Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Monday

• The ASX will open firmer on Monday 
• Wall Street little changed on Friday despite strong US non-farms data
• This week we will see US CPI and China’s GDP data released

Local blue chips will open firmer today, with the July ASX 200 futures pointing up by 0.80% at 8am AEST.

Wall Street closed flat on Friday despite US non-farm jobs increasing by 372,000 in June, stronger than the 265,000 forecast. The US unemployment rate came in at 3.6%, the same rate as predicted.

Although the numbers eased recession concerns, they have potentially opened the door to a more aggressive rate hike by the Fed on July 26.

“Thinking a bit further ahead, though, these data are consistent with our strong view that the Fed’s September decision will be 25bp or 50bp; markets currently price-in 50bp,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Twitter fell by 5% as it was reported that Elon Musk had pulled away from his $44 billion bid to buy the rest of the company and take it private.

The decision has now set the scene for a long legal battle in court with Twitter already hiring heavyweight law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to sue Musk.

US treasuries were steeper on Friday after the stronger-than-expected US jobs gains. The 2- and 10-year yield curves remained inverted for the fourth consecutive day which is regarded by many as the best leading indicator of a recession.

In other markets, oil gained another 2% as Brent trades at US$107 a barrel, while Bitcoin is holding steady at US$21,060 this morning.

Looking ahead this week, there will be a bumper set of economic indicators released. The US CPI is due out on Wednesday (US time), while China’s Q2 GDP will be out on Thursday.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

MMA Offshore (ASX:MRM)
The marine services provider has been awarded a contract to provide vessel services for OMV New Zealand which will carry out oil drilling in the Taranaki Basin, NZ. Commencing in September, the contract is for a firm period of 200 days with a value expected to be between $10 – $11 million.

Minerals 260 (ASX:MI6)
Gold-copper mineralisation was intersected in follow-up Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling at the Zest prospect, part of the 100%-owned Moora Project in WA. Results include: 13m @ 3.3g/t Au, and 0.2% Cu from 127-140m.

ImpediMed (ASX:IPD)
ImpediMed announced the publication of a paper on the risk factors for breast cancer-related lymphoedema. The paper was published in Cancer, an international journal of the American Cancer Society which publishes high-impact, peer-reviewed articles  on the latest clinical research findings.

CV Check (ASX:CV1)
The recruitment tech company delivered a FY22 revenue of $26.4 million, up 51% on FY21. The company also finished its FY22 in a strong financial position, with cash at bank of $12.2m.

Orion Minerals (ASX:ORN)
The company revealed high copper grades from in-fill drilling in the shallow +105 Level Crown Pillar at the Prieska Copper-Zinc Project in South Africa. Significant assays received to date include: 7.46m at 9.24% Cu, 0.19% Zn, 0.44g/t Au, and 17.46g/t Ag in OCOU164, and 12.53m at 4.89% Cu, 0.04% Zn, 0.51g/t Au and 15.12g/t Ag in OCOU155.