Market Highlights and 5 ASX Small Caps to watch on Tuesday

Wall Street falls amid Omicron uncertainty

The US stock markets fell for the third consecutive day, as the S&P 500 had its biggest three day drop since September.

All three major benchmarks fell – the S&P 500 by 1.14%, the Dow Jones by 1.23%, and tech heavy Nasdaq by 1.24%.

Investors are concerned that a new COVID-19 outbreak could trigger new restrictions – with the Dutch already in a national lockdown and Britain saying that it was monitoring the situation ‘hour by hour’.

US energy stocks fell the hardest as Brent crude price plunged by around 5%. Financials and industrial stocks were also hard hit.

On a brighter note, Moderna confirmed that a third jab of its vaccine will increase antibody levels against the omicron variant. Moderna stock price however fell 6%.

Eurozone shares -1.3%
US shares -1.1%, Nasdaq -1.2%, with concern re rising Omicron cases & Manchin's rejection of Build Back Better
US 10 yr yld +2bp to 1.42%
Oil -3.1% to $68.2
Gold -0.5% to $1789.3
Iron ore +4.2% to $123.2
ASX futures +0.1%$A 0.7109 with $US index flat

— Shane Oliver (@ShaneOliverAMP) December 20, 2021

In cryptos, Bitcoin is up by around 1.5%, and at 8am AEDT, was trading at US$47,350.

Is there any hope left for a last-minute Santa rally for Bitcoin? It can’t be ruled out.

A number of analysts on social media have been eyeing the US$42k territory for a potential Bitcoin bottom as a potential base to bounce off.

Read the rest that story here on Coinhead.

ASX 200 to open lower on Tuesday

The ASX 200 looks set to fall at the open this morning, with futures markets (January contracts) pointing down 0.25% at 8:30am AEDT.

Yesterday, the local index started the week 0.16% lower, as the Energy sector fell by over 3%.

Financials meanwhile were dragged lower by Magellan (ASX:MFG) which confirmed it had lost its mandate with St James’s Place, as the stock price took a dive by 32%.

On the IPO front, Rubix Resources (ASX:RB6) is on deck to list today, scheduled for 12:30pm EST.

The junior explorer has secured four sites across WA and Queensland that are prospective for copper, nickel, PGE’s, zinc and gold.

And later today, the Reserve Bank will release its December meeting minutes.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Australian Clinical Labs (ASX:ACL)
The pathology services company upgraded its first half FY21 revenue to between $497.3 and $517.2m, and NPAT to between $116.3 and $128m. ACL says the upgrade reflects continued strong demand for COVID-19 testing, particularly in VIC and NSW.

Genetic Technologies (ASX:GTG)
The genomics specialist has forecast a second quarter FY22 cash receipts of $1.8 million, a 112% increase versus the prior quarter. This follows the completed integration of the DNA testing services company EasyDNA into the business during the quarter.

SenSen Networks (ASX:SNS)
SenSen has been awarded a contract by the Queensland Revenue Office to deploy a vehicle-mounted device for number plate recognition. A a minimum of ~$192k will be earned by SNS over a 36-month period.

Rumble Resources (ASX:RTR)
Rumble says a major zincl-lead-copper feeder fault zone has been intersected, and results include 37m @ 3.25% Zn + Pb, 7.18 g/t Ag.

Medallion Metals (ASX:MM8)
Visible gold has been identified in resource extensional drilling at the Gem Deposit. Results include 3.3m @ 10.1g/t Au, 3.1% Cu, 38.6g/t Ag from 54m.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Medallion Metals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.