Wall Street slips as iron ore falls further

All three US stock market indexes fell on Friday, ahead of the US Fed rates decision this Wednesday (US time).

The Dow Jones fell by 0.48%, S&P500 by 0.91%, and the tech heavy Nasdaq also fell by 0.91%.

It was the biggest US sharemarkets fall in a month.

Growth tech stocks were hard hit after as US treasury yields rose across the curve ahead of the Fed decision.

Meanwhile, the spot iron ore price plunged even further on Friday, falling by another 5.5% to US$100.80/t.

The ferrous metal has been on a downward spiral from its record high of US$233/t in May, taking down the blue chip miners with it. Fortescue (ASX:FMG) for example, is down 25% over the past month.

To cryptos, where Bitcoin is trading at US$47,400 at 8:00am AEST this morning, from US$47,650 on Friday.

The ECB (European Central Bank) President Christine Lagarde has shared her views on cryptocurrencies.

“Cryptos are not currencies, full stop. Cryptos are highly speculative assets that claim their fame as currency, possibly, but they’re not. They are not.”

ASX 200 to open lower on Monday

The ASX 200 looks set to open lower his morning, with futures markets (December contracts) pointing down by 0.90% at 8:30am AEST.

On Friday, the Aussie benchmark fell by 0.76%, but was flat for the week.

It was reported by the AFR that Transurban Group (ASX:TCL) has completed an equity raising to acquire an extra 49% stake in WestConnex from the NSW government, to take 100% control of the tollroads company. TCL stock is currently on a trading halt.

On the IPO front, iron ore play Pearl Gull Iron (ASX:PLG) is set to float on the ASX today, after raising $4m at 20c.

 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Zelira Therapeutics (ASX:ZLD)
The cannabis company has entered into the German market after signing a distribution agreement with Adjupharm. Under the deal, Adjupharm will market ZLD’s Zenivol in Germany. There is a minimum order quantity totalling over $4 million (with $98k in Year 1) over five years.

Pointerra (ASX:3DP)
The 3D geospatial data tech company has been awarded multiple projects totalling $2.1 million. One of the projects is an extension contract to support the additional requirements of 3DP’s large power utility customers.

K2Fly (ASX:K2F)
The enterprise software company has signed a 5 year contract with Sibanye-Stillwater for K2fly’s Tailings Solution to be rolled out across its 38 tailings facilities globally. The 5-year contract is valued at $2.85m, and will generate an annual recurring revenue of $475k.

ArchTIS (ASX:AR9)
The cyber security company has purchased select assets of Cipherpoint Limited’s (ASX:CPT)’s European software operations. The purchase price consists of $1.4m in cash, with a further consideration of up to $1m to be paid based on contracts assigned to archTIS as of 31 March 2022.

Etherstack PLC (ASX:ESK)
The company’s US subsidiary has secured an initial order with giant telco AT&T. The value of the order is approximately US$420k , with the delivery and associated revenue expected to be fully recognised this financial year.