Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Thursday

Dow Jones at record level, as US tech stocks sell off again

The Dow Jones index has reached its all-time high, rising by 0.29% to finish at a record 34,230.

However, tech stocks sold off again, with the likes of Amazon and Facebook falling by around 1%.

The market is still digesting Treasury secretary Janet Yellen’s comments yesterday, in which she said that rates would have to increase to cool down the economy, but wasn’t recommending any near-term rate hike.

Tech and growth stocks are sensitive to interest rates rises.

Uber reported a 24% increase in gross bookings for its first quarter reporting.

In other markets, iron ore rose by 2% to $US192.54 a tonne.

Bitcoin has also risen to US$56,900 level at at 8am AEDT, after trading at US$54,000 level on Wednesday. Dogecoin, meanwhile, has risen by 12,000% since January.

Closer to home

The ASX 200 finished higher by 0.39 per cent on Wednesday, its 14-month high.

In big caps news this morning, NAB (ASX:NAB) has reported first half cash profit of $3.34 billion, beating estimates of $3.27 billion, for a profit of $3.21 billion. This came a day after ANZ’s cash profits also beat estimates.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR)
The innovation and technology investment company reported that its Autonomous Security Vehicle (ASV) has successfully passed site acceptance testing (SAT) at the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison. The ASV was designed to complete fully autonomous security missions around the perimeter of the prison. Investors in SOR potentially pay no tax on capital gains from selling their SOR shares, as the company operates under a Federal Government program setup to encourage investment into innovation.

Adore Beauty (ASX:ABY)
The beauty e-commerce play reported that its Q3 FY21 revenue was $39.4 million, up 47 per cent on pcp. Active customers were 687k, up 69% on pcp. The company said it is on track to achieve full year FY21 revenue growth of 43-47% year on year.

Zelira Therapeutics (ASX:ZLD)
The company announced that its range of autism spectrum disorder products are now available for sale to approved dispensaries in Washington DC. Zelira will receive a licensing fee and ongoing royalties on sales within this territory, after earlier getting a licence in Pennsylvania.

Veris (ASX:VRS)
The provider of spatial data services reported group quarterly revenue of $24.14 million, up 6.4% on prior period. Group EBITDA was $1.8 million, up 211 per cent on prior period in FY20.

Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI)
The gold miner said new gold results indicate mineralisation may plunge towards the south at depth, forming a longer higher-grade, central zone than previously interpreted. Significant intercepts from NE Bankan include 89m @ 1.3g/t from 140m and 7m @ 3.1g/t from 390m.