Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Friday

Dow Jones and iron ore reset records

The Dow Jones index rose again overnight by 0.93%, resetting the record highs it set the previous day.

Other major US indices also rose, after jobless claims in the US came in less than expected.

S&P 500 rose by 0.82%, and tech-heavy NASDAQ by 0.37%.

Moderna announced its first ever profit which was boosted by its COVID-19 vaccine sales.

Meanwhile, the price of iron ore has surpassed the US$200 a tonne level, and set a record high on China demand. The metal rose by around 5% overnight, and is currently trading at US$201.88/tonne.

Bitcoin is relatively flat to trade US$56,200 level at at 8am AEDT, after trading at US$56,900 level on Thursday.

Dogecoin has risen by 26,000 per cent in one year, and it has emerged that one whale holds 28 per cent of all the cryptos.

Closer to home

The ASX 200 finished lower by 0.48 per cent on Thursday, after reaching its 14-month high the day before.

In big caps news this morning, real estate company REA Group (ASX:REA) announced an 8 per cent revenue increase for the quarter to $225.6 million. REA CEO, Owen Wilson, described Australia’s current property market as being in “full flight”.

Newscorp (ASX:NWS) reported a 3 per cent increase in third quarter revenue to $2.34 billion.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

PlaySide (ASX:PLY)
The mobile games company has signed a mobile platform games licence agreement with ViacomCBS on behalf of Paramount Pictures, to develop and publish a mobile video game based on the feature film The Godfather. The multi-year agreement will provide PlaySide with a licence to incorporate the movie themes and branding from The Godfather into a mobile title that PlaySide will develop.

American Pacific Borates (ASX:ABR)
The company advised that it has signed a Letter of Intent with Compass Minerals, to progress negotiations with respect to Compass Minerals taking responsibility for the sales and marketing from the company’s Fort Cady Borate mine. The company expects formal agreements to be executed over the coming months.

SSR Mining (ASX:SSR)
The company reported robust quarterly operating performance across its four operations, which includes delivering first quarter production of 196,094 gold equivalent ounces at AISC of per gold equivalent ounce, and on track to meet full-year guidance ranges. It also generated cash flows from operating activities of $145.2 million, and free cash flow of $76.6 million in the first quarter.

Noxopharm (ASX:NOX)
The company says that Investigational New Drug (IND) was granted by FDA on evidence that its drug Veyonda may increase generally poor response rates of sarcoma cancers to chemotherapy. The company says this marks the company’s commitment to act on this valuable opportunity with the appointment of a contract research organisation to oversee the study.

Fonterra Shareholders Fund (ASX:FSF)
The New Zealand milk company is coming out of a trading halt today, after its shares were halted two days ago. Fonterra has started a consultation process to seek farmer feedback on potential options to change its capital structure that could give farmers greater financial flexibility. The company is temporarily capping the size of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund by suspending shares from being exchanged into units in the Fund.