Wall Street at record high on vaccine approval
All three US stock market indexes rose last night to record highs, as the US government gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The Dow Jones rose by 0.61%, S&P500 by 0.85%, and tech heavy Nasdaq by 1.55%.
Healthcare shares rose, with Pfizer rising by 2.5% and Moderna by 7.55%. Moderna is the best performer on the S&P 500 this year, rising by 270%.
Clinical trial stage biotech Trillium Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TRIL) rose by a whopping 185% overnight on a takeover offer from Pfizer.
In other markets, oil prices rebounded by 5.5% boosted by a weaker US dollar. Brent crude rose by US$3.50/barrel, and is trading at US$68.75/barrel.
Meanwhile, the crypto market is still buoyant and Bitcoin is trading near the US$50k mark after briefly climbing above that level on Monday.
BTC is trading at US$49,700 level at 8:00am AEST, from the US$48,900 level on Monday.
Dog-meme investors had been piling into Feisty Doge (NFD) over the past few days, causing a 721 per cent surge in price, according to a Crypto Briefing report.
ASX 200 to open higher on Tuesday
The ASX 200 looks set to open higher his morning, with futures markets (September contracts) pointing up 0.17% at 8:30am AEST.
Yesterday, the benchmark index closed 0.39% higher at 7,490 points, with the best sector being Tech, which rose 1.68%.
In large caps news this morning, Ansell (ASX:ANN) and HUB24 (ASX:HUB) both hiked dividend payouts after recording solid earnings for the full year.
ANN declared a final dividend of US43.6¢, its highest ever, while HUB is paying out 5.5¢ per share, which is 57% higher than FY20.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
Toro Energy (ASX:TOE)
The company says geochemical assays have been returned, confirming the visible semi-massive nickel sulphides discovered at Dusty 2 in diamond drill hole. The results show semi-massive nickel sulphides were intersected at the base of the Dusty Komatiite/ultramafic unit with an average nickel grade of 1.59% Ni over 3.05m from 296.4m downhole.
Empired (ASX:EPD)
The cloud services company says that Cap Gemini Australia has received an approval from the Overseas Investment Office of New Zealand, permitting the proposed 100% acquisition of Empired. The total consideration is for $233m.
Adveritas (ASX:AV1)
The digital advertising company reported an annualised revenue of $1.4 million, up 41% ($420k) since 30 June. Adveritas says that growth is underpinned by its growing online betting segment.
Ecograf (ASX:EGR)
The graphite specialist says that sustainability is the focus of its new Australian Battery Anode Material facility. Its goals include a zero waste operating strategy with the aim of utilising 100% of feedstock through product innovation and development.
Aerometrex (ASX:AMX)
The aerial mapping company reported an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $4.8 million for the full year, up 189% from the previous year. Its total revenue is up by 4% to $20.9 million.
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