Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Monday

Wall Street record highs, but $35 billion wiped out on Goldman block sale

All major indices in the US rose, as an even bigger stimulus package will be announced by the Biden administration this week. The Build Back Better stimulus is a $3 trillion infrastructure package, which follows the $1.9 trillion America Rescue Plan already disbursed a few weeks ago.

Dow Jones was up by 1.39%, S&P 500 rose by 1.66%, while tech heavy NASDAQ also rose 1.24%.

It was reported that Goldman Sachs executed a massive $10.5 billion block sale on Friday, selling blue chip Chinese stocks such as Baidu and Tencent, as well as Discovery Inc stock.

The block sale is a part of a spree that wiped out $35 billion off Wall Street on Friday, but wasn’t enough to drag down the overall market. It is still unknown which client Goldman is acting on behalf of.

Block trade is the sale of a large chunk of stock, at a price which is sometimes negotiated outside of the market

In other markets, oil is up another 4% as container ship Ever Given is on its sixth day of being stuck in the narrow eastern bank of the Suez canal – a sea lane responsible for 12% of world trade. Efforts to dislodge the ship are still ongoing.

The 10-year US treasury is higher at 1.67%.

Bitcoin is also trading up at USD$54,900 at 8am AEDT, rising from the US$52,000 level last Friday.

Closer to home

Jobkeeper has officially ended, ending a 12-month assistance to 3.5 million vulnerable workers and businesses hurt most by COVID-19 restrictions.

Synlait Milk (ASX:SM1) reported a 19 per cent increase in revenue to $664 million for the half, but NPAT down 76 per cent to $6.4 million. The company expects more uncertainties for the rest of FY21 and FY22, due to COVID-19.

Treasury Wines (ASX:TWE) will see its wines slapped by another 175.6 per cent of import tax by China, which will remain in place for five years.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Peppermint Innovation (ASX:PIL)
The fintech company is primed for a solid day, after signing an agreement with the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI). The agreement allows Peppermint’s bizmoto platform to integrate with BPI’s systems, and has the potential to introduce up to four million BPI online account holders to the company.

Veris Ltd (ASX:VRS)
The mining consultant advised that its wholly owned subsidiary, Aqura Technologies, has been awarded a three-year contract by oil giant Santos (ASX:STO), with a value in excess of $1.8 million. The contract contains an option for a further two-year term, and involves the provision of support and maintenance of Santos’ Communications networks.

Althea Group (ASX:AGH)
Health tech and cannabis company, Althea, has launched a new range of ‘flexi’ 20ml cannabis oil products. The smaller 20ml unit size provides new medicinal cannabis patients with an option to trial the medication over the recommended two or three-week titration period. The company says the new product is expected to attract new prescribers to Althea medicinal cannabis products, and create incremental sales for the business.

Aumake (ASX:AU8)
The social ecommerce marketplace that connects Asian influencers and consumers with Australian brands, reported today that stage two of platform technology buildout is nearing completion, with contemporary social ecommerce capabilities now available. The company also revealed new partnerships and products that will be sold in China.

Renergen (ASX:RLT)
The renewable energy play is set to rise, after announcing it has now obtained laboratory results on the helium concentrations from recently drilled wells P007 and MDR1. MDR1 has returned a helium concentration of 3.15%, and wildcard well P007 a concentration of 4.38%.