Wall Street closed as iron ore plunges

The US stock markets were closed on Monday for Labour Day.

European shares meanwhile climbed to near-record levels, following Nasdaq’s highest-ever close last Friday.

The price of iron ore has dropped by 9% overnight to US$132.38 a tonne. Imported iron ore to China climbed to its highest level last week, and there are concerns now of an overstock at the Chinese ports coupled with weaker domestic demand.

Aluminium rose by 1.5% to US$2757 a tonne, its highest level since 2011 after reports of a military coup in Guinea, which supplies 25% of the world’s bauxite.

To cryptos, where Bitcoin keeps climbing and is trading at US$51,900 at 8:00am AEST, from the US$51,700 level on Monday.

Meanwhile, El Savador will make history later today by being the first country to adopt BTC as an official legal tender.

 

ASX 200 to open higher on Tuesday

The ASX 200 looks set to open higher his morning, with futures markets (September contracts) pointing slightly up by 0.76% at 8:30am AEST.

Yesterday, the Aussie benchmark finished strong in the last hour of trading and closed in positive territory after being down for most of the day.

The ASX index ended up higher by 0.07%. Energy lost 1.68% and Resources lost 1.09%, but most other sectors gained with the best being Tech which rose 1.15%.

The RBA’s monetary policy decision will be in focus today, as the bank’s board convenes for its monthly meeting.

Although the market is expecting interest rate to remain intact at 0.1%, pressure is mounting for the bank to defer the tapering of asset purchases announced last month. The RBA’s announcement will be released at 2:30pm.

 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Wellnex Life (ASX:WNX)
The consumer wellness company says that its revenue increased by 49% for the months of July and August, compared to the prior year’s corresponding months. Wellnex predicts that it’s on track to better its FY21 result of $18.3 million, with forecast FY22 revenue to exceed $21 million.

De.Mem (ASX:DEM)
The water-focused technology company has launched a new proprietary graphene oxide‐enhanced membrane technology. DEM says the new product has the potential to disrupt the existing global market for hollow‐fibre membranes, which is expected to grow from a US$9.4 billion in 2019 to US$16 billion by 2026.

Little Green Pharma (ASX:LGP)
Cannabis play LGP has been granted a Schedule 9 licence to supply psilocybin from the WA Department of Health. The treatment program is known as “psychedelic assisted psychotherapy”, and is being applied to various mental health conditions including depression, PTSD and anxiety.

Metalcity (ASX:MCT)
Following the completion of a successful $3m capital raising in June, RC (reverse circulation) drilling will now recommence at MCT’s MacTavish Prospect by end of the week. The programme is initially planned to incorporate 19 drill holes for a combined 2,100 metres of RC and diamond core, but may be extended depending on results.

Galena Mining (ASX:G1A)
The company will start drilling at its 100% owned Jillawarra Project in Q4, following a detailed geological review. The project covers 608km2 of prospective Edmund Basin sediments, with 7 priority targets already identified from the prospective 25 targets.

 

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While De.Mem and Wellnex are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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