Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Tuesday

US and European stock markets down to start the week

All major indices in US and Europe were down on Monday, after Covid cases spiked in some parts of the world.

The Dow Jones was down 0.16%, S&P 500 fell 0.25%, and tech heavy NASDAQ dropped 0.38%.

Shares in Coinbase fell by 3.9% to a record low, after the recent volatility in Bitcoin following Elon Musk’s tweets.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, is trading around the US$44,200 level at 8am AEDT, down from the US$45,900 level on Monday.

Elsewhere, iron ore price recovered by 4% to $US217.77 a tonne, after the 12% drop yesterday.

Closer to home

The ASX 200 rose by 0.13 per cent on Monday, with tech and energy stocks both gaining over 1 per cent.

In big caps this morning, cement company James Hardie (ASX:JHX) reported a 9 per cent increase in net profit to US$262.8 million.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Imugene (ASX:IMU)
The immuno-oncology company has entered into a licensing agreement with the cancer treatment centre City of Hope for the patents covering a novel combination immunotherapy. The therapy unleashes a CD19 oncolytic virus to enable CD19 directed CAR T cell therapies to target solid tumours, which are currently otherwise difficult to treat with CAR T cell therapy alone.

Proteomics (ASX:PIQ)
The medtech company has secured a major pharmacokinetic testing contract with Australia’s largest clinical trial contract research organisation, Avance Clinical. The contract will see Proteomics perform advanced pharmacokinetic testing of a novel drug for lysosomal storage disorder. It is the company’s largest single analytical services contract to date, with a value of $243k.

Elmo Software (ASX:ELO)
The cloud-based software company has upgraded its FY21 guidance. The company said its full year annual recurring revenue is now set to come in at $83m–85m, from the previous forecast of $81.5m–88.5m. EBITDA for the full year is now expected to be a loss of $2.5m–3.5m, from the previous forecast loss of $2.4–7.4m.

Battery Minerals (ASX:BAT)
The company advised that aircore drilling has started at its 100 per cent-owned Stavely-Stawell Project in Victoria. The drilling commenced following compilation of an extensive dataset, followed by target generation and land access agreements. It will comprise up to 8,000m, and test some of the highly prospective targets the company has identified.

Consolidated Zinc (ASX:CZL)
The mining company advised that its Plomosas plant is running at or better than designed operating capacity. Currently the combined daily throughput of Plomosas and Aldama plants is running at 200tpd (6,000tpm). At this rate, the company expects to reduce its stockpiles of ore, and significantly improves working capital position this quarter.