Market highlights and 5 ASX small caps to watch on Wednesday

Wall Street mixed as iron ore climbs to record high

Wall Street moved modestly overnight. The Dow Jones gained 0.01%, S&P500 lost 0.02%, while tech heavy NASDAQ also fell by 0.34%.

Tesla was the biggest name to fall, dropping 4.5%, as yesterday’s sales miss is still weighing on investors. Microsoft also fell by 3.5%, after its quarterly revenue missed estimates.

The US market is waiting for the conclusion of the Fed meeting, which will be top of the agenda on Thursday AEDT.

Meanwhile, iron ore continued its bullish run, gaining another 1% to US$195.30/tonne, after a 4% rise on Tuesday. The ferrous metal is now trading at its record high mainly on demand from China.

In other markets, oil rose by 2% as OPEC maintained their output cuts, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.62% from 1.57%.

Bitcoin rose again, and is trading at US$55,300 at 8am AEDT, after rising by more than 10 per cent to US$54,100 yesterday.

Closer to home

The ASX200 is set to open higher today, after closing lower by 0.19per cent on Tuesday.

ABS will release the quarterly CPI numbers today. The last CPI print in January came in at 0.9%.

In the big caps, retailer Coles (ASX:COL) reported a 5 per cent fall in its quarterly retail sales, and the CEO of JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH), Richard Murray, has decided to step down after 18 years with the company.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Respiri (ASX:RSH)
Medtech company, Respiri, has announced an agreement with TerryWhite Chemmart to sell and market its product, Wheezo – an asthma management solution that assists asthma patients. TerryWhite is Australia’s largest pharmacy network with over 450 community pharmacies.

Little Green Pharma (ASX:LGP)
The medicinal cannabis play reports its Australian revenue was up 29 per cent to $2.33 million, compared to $1.81 million in the prior quarter. Its Australian units sold were up 36 per cent to 17,000 compared to 12,500 in the prior quarter.

Lepidico (ASX:LPD)
The lithium chemicals company announced that it has entered into a deal with Bisley for supply of lithium hydroxide, sulphate of potash, and amorphous silica, from the company’s planned Phase 1 project. Bisley is a well-established distributor of many of the products that Lepidico produces from its chemical plant in Abu Dhabi.

CashRewards (ASX:CRW)
The loyalty programs company announced its new customers grew by 68,319 members in the quarter, up 99 per cent against pcp, taking CashRewards’ total member base to 989,587. It has now all but hit it FY21 goal of bringing in 1 million new customers, with two months to go.

Douugh (ASX:DOU)
The fintech company has announced the appointment of former Xero (ASX:XRO) executive Leanne Graham to the board, effective May 1. Graham has over 30 years of experience in the software industry, and will help the company in its ambition to scale up.