Wall Street nervous as Fed goes into a two-day policy meeting
All major indices in the US fell on Tuesday, ahead of a key policy announcement from the US central bank this Thursday (US time).
The Dow Jones fell by 0.27%, S&P 500 by 0.20%, and tech heavy Nasdaq by 0.71%.
Investors are looking for any signs that the central bank might pull back its pandemic stimulus or raise interest rates.
Even Oracle, which delivered its second best sales gain since 2012, was unable to capitalise and dropped by 1 per cent.
Bitcoin steady after protocol upgrade
Bitcoin is trading steady at US$40,200 level at 8am AEST, from almost the same level on Tuesday.
The crypto had undergone its first protocol upgrade in four years, with some experts saying that it will significantly enhance the functionality of the digital asset.
The Taproot upgrade, as it was called, was approved by the majority of BTC developers on the weekend, and is set to unlock the ability of smart contracts.
ASX at record highs again
The ASX lifted by 0.92 per cent and closed at 7,379 on Tuesday, its highest level ever.
The best sector was health which gained over 2 per cent, while consumer stocks and tech both gained over 1.5 per cent.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
Douugh (ASX:DOU)
The fintech company has launched the “Goodments by Douugh” app in Australia. The AI-powered financial wellness app will enable Australian investors to trade fractionalised shares in the largest global companies and funds with just $1 commission fee. The company says this is a transitional step before launching the Douugh banking app currently being built in the US.
Avita Medical (ASX:AVH)
The regenerative medicne company has upgraded its Q4 revenue to between $9.5-$9.7 million, based on the strong sales of both RECELL and BARDA. The revised RECELL revenue reflects a 55% to 60% increase over the prior year period.
Rhythm Biosciences (ASX:RHY)
The medtech company has confirmed the latest group to join its ColoSTAT clinical trial is Sonic Clinical Services’ Independent Practitioner Network (IPN) Medical Centres. IPN Medical Centres form part of the primary care division of Sonic Healthcare (ASX: SHL), and boast Australia’s largest network of medical centres, with more than 2,000 doctors across 160 medical centres nationally.
RPM Global (ASX:RUL)
The tech consulting company is set to acquire 100 per cent of Australian-headquartered Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) services company, Nitro Solutions. RPM said the acquisition will be the catalyst to bring together all of its ESG professionals who are spread across the globe into one division.
K2Fly (ASX:K2F)
The tech consulting company said that its May invoicing exceeded $1 million, a 31 per cent increase from the same period last year. K2Fly has also signed a reseller agreement with Descartes Labs, where it will resell DL Deformation solutions. Descartes Labs is a geospatial intelligence company based in Santa Fe, USA.