Wall Street sets record highs for fifth consecutive day

US stocks closed their fifth consecutive day at all time highs, as weekly jobless claims continue to head in the right direction.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.42% and the Nasdaq was up 0.81% – both at record highs – but the Dow Jones was down slightly by 0.09%.

The US labour market recovery continues to improve, with the weekly jobless claims now at a new pandemic low of 269,000.

But the eye-catching release overnight was Q3 productivity, which dropped 5% compared to estimates of a 3% fall.

In corporate news, major US chipmakers jumped more than 10%, after Qualcomm announced a strong financial forecast.

Ride hailing tech Uber meanwhile posted another quarterly loss, this time US$2.4bn, despite a 57% increase in gross bookings. Uber stock fell 1%.

Crude oil prices were sharply lower, down by 2% overnight, after OPEC+ decided to continue with the previously agreed plans to raise output of 400,000 barrels a day.

To cryptos, where Bitcoin is trading lower at US61,200 at 8am AEDT, down from US$62,900 level yesterday.

Newly elected NYC Mayor Eric Adams tweeted, “In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor.”

Meanwhile, self-repaying loan sounds like the stuff of science fiction – but with crypto, all things are possible.

Alchemix allows users to get under-collateralised loans on their Ethereum or Dai tokens, which are then put to work generating the astonishing yields available in decentralised finance (DeFi).

Read all about that here on Stockhead.

ASX 200 to open higher on Friday

The ASX 200 looks set to open higher this morning, with futures markets (December contracts) pointing up by 0.27% at 8:30am AEDT.

Yesterday, the local index was up by 0.48% to reach its highest point in the week. While energy lost 2%, most other sectors were in the green with tech and financials gaining over 1%.

On the IPO front, listing today on the ASX is Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1) – a mineral explorer that raised $24m at 25c a share.

And later today, we will get the RBA’s statement on monetary policy, where we get more detail on why it decided to stick with its 0.1% cash rate target for the time being, while hinting it might rise earlier than the 2024 target.

 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Proteomics (ASX:PIQ)
Study shows PromarkerD is significantly better than current standard of care tests for predicting future decline in kidney function in patients with type 2 diabetes. PIQ’s PromarkerD correctly identified 84% of patients with normal kidney function that went on to experience kidney function decline that would be missed by standard of care tests.

Byrah Resources (ASX:BYH)
Bryah has added a Lithium-Nickel Project to its energy portfolio, after acquiring a new exploration project – the Lake Johnston Lithium-Nickel Project – located in WA. The project consists of eight exploration licence applications covering a total of 690km.

Hannans Ltd (ASX:HNR)
Hannans aims to recover high purity metals from scrap and spent lithium batteries (LiB) in the Nordic region. The company will focus on securing LiB feedstock and obtaining permits before making a final investment decision on the first plant.

New World Resources (ASX:NWC)
Maiden high-grade JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) has been completed for NWC’s Antler Copper Deposit in Arizona, the company said. At a 1.0% Cu-equivalent cut-off, the maiden MRE comprises: 7.7Mt @ 2.2% Cu, 5.3% Zn, 0.9% Pb, 28.8g/t Ag and 0.18g/t Au.

Kirkland Lake Gold (ASX:KLA)
The company reported record earnings for Q3, driven by strong quarterly production at Fosterville. Net earnings came in at $254.9m ($0.96/share), which was a 26% increase from Q3 2020. KLA says it’s on track to target the top half of production guidance (1.3 – 1.4M oz).

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While New World Resources and Byrah Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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