Market Highlights and 5 ASX Small Caps to Watch on Wednesday

ASX 200 to open slightly lower today
Wall Street had a volatile session overnight
US CPI data to be released today

Aussie shares are set to open lower again after a choppy session on Wall Street overnight.

At 8am AEDT, the benchmark ASX 200 June futures contract is pointing down by 0.1%.

Wall Street endured a volatile session as the Dow Index whipsawed from hefty gains to losses.

At the close, the Dow finished 0.26% lower and the S&P 500 was 0.25% higher, and tech heavy Nasdaq rose by 0.98%.

Amongst the biggest movers was fitness equipment maker Peloton, which tumbled 9% after its CEO said the company was thinly capitalised.

Cyrpto exchange Coinbase also plunged 12% after its first quarter revenue missed estimates.

Meanwhile, New York Fed Reserve President John Williams told a press conference in Germany that the Fed’s plan to hike rates by 50bp at the next two meetings was very much intact.

His comments came on the eve of key US CPI inflation data to be released later today (US time).

In other markets, the Aussie dollar has fallen more against the US dollar, and is now trading at US69.3c.

Oil prices dropped 3% with Brent now trading a touch above US$100 at US$101.96 a barrel as China’s growth fears rise.

Bitcoin is still holding up above US$30k, and at 8.30am AEDT, was trading at US$30,500.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Integral Diagnostics (ASX:IDX)
IDX has agreed to acquire Exact Radiology, which is located in Brisbane, Ipswich and surrounding areas. The price includes cash of $37.5m, and an earn-out of up to $1.875m to be completed within FY22. The acquisition will provide IDX the opportunity to build and expand its business in South-East Queensland.

Gale Pacific (ASX:GAP)
The screening and shading products specialist has reaffirmed that its H2 FY22 profit before tax will be at or slightly above the $8.5 million achieved in H2 FY21. Business performance for the quarter ended 31 March 2022 was robust, driven by record revenue in the Americas region and strong demand in the Australian retail and commercial sectors.

Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR)
SOR reported that its fully owned subsidiary AAM and research partner The University of New South Wales has succeeded in generating electricity from moisture. SOR says this firmly establishes the technology as a world leader globally, and also broadens its potential use in electronics with enhanced power requirements.

Blue Star Helium (ASX:BNL)
The application for drilling permits at Las Animas County in Colorado has now passed completeness. The applications will now pass into the technical review and hearing process. The hearing dates will be advised when they become available.

Auric Mining (ASX:AWJ)
Results of metallurgical testwork at the Munda project returned 96.57% gold extraction. These results suggest that Munda gold mineralisation is ideally suited to conventional CIL (carbon-in-leach) processing.

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