims fell below 400,000 for the first time since the pandemic, prompting investors’ unease about inflation and a possible increase in rates.

Tech stocks fell on the news, and the tech heavy Nasdaq ended up 1.03% lower.

The Dow Jones also fell by 0.07%, and S&P 500 was down by 0.36%.

Meanwhile, there are worrying signs for Tesla and the broader EV market, after the company reported that its sales in China were halved in May vs April. Tesla stock dipped by 5 per cent on the news.

In other markets, the US dollar surged higher after the job claims print, causing the Aussie dollar to tumble 1 per cent vs the greenback to 76.60 US cents.

Bitcoin is nearing US$39,000 at 8am AEDT, after trading at US$37,700 on Thursday.
 

Closer to home

The ASX 200 closed 0.59% on Thursday, with Energy gaining by 3 per cent on top of Wednesday’s 4 per cent gain.
 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Decmil (ASX:DCG)
The mining services company issued an upgraded full year EBITDA guidance of between $6m-$10m for FY21. This is despite the company anticipating FY21 revenue of between $300 million and $320 million, which is below original expectations.

Thor Mining (ASX:THR)
The company announced the successful application of the Molyhil Project as part of Round 14 Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations program. The company was awarded $110k from the Northern Territory Government as part of the Resourcing the Territory, Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations program.

Firefly Resources (ASX:FFR)
The company announced that multiple unrecorded and undrilled gold shafts and shallow workings have been identified from high-resolution drone imagery at Yalgoo. Initial groundwork over previously undrilled and unrecorded century-old workings returned assays of up to 12.38g/t.

MLG Oz (ASX:MLG)
The mining services company updated the market with its contract pipeline, saying that it is entering contract negotiations, following awards from Northern Star, Norton Gold Fields, and Mincor Resources. The company also said it is on track to reach prospectus forecast of $241.6m in revenue and $41m EBITDA for the full year.

Resonance Health(ASX:RHT)
The medtech company announced that CEO Alison Laws has resigned due to unplanned personal family obligations. Laws has served as CEO of the company since February 2018, and her last day will likely be in July.