Market Highlights and 5 ASX Small Caps to watch on Friday

Wall Street advances on debt ceiling deal

US stocks rallied overnight as the US Senate agreed on a temporary deal to increase the Treasury department’s debt ceiling, averting a potential default on US Treasuries.

The deal is expected to raise the ceiling by around US$480 billion until December.

All three US stock market benchmarks rose on the news – with the Dow Jones rising by 0.98%, the S&P 500 by 0.83% ,and tech heavy Nasdaq by 1.05%.

Twitter shares rose 4.5% after it agreed to sell its mobile ads company MoPub, allowing the company to invest in “core products that position it for long-term growth,” according to CEO Jack Dorsey.

Investors are anxiously awaiting tomorrow (US time)’s jobs data, with economists unanimously expecting an acceleration in hirings compared to last week.

In other markets, oil prices rose around 1% overnight, as the US Department of Energy said it has no immediate plans to tap into the nation’s oil reserves to ease the recent spike in LNG prices.

Brent crude rose to US81.95/barrel, while the spot iron ore price remains flat as China is still on national holiday.

Eurozone shares +2.1% on some signs of easing in energy crunch
US shares +0.8% on deal to raise the debt ceiling to ~Dec 3, albeit down from +1.5% at high
US 10 yr yld +5bp to 1.57%
Oil +1.1% to $78.3
Gold -0.4% to $1755.7
ASX futures +0.5%$A 0.7313 with $US index flat

— Shane Oliver (@ShaneOliverAMP) October 7, 2021

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s recent price momentum continued as it rose back to US$54,300 at 8:00am AEST this morning.

BTC could even blast higher into Q4, according to Bloomberg’s senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone, who thinks that a US$100,000 Bitcoin would be “meager” by its pump-tastic standards.

ASX 200 to open higher on Wednesday

The ASX 200 looks set to open higher this morning, with futures markets (December contracts) pointing down up 0.45% at 8:30am AEST.

Yesterday, the Aussie benchmark snapped a two-day losing streak and rose by 0.7% on a Tech-led rally.

Later today, the RBA will release its Financial Stability Review, a bi-annual report that contains an assessment of Australia’s financial system and potential risks in financial stability.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Volpara Health (ASX:VHT)
The breast imaging specialist says the deal with Akumin announced on Tuesday is effective immediately, with installation expected to occur within the next 3 to 6 months. The agreement sees Volpara installing its integrated breast screening platform across Akumin’s extensive network imaging centres located across 11 states. It’s expected to bring in US$430K in annual recurring revenue (ARR), its largest ARR to date.

Cirralto (ASX:CRO)
The software company has released an upgrade to its Spenda Payment Suite platform. The upgrade cost $1.1m, which CRO expects to provide the foundation for accelerated domestic customer acquisition and international expansion.

Rewardle Holdings (ASX:RXH)
The digital marketing company says it has revised the term sheet it signed with SplitPay Group in April, switching RXH’s professional services fees from cash payments to shares in SplitPay shares. RXH expects to forgo $30,000 – $60,000 in cash fees in return for a shareholding of between 0.5% and 1% in SplitPay.

Australian Bauxite (ASX:ABX)
The company is raising $500k via a retail Share Purchase Plan. The offer price is 10 cents, the same price it closed at yesterday. Funds raised will go into the development of the ABX Group’s rare earth elements project in Tasmania.

Zebit Inc (ASX:ZBT)
The US-based BNPL provider announced the launch of its first mobile application, which has generated over 22,000 downloads in its initial days. The app allows Zebit to engage directly with existing customers by sending push notifications reminding them of things such as new product selection, exclusive offerings, and upcoming payments.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Volpara Health is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.