Market Highlights and 5 ASX Small Caps to watch on Wednesday

Wall Street rallies as oil retreats further

US stocks surged overnight, as oil retreated to below US$100 a barrel.

All three major US indexes rose – the S&P 500 by 2.14%, the Dow by 1.82%, and tech heavy Nasdaq by 2.92%.

Prices for Brent crude fell back to US$98.52 a barrel, after a new round of ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine was announced.

China’s rising Covid cases and lockdowns have also put a dampener on the oil and iron ore markets, with the latter falling by another 6% to US$144.55 a tonne.

The US Fed has convened its FOMC meeting, and traders are expecting a 25 basis point hike in the first round of rate increases expected this year.

Meanwhile, the London Metals Exchange has resumed nickel trading, more than a week after it suspended trading following an unprecedented short squeeze.

To cryptos, where Bitcoin rose 0.35% to US$39,483 this morning.

And blockchain gaming shows no signs of cooling off despite the lacklustre overall crypto market.

Crypto Unicorns overnight announced it has raised US$26 million in a token sale, and had also sold 2,200 Ethereum (US$5.6 million) worth of land and character NFTs – 10,000 unicorns and 30,000 land plots.

Read the rest of that story here on Coinhead.

ASX 200 to open higher on Wednesday

The ASX 200 is set to open higher this morning, with the March futures pointing up by 0.57% at 8.30am AEDT.

Yesterday, local shares slipped 0.73% as the Reserve Bank (RBA) warned the war in Ukraine could cause higher inflation and lower growth globally. Energy and Mining were the underperforming sectors, falling by 3% each.

According to the ASX, these two stocks will be making their debut later today.

Listing at 12pm EST is Pure Resources (ASX:PR1), an explorer focussed on five gold, nickel and copper projects in the Kimberley and Eastern Goldfields regions of WA.

Then listing at 1pm EST is Many Peaks Gold (ASX:MPG), who are targeting gold and gold-copper in the southern part of the Yarrol Geological Province in Queensland.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Oilex (ASX:OEX)
The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in India is expected to approve the re-commencement of production on the Cambay field imminently. All necessary operational preparation, including system integrity checks and safety system validations, has been undertaken to allow for an immediate re-start of gas production from two wells.

Twenty Seven Co (ASX:TSC)
A follow-up auger drilling program is scheduled to commence shortly at the company’s Yarbu Gold Project in WA. Previous anomalies have highlighted complex structural settings within the Yarbu tenements, and the broader Yarbu project area remains largely under-explored.

Elevate Uranium (ASX:EL8)
An airborne electro-magnetic (EM) survey has identified 73 kilometres of palaeochannel at the Capri project in Namibia. The airborne survey has identified large areas with significant uranium radiometric responses, coinciding with sections of the palaeochannels.

Dalaroo Metals (ASX:DAL)
RC drilling has been successfully completed in the Four Corners prospect at the Lyons River Project in WA. Drill hole LRRC001 intersected 1m @ 0.43% Pb, 0.95% Zn and 7.5 g/t Ag from 47m.  Drill hole LRRC006 returned results of 9m @ 0.34 % Pb and 0.21% Zn from 140m.

OFX Group (ASX:OFX)
Payments company OFX has released its FY22 guidance, predicting double-digit growth in all regions and segments. The company said its EBITDA for FY22 is expected to be $43m to $45m, up 41% to 48% from the prior year period.