Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Monday

Tech stocks lift Wall Street as iron ore tumbles 12%

All major indices in US rose on Friday, with the Dow Jones climbing by 1.06%, the S&P 500 rising 1.49%, and tech-heavy NASDAQ rising by 2.32%.

Tech stocks led the charge, as US Treasury yields fell on weaker-than-expected US retail sales data, curbing inflation fears.

Major tech stocks, like Facebook, Microsoft, and Alphabet, rose between 2% to 4%.

Iron ore price tumbled 12% to US$208.79 a tonne, after regulators in China warned and vowed to punish steelmakers in Shanghai and Tangshan for “price gouging, collusion and spreading false market information”.
 

Bitcoin plunged again

In crypto news, Bitcoin dropped to US$45,900 level at 8am AED, from the US$49,000 level on Friday.

The plunge was likely caused by Elon Musk’s tweet reply on the weekend, in which he implicitly said that Tesla would sell its BTC holdings.
 

Closer to home

The ASX 200 rose by 0.45 per cent on Friday, but lost nearly 1 per cent for the week.

Ampol (ASX:ALD) said it will continue to operate its refinery at Lyton until 2027 after the Federal Government announced a long-term Fuel Security Package (FSP) meant to support Australia’s refining industry.
 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Xref (ASX:XF1)
The human resources company has made a solid start to its fourth quarter, with revenue climbing by 91 per cent in April to $1.2 million. The company said it has emerged strong from the turbulence of 2020, after revamping its its cost structures.

ArchTis (ASX:AR9)
The cloud-based SaaS company said it has secured a contract with an Australian national security agency to procure additional NC Protect software licences. The total contract value is worth $535,000 for software licences and support. The company said the agency is using NC Protect for secure, policy-based collaboration and sharing of sensitive information using a zero trust architecture.

Resonance Health (ASX:RHT)
The company says that its Antisense Oligonucleotides (ASO) R&D project demonstrated statistically significant viral suppression in a preclinical cell model of Hepatitis B Virus infection. The board has now decided to extend the Resonance’s anti-viral testing program to include other important viral diseases.

Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN)
The company has provided an update on its flagship, 100% owned Lance Project located in Wyoming, USA. Site-specific study has demonstrated low-pH, which will now be used as a consideration ahead of a final investment decision to restart production at the Project.

Viva Energy (ASX:VEA)
The oil refinery has welcomed the Federal Government announcement to implement a long-term Fuel Security Package (FSP) to support Australia’s refining industry. Viva said it will commit to and participate in the FSP, which will now enable it to maintain its refining operations through to 2027.