Wall Street falls as BNPL stocks tumble in the US

All three key US benchmarks fell overnight, after the latest US consumer prices data shows it has surged the most since 2008.

The Dow Jones fell by 0.31%, S&P 500 by 0.35%, and tech-heavy Nasdaq by 0.38%.

Goldman Sach’s earnings blew past estimates, while J&P Morgan’s profits more than doubled, but both bank stocks slid by more than 1%.

US buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) stocks were also under pressure, with Affirm losing 10% and US-listed shares of Afterpay down 6%, after Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to add BNPL options for its customers.

Oil prices rose by 2% after the International Energy Agency said quotas will remain tight, and that oil prices would be volatile until differences were resolved among OPEC members.

To cryptos, where Bitcoin is falling again and is currently trading at US$32,500 level at 8am AEST, from the US$33,000 level on Tuesday.
 

ASX 200 set to open lower on Wednesday

The ASX 200 looks set to open lower this morning, with futures markets (September contracts) pointing down by 0.17% at 8:30am AEST.

Yesterday, the benchmark gained 0.6% in the first hour but gradually declined to close just below the red by 0.02% – at 7,332 points.

The best sectors yesterday were resources and materials, which rose over 0.8% while property trusts led the laggards, retreating 0.86%.

ASX-listed BNPL stocks like Afterpay (ASX:APT) and Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) will be in focus today, following the falls in BNPL stocks in the US overnight.
 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Harmoney (ASX:HMY)
The NZ-based online personal lender reported a strong second half, with total new originations up by 144% compared to the first half, to NZ$250m. The company also delivered its largest ever month of originations in June of NZ$53m.

eRoad Limited (ASX:ERD)
The telematics tech company reported an increase in contracted units for the quarter by 4,152 units. These units include subscriptions for its eRoad Day Logbook, eRoad Inspect, and eRoad Where products.

FSA Group (ASX:FSA)
The debt solutions provider said that Westpac Bank (ASX:WBC) has renewed its $350 million non-recourse senior home loan facility. The renewed facility has an availability period until 15 July 2024 with a maturity date of 15 October 2026.

Alta Zinc (ASX:AZI)
Alta announced that total Mineral Resource (MRE) tonnage has increased by a factor of 2.4x and the zinc grade has increased by 40% compared to the previous (2017) MRE.

Alara Resources (ASX:AUQ)
The company said the Omani Ministry of Housing has approved the grant of additional land around the Wash-hi Majaza Mining Licence, and permission to construct the processing plant within the licensed area. AUQ owns a 51% equity interest in the project.