Wall Street starts 2022 on positive note

US stocks rose on the first trading day of the year, boosted by tech stocks like Tesla and Apple.

Tesla rose by 13.5% after it beat annual global vehicle sales estimates.

Apple hit US$182.86 in in intraday trading — briefly becoming the first company ever to reach the US$3 trillion valuation — before retreating slightly.

All three major US indexes rose – the Dow Jones by 0.68%, the S&P 500 by 0.64%, and tech heavy Nasdaq by 1.20%.

As omicron cases rise, the US FDA has given its approval to a third dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 12-15 years.

In other markets, spot iron ore and oil rose by around 1.5%, while Bitcoin plummeted by 3% to US$45,900 at 8am AEDT this morning.

With 2021 remembered as being an incredible and volatile year for crypto trading, here’s Coinhead’s roundup of what went down during the year.

ASX 200 to open lower on Tuesday

Despite the positive tone on Wall Street, the ASX 200 looks set to open lower this morning, with futures markets (January contracts) pointing down by 1% at 8:30am AEDT.

On Friday, the local index retreated, snapping a winning streak of six trading days, with all sectors in the red.

But the ASX finished 2021 up over 12%, and December up over 3%, which was the second best month of the year, only exceeded by April.

On the IPO front, set to list at 12pm EST is explorer Greentech Metals (ASX:GRE).

The company has a suite of nickel, copper, and PGE assets in the under-explored West Pilbara region of WA.

GRE plans to acquire additional projects to feed the metal required for the manufacture of batteries and electric vehicles, such as lithium, rare earths, and other specialty metals from projects located both in Australia and overseas.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Nyrada Inc (ASX:NYR)
Significant progress was made on the company’s pilot traumatic brain injury (TBI) preclinical study, providing it with a pathway to Phase I. The Phase I study is now on track to commence in 2H of 2022, evaluating Nyrada’s drug in two indications, TBI and stroke

Imricor Medical Systems (ASX:IMR)
The cardiac ablation specialist has signed a deal with the Henry Dunant Hospital Centre in Greece. This makes it the fourteenth Imricor site in Europe, and the first in Greece. The company will help to outfit an existing MR facility for iCMR procedures, which are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022. An iCMR lab is an interventional lab that is fitted with MRI equipment for use in cardiac diagnostic and interventional procedures.

Lepidico (ASX:LPD)
The company’s largest shareholder, Strategic Metallurgy, has recently secured $1.29 million (gross) through the on-market sale of 35 million Lepidico shares, in order to expand its business operations and retire debt from a recent building purchase. Part of Lepidico’s pilot plant operations will shortly move into this recently acquired facility.

Black Canyon (ASX:BCA)
Drilling has been completed at the company’s Flanagan Bore Manganese Project. The drill programs were successful in identifying significant thicknesses of near surface manganese mineralisation. The results will be used to extend the current Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate, which is currently 15Mt @ 11.3% Mn.

Firefinch (ASX:FFX)
The boards of Firefinch and Ganfeng have approved a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Goulamina Lithium Project. Early-stage engineering works, sterilisation drilling, and site-based activities are already underway.

NYR, IMR,LPD,BCA, FFX share price charts

 

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