S&P 500 and Nasdaq at record highs again
The US stock markets are coming home for a strong finish in August, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lifting to record highs.
The S&P 500 rose by 0.43%, the Nasdaq by 0.9%, but the Dow Jones index fell by 0.16%.
The share price of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) stock Affirm jumped by 46% after the company announced a partnership with Amazon.
Paypal rallied by 3.64% after saying that it wanted to explore creating a stock trading platform.
Major tech stocks like Apple, Amazon, and Facebook also rallied by around 2~3%.
In other markets, oil prices rose again, this time by 1% as Hurricane Ida pummelled Louisiana and surrounding areas.
To cryptos, where Bitcoin fell to US$48,400 level at 8:00am AEST, from the US$49,200 level on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Australian Bitcoin Industry Body says it will advocate for Bitcoin adoption and acceptance, and Bitcoin only.
“Many cryptocurrencies have absolutely no utility, no purpose, and are more often than not designed to entrap inexperienced investors to ‘pump the bags’ of their creators and early investors,” said Ethan Timor, managing director of Brisbane-based Bitcoin exchange Bitaroo.
ASX 200 to open higher on Tuesday
The ASX 200 looks set to open higher his morning, with futures markets (September contracts) pointing up by 0.17% at 8:30am AEST.
Yesterday, the Aussie benchmark rose 0.22% to 7,505, with the Resources sector dictating play, rising by 2.75% on iron ore price rises.
In large caps news this morning, mining company IGO (ASX:IGO) reported record profits of $919m for the full year, with net profit increasing by 254% to $549m.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
Harmoney Corp (ASX:HMY)
The NZ-based personal lender says that its Australian customer base grew by 260% in FY21. However the company’s bottom line dropped to a loss of $NZ0.4m in FY21, from a $NZ2.8 million profit in FY20. In its outlook guidance, Harmoney says it expects the loan book to grow by at least 20% in FY22.
Nexion (ASX:NNG)
The hybrid cloud specialist announced a strong start to FY22, with new contract wins totalling $5.1m in the first two months, a 50% increase from the end of June. In the past 12 months, Nexion also signed four significant contracts with IBM.
Neuroscientific Biopharma (ASX:NSB)
The company announced that its lead drug EmtinB significantly reduces biomarkers for key drivers of dysfunctional immune responses in multiple sclerosis (MS). This new data suggests the potential for EmtinB as an effective treatment for MS.
Kyckr(ASX:KYK)
The fraud prevention tech company reported a 13.3% increase in full year FY21 revenue to $2.7 million. Its annual recurring revenue (ARR) was up 300% to $1.5 million, as customers convert from pay-as-you-go contracts to subscriptions services.
National Tyre & Wheel (ASX:NTD)
The company’s full year revenue increased significantly in FY21 to $461.5m, from $158.9m in FY20. This resulted in bottom line NPAT of $21.1m in FY21, compared to $5.7m in FY20. NTD declared a full year dividend of 8c per share, but says it’s unable to provide earnings guidance for FY22.
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