Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Wednesday

Wall Street edges lower

All major US indices fell overnight, as new US home sales slid by more than forecast.

Dow Jones index was down by 0.24%, S&P500 by 0.21%, and tech heavy NASDAQ by 0.03%.

The equity market dropped as the weak home sales data outweighed remarks from US Fed Reserve vice chair, Richard Clarida.

Clarida calmed investors’ fears about inflation when he said that price pressures would “prove to be transitory.”

Commodities market was mainly flat, with oil and iron ore trading only very slightly higher.

Bitcoin slides again

Bitcoin fell again and is trading at US$38,000 level at 8am AEDT, after Elon Musk once again tweeted his support for meme crypto, Dogecoin.

Someone suggested changing Dogecoin fees based on phases of the moon, which is pretty awesome haha

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2021

Meanwhile, the board of DigitalX (ASX:DCC), believed to be the only ASX-listed company holding Bitcoin, on Friday resolved to double its $750,000 original seed investment into its DigitalX Digital Asset Fund over the next 40 days, following the recent correction.

Closer to home

The ASX 200 notched a gain of 0.98 per cent on Tuesday, with every sector in the green except utilities.

Newly listed Pepper Money (ASX:PPM) lost nearly 10 per cent on its ASX debut. The lender was one of the largest IPOs in 2021, having raised nearly $1.3 billion.

It was reported the Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) has invested $30m in local e-commerce startup Little Birdie, who has yet to launch a product. The latest investment is just one in a string of tech investments CBA has made in recent years.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Etherstack (ASX:ESK)
The wireless communications tech company announced a new contract with Department of Home Affairs to supply the company’s technology and associated delivery services. The contract is valued at around $515k. This is the sixth contract in 12 months that Etherstack has been awarded by federal departments in Australia, Canada and the US.

Micro-X (ASX:MX1)
The medtech company has eceived notification that its application to the FDA for its Rover bedside imager has been approved, only 14 days after submission. Micro-X has earlier sourced a new digital Flat Panel Detector for its Rover medical bedside imaging x-ray unit, under an agreement with Varex Imaging. The company has now signed agreements for distribution of the Rover with a number of dealerships in the USA and Europe.

Sezzle (ASX:SZL)
The BNPL company has announced a new partnership with Lamps Plus, America’s largest specialty lighting retailer. Lamps Plus will now offer Sezzle exclusively as a flexible BNPL payment option to its millions of online customers at LampsPlus.com.

IVE Group (ASX:IGL)
The digital media company has released its outlook for the full year to 30 June, saying that it has continued to streamline its cost base in response to the events of the last 18 months. As a result, it has upgraded its underlying EBITDA for the full year to $98-100m.

Mosaic Brands (ASX:MOZ)
The fashion retailer gave a market update, saying that it has successfully completed a series of strategic initiatives, and is well positioned for post-pandemic growth and profitability. As a result of more efficient costs and solid online performance, the company now expects EBITDA to come in at $50 million in FY22.