Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Monday

Wall Street dropped on Friday, but still positive in April

On Friday trading, the Dow Jones fell 0.54%, S&P 500 was down 0.72%, while tech heavy NASDAQ also dropped 0.85%.

But the market was still able to hold on to its monthly gains, with S&P500 and NASDAQ rising by 5% in the month of April, and the Dow Jones by 2%.

Earnings season is still underway in the US, with giants such as Pespi, Colgate-Palmolive, and Merck to report theirs this week amongst other companies.

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway reported first quarter income of US$11.7 billion, compared with a loss of US$49.7 billion in the previous corresponding period.

In other markets, oil gave up its gains on Friday and dipped by 2 per cent, while iron ore also retreated by 1.5 per cent.

Copper fell below US$10,000, after rising to its all time high of US$10,190 last week.

Bitcoin has risen to US$56,600 level at at 8am AEDT, after dropping to US$53,100 on Friday.

Closer to home

The ASX 200 finished lower by 0.80 per cent on Friday, but is still up by 3.5 per cent for the month of April.

In big caps news this morning, Westpac (ASX:WBC) reported that its first half cash earnings increased by 256 per cent to $3.54 billion, easily beating estimates. The bank has now reinstated its interim dividend.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Cettire (ASX:CTT)
Luxury goods online retailer, Cettire, has reported a 331 per cent increase in sales revenue for Q3 FY21 to $25.3 million. As a result of the strong performance, the company has upgraded its outlook for the rest of FY21. Cettire now expects sales revenue of $80 million, compared to $70 million in prospectus forecast.

Imricor (ASX:IMR)
The US-based medical device company focusing in MRI-guided cardiac ablation products announced that Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, in Germany, has signed a purchase agreement, making it the 10th site to establish an iCMR lab to perform ablations with Imricor’s products. No figures were released.

Bionomics(ASX:BNO)
The biopharma company announced that it has prepaid all amounts outstanding of its debt obligations to further improve its balance sheet. Bionomics’ external debt obligations accounted for $6.15 million in combined principal outstanding, and early repayment resulted in $98,000 in overall savings.

Elmo Software (ASX:ELO)
The cloud-based HR tech play, Elmo, has just launched Predictive People Analytics, a new module available for customers. Predictive People Analytics was developed in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney, and leverages artificial intelligence to predict employee behaviour as well as providing insightful data visualisation tools. The company expects the new module to provide an additional revenue stream.

RPM Automotive (ASX:RPM)
The automotive group delivered a record third quarter, with revenues topping $14.5 million, a 59 per cent increase from the pcp. The company also reported strong balance sheet to support its growth initiatives, with $4.45 million cash at bank as at 31 March 2021.