Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Friday

Wall Street climbs on better US jobs market

All major indices in the US rebounded on Thursday, after US jobless claims fell by 34,000 to a 14-month low of 473,000 in the past week, beating estimates.

Dow Jones climbed 1.29%, S&P 500 rose 1.22%, and tech heavy NASDAQ was up by 0.72%.

Most airlines stocks rose as restrictions were eased in the US, allowing fully vaccinated people to do away with wearing masks.

Major tech stocks also rose, with Apple and Microsoft rising almost 2%.

Commodity prices, meanwhile, are tumbling.

China iron ore price plunged by as much as 9.5% on the Dalian Commodity Exchange to $US188.66. Oil also snapped its winning streak from earlier this week, and fell by 3%.

Bitcoin plunged to below US$50k

In crypto news, Bitcoin dropped to as low as US$48,000, before gaining ground and trading at US$49,000 level at at 8am AEDT. The coin traded around US$52,600 yesterday.

The move down seems to have centred around Elon Musk’s comments saying that Tesla will no longer accept BTC for purchases. He also called the energy used in mining BTC “insane”.

Closer to home

The ASX 200 index dropped 0.88 per cent on Thursday.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Avita Medical (ASX:AVH)
The skin regenerative medicine company focusing on the skin reported RECELL revenue of $8.8 million in the third quarter of 2021, a 126% increase over the same quarter in the prior year. However, this translated to a net loss of $6.0 million. For the next quarter, the company expects total revenue expected to be in the range of $8.2-$8.6 million.

Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR)
The technology investment company said that it will conduct a feasibility and scoping study with the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST Group) for autonomous sensing and search of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear sources. The DST Group is part of the Australian Department of Defence.

Rewardle (ASX:RXH)
The digital marketing company has released a strategy update. The company says it is targeting breakeven, with the strategy revolving around aligning with trends that have accelerated due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Synlait (ASX:SM1)
The CFO of NZ-based milk producer, Angela Dixon, has resigned. Dixon was heavily involved in Synlait’s $200m capital raise last November.

Volt Resources (ASX:VRC)
Volt is to acquire 70 per cent of European graphite business, ZG Group, following completion of due diligence. The company says the acquisition will transform Volt into one of the few ASX listed graphite producers.