- ASX to open 1% higher this morning
- Wall Street surge in a broad based rally overnight
- April retail sales data to be released today
Local shares are poised to open higher this morning following a jump in US stocks overnight.
At 8am AEDT, the June ASX 200 futures contract is pointing up by almost 1%.
All three major US stock market indices rose broadly by around 2-3%, with tech heavy Nasdaq rebounding by 2.68% and trimming its 28% loss this year.
Tech investors were buoyed by the huge takeover news of chipmaker Broadcom buying VMware in a US$61 billion acquisition deal.
The market also brushed aside weak US GDP numbers that saw the US economy contracting by 1.5% in the March quarter.
Instead, retailers led after department store Macy’s upgraded its profit outlook, sending its share price 18% higher.
Macy’s announcement sent a strong signal that despite inflation headwinds, consumers were still willing to spend.
Back home, the ABS will also release April’s retail sales, which is currently at record levels. In March, Australian retail turnover rose 1.6% to the highest level ever as restrictions eased.
In other markets, oil prices jumped 3% as the Biden administration contemplated restricting oil exports to lower petrol prices at home.
“The last thing the world needs right now is US crude oil export restrictions with global supplies already tight,” said Oanda market analyst Jeff Halley.
Bitcoin is trading steady at US$29,550 at 8.30am AEDT. Despite the recent slump, JPMorgan says Bitcoin is massively undervalued and estimates that BTC’s fair value is at US$38,000.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
XteK Ltd (ASX:XTE)
Xtek’s HighCom subsidiary has received a US$33.21m order. The order is for the urgent supply of specialist ballistic armour to an undisclosed customer.
Immutep (ASX:IMM)
The immuno oncology company says new interim data from its Phase II TACTI-002 trial has been published today in an abstract at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) 2022 Annual Meeting. Data from the trial will also be presented in an oral presentation on 3 June.
Alchemy Resources (ASX:ALY)
Field work at the Karonie Project in WA has identified further outcropping pegmatites over the recently discovered lithium in soils anomalies. Pegmatite cluster has now been mapped over an initial 7km x 1.5km area.
Calidus Resources (ASX:CAI)
Calidus says that a maiden drill program has commenced at Pirra Lithium’s Spear Hill discovery located in the Pilbara. The drilling is designed to target an initial outcropping pegmatite to determine widths and down-dip extent. Pirra Lithium is owned equally by Calidus and Haoma Mining NL.
Galileo Mining (ASX:GAL)
Galieleo says assays from discovery hole NRC 266 show rhodium values of up to 0.094g/t, with average values across the 33m interval of 0.05g/t.