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.