Wall Street retreats overnight

All three US stock market indexes retreated overnight, with the Dow Jones falling by 0.58% , the S&P 500 by 0.26%, and tech heavy Nasdaq by 0.33%.

US retailer Target’s Q3 revenues smashed estimates, but cost margins are rising which demonstrated the lingering supply chain issues facing retailers this year.

EV newcomer Rivian fell by 15% on profit taking, after doubling since listing last week.

Rivian has no material revenue, and delivered just 156 of its electric pickup trucks this year although it has a 100,000 in the pipeline for delivery utes ordered by its majority owner, Amazon.

In the latest filing, Elon Musk continued to sell his Tesla shares, this time $973m worth after selling $6.9b the week before.

In economics data, new home constructions in the US fell by 0.7% in October, while UK inflation jumped 4.2% YoY, the biggest leap in a decade.

Bitcoin is trading steady this morning at US$59,900, from US$59,700 yesterday.

Meanwhile, one of just 13 surviving “official edition” copies of America’s founding document – and one of two in private hands – is set to be auctioned off 10.30am on Friday (Sydney time) by New York auction house Sotheby’s.

While the sale was announced in September, last Thursday crypto buffs hit upon the idea of a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) buying the historic artifact.

Read the rest of the story here on Stockhead.

ASX 200 to open lower on Thursday

The ASX 200 is lacking any clear direction before the opening bell, with futures markets (December contracts) pointing down by 0.03% at 8:30am AEDT.

The ASX lost ground by 0.68% on Wednesday, as Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) tanked in the wake of its reporting season results and finished more than 8% lower, to lead a sea of red across the major banks.

On the IPO front, set to list today is Tissue Repair (ASX:TRP). This stock is a clinical stage biotech developing an advanced wound healing technology targeting the chronic wound and cosmetic procedure markets. It raised $22m at $1.15.

And later today we will hear speeches from RBA board officials – Tony Richards who is the Head of Payments policy, and Luci Ellis who is the assistant Governor for Economic policies.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

AdAlta (ASX:1AD)

The biotech company announced its second US patent relating to its lead program, AD-214, protecting the i-body sequence used in the drug. The Australian version of the patent was granted in 2017, the first US patent in  2020, and the Japanese version in May this year.

Ixup Limited (ASX:IXU)
IXUP has signed a data collaboration agreement with global company Acxiom to create a geo-demographic data insights platform. This enables creation of new geo-demographic data enrichment products for IXUP clients, with the combined product already seeing strong customer interest.

Turners Automotive (ASX:TRA)
Turners delivered a 24% increase in half year earnings to $23m despite COVID-19 disruptions. The company says the used car market remains resilient, proven by better than expected consumer demand during L3 lockdowns.

Jindalee Resources (ASX:JRL)
Drill results from Jindalee’s 100% owned Clayton North project located in Nevada have confirmed the presence of lithium.Due to the encouraging results , Jindalee has expanded the project area by pegging additional placer claims to the southeast.

Alderan Resources (ASX:AL8)
Alderan’s drill data review has highlighted gold potential at its Drum Gold Mine in Utah. High-grade gold was intersected in drill holes approximately 175m southwest of the West Pit mined ore.