Pic: Stevica Mrdja / EyeEm / EyeEm via Getty Images
Market Highlights and 5 ASX Small Caps to watch on Friday
News
share
Tech earnings lift Wall Street
All three major US benchmarks rose overnight, extending gains to a third consecutive day.
The Dow Jones rose 0.07%, S&P 500 by 0.20%, and the Nasdaq by 0.36%.
Tech stocks led, with Twitter rising by almost 5% after reporting a quarterly operating profit of US$30 million on US$1.19bn revenues, which were 74% higher than the previous corresponding period (pcp).
In other earnings news, Johnson & Johnson said it expects to sell another US$2.5bn of its COVID-19 vaccines this year, after posting a US12.59bn in revenue so far in 2021.
Oil prices meanwhile, have risen by 2% overnight, after tumbling by as much as 8% earlier this week.
To cryptos, where Bitcoin remains steady, and is currently trading at US$32,200 level at 8am AEST, from the US$32,00 level on Thursday.
Aussie buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firm Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) has reiterated plans to move into crypto and launch a trading service in Australia and the US within 12 months, according to a report yesterday.
ASX 200 set to open lower on Friday
The ASX 200 looks set to open lower at the open this morning, with futures markets (September contracts) pointing down by 0.36% at 8:30am AEST.
On Thursday, the ASX 200 extended gains for the second day in a row, rising by 0.91% despite more COVID cases across states. All 11 sectors were in the green, except for Healthcare.
The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Summer Olympics will be held tonight, starting at 9pm AEST.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
For the full year of FY21, the telco company delivered a 15% increase in revenue from the prior year to $17.6 million. It has also reduced its net debt by 26% from FY20 to $4.1 million.
The ready-made meals company, which recently got a takeover bid from HelloFresh, flagged a 19.5 per cent increase in gross revenues from the prior comparative period to $53.8 million. However, Youfoodz said it expects EBITDA to come in at the lower of of guidance, between $1-2 million, for the full year.
The global software company reported annual recurring revenues of $53.1 million for the full year FY21, which was a 48% increase from the pcp. The company also said it’s well funded to continue executing its growth strategy, with $56.7m in cash at the end of June.
In its quarterly update, the computer chips tech company said it expects to secure its first commercial agreement over the coming quarter. The company is in advanced discussions with multiple potential customers and production partners and expects to finalise an agreement soon.
The engineering specialist says EBITDA for the full year of FY21 is expected to be a profit in the range of $5.3~$5.8 million, on the back of $57~$60 million in revenues.
Read MoreMarkets
