Wall Street rises despite high CPI print

US stocks were higher on Friday, despite inflation rising to its highest level in 39 years.

The headline US CPI rose by 6.8% in November compared to the same time last year. It was also the highest annual inflation rate since June 1982, and ahead of October’s 6.2% print.

But investors took this in their stride, as all three major US indexes rose – the Dow Jones by 0.6%, the &P 500 fell by 0.95%, and tech heavy Nasdaq by 0.73%.  US stocks climbed by over 3% for the week.

All eyes are now fixed on the US Fed’s crucial interest rates decision on Tuesday.

In other markets, oil prices posted their biggest weekly gains since August, with Brent rising another 1% on Friday. The oil market has become bullish as the omicron variant turns out to be less deadly than first feared.

Bitcoin has climbed back to US$50,200, from Friday’s price of US$47,700.

In the latest coverage on Coinhead, Rob Badman delves into liquid staking with Ankr — one of the latest developments aimed at improving efficienices in DeFi staking protocols.

Read the rest of that story here.

ASX 200 to open higher on Monday

The ASX 200 looks set to rise at the open this morning, with futures markets (December contracts) pointing up by 0.17% at 8:30am AEDT.

For the first time in over a month, the ASX finished the week higher. All in all, risk appetite prevailed and local stocks snapped a four-week losing streak with a weekly gain of +1%.

On the IPO front, set to to make their ASX debut listing today according to the ASX are:

Black Mountain Energy (ASX:BME), an oil and gas explorer that raised $11m at 20c a share, and

The Hydration Pharmaceuticals Company (ASX:HPC). This company sells tablet and powder hydration solution products in Canada and the US.

On the economics calendar, the National Skills Commission will be issuing preliminary job vacancies data for November. Vacancies rose by 7.8% in October to stand at a 13-year high of 250,882 positions.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Talga Group (ASX:TLG)
The batteries company said that Mitsui has extended its MoU agreement on the Vittangi Anode Project with Mitsui, one of the largest global trading companies based in Japan. The MoU has now been extended to 31 August 2022.

Singular Health (ASX:SHG)
The company has released a collaborative medical visualisation in Virtual Reality and 3D tools, aligning the company’s software to the medical Metaverse. SHG’s Virtual Surgical Planning (VSP), which it acquired in early 2021, has now been fully integrated into 3Dicom, a mobile app which enables patients to receive their scans using a QR code.

Senex Energy (ASX:SXY)
The oil and gas explorer has entered into a binding scheme agreement with POSCO, where POSCO will acquire 100% of Senex shares for a cash offer price of $4.60 per share. The Senex Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the takeover offer. At the same time, Senex announced a four-year gas sales agreement with Shell Energy Australia.

Metals Australia (ASX:MLS)
An agreement has been executed with Sabre Resources Ltd (ASX:SBR) for it to fund exploration and farm-in to the Nepean South Nickel Project. The JV deal will see Sabre paying $40,000 cash to Metals on signing, then earn an 80% interest by spending $200,000 on exploration within 5 years.

NeoMetals (ASX:NMT)
NeoMetal’s 70:30 co-owned company, Reed Advanced Materials, has entered into a binding deal with Portugal’s largest chemical producer Bondalti Chemicals. The agreement is expected to see the creation of a 50:50 JV to construct a lithium refinery at Bondalti’s extensive chlor-alkali operations in Estarreja, Portugal.

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