Market Highlights: ASX struggles to wake up and 5 small caps to watch today

The ASX 200 is expected to open 0.68% lower
Global sharemarkets mostly closed in the green, before Xmas except for the Nasdaq
Consumers expected to spend big in sales before inflation reality sinks in

The ASX 200 is expected to open 0.68% lower this morning.

Recovery could be a few days away, but hopefully the bourse will follow in the footsteps of global markets who managed a bit of a lift before the festivities.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.05%, and the FTSE 250 was 0.36% higher. In the EU, the DAX and the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.39% and 0.42% respectively.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 managed a 0.16% lift, but the Hong Kong index was down 0.44%.

And while the Nasdaq took a 1.38% tumble in the USA, the Dow Jones just scraped through, up 0.11%.

It could be a flat day ahead for the Australian share market, but at least retail will be booming, with data from the Australian Retailers Associated and Roy Morgan expecting a massive $23.5 billion spend by Boxing Day bargain hunters between December 26 and January 15.

But after that point, the realities of the rising cost of living and inflation will catch up to consumers.

“Although spending has remained resilient throughout 2022, thanks to low unemployment and the pandemic savings buffer, escalating costs, power prices and interest rates will catch up with consumers in the new year,” National Retail Association interim chief executive, Lindsay Carroll said.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

A consortium comprising Skip Essential Infrastructure Fund and Stonepeak Partners will no longer pursue the acquisition of renewable energy generation stock Genex (ASX:GNX), the company said today.

GNX says it has a portfolio of more than $1 billion of renewable energy generation and storage projects across Australia.

Shopping centre owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX:URW) has completed the sale of The Village, an outdoor lifestyle destination in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, for $325 million.

With the sale of The Village, URW has made $1.1 billion in total proceeds to date from the planned reduction of its financial exposure to the US.

Software stock COSOL (ASX:COL) has signed a new contract with a value of $8.2 million to deliver services to the Australian Department of Defence.

Bigtincan (ASX:BTH) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of SalesDirector.ai, a leading revenue intelligence and data platform, for $1.2m.

And premium food and beverage stock Maggie Beer (ASX:MBH) has a new CEO, Kinda Grange.

Grange spent 18 years in several senior leadership roles at Goodman Fielder, one of Australasia’s largest FMCG organisations, where she most recently held the position of Joint Managing Director Australia.