Market Highlights: Mega Tech stocks surge; Buffett and Big Short Burry make new bets on markets

ASX 200 index set to open flat despite rally on Wall Street
Mega Techs led overnight, with Nvidia rising by 7pc
Michael Burry has made new market bets

The ASX is set to open flat on Tuesday despite a rally in New York overnight.

The Nasdaq paced Wall Street higher, up by 1.05%.

The broad S&P 500 index was up +0.58%, and the NYSE Fang+ Index advanced as Nvidia surged by 7% – its biggest single day rise since May 25.

Other mega tech stocks like Meta, Microsoft also lifted around 1%.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway announced that it has cut position in Activision Blizzard, and put new bets on the US housing market with fresh stakes in D.R. Horton, NVR Inc, and Lennar Corp, according to the latest filing.

Tesla shares fell -1.2% after the EV maker once again cut its prices in China, whipping up more concerns over its margins.

PayPal rose almost 3% after announcing that Intuit executive Alex Chriss will be its next CEO.

Meanwhile, the Aussie dollar has breached the US65c level and is now trading at US64.86c.

“It is at risk of a slide below 64 cents if investor concerns deepen over China’s property market,” says Westpac senior currency strategist Sean Callow.

On the ASX, the earnings season continues, and majors expected to release updates today include Treasury Wines, Cochlear, and CSL.

Big Short goes short again

Big Short and Scion Capital hedge fund manager Michael Burry has reportedly cut stakes in Chinese stocks Alibaba and JD.com last quarter, which had made up 20% of the portfolio.

According to data from Bloomberg, travel stock Expedia Group is now Burry’s largest position. His fund also added shares in Charter Communications Inc, and CVS Health Corp.

But what set social media ablaze was Burry’s multibillion-dollar bet against the stock market.

Scion’s filing shows long put option positions of 20,000 contracts in two ETFs that track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes – with a total notional value close to US$1.7bn.

Put options rise in value when the underlying index falls. Burry rose to fame after predicting the 2008 housing crash.

BREAKING 🚨:

Michael Burry just shorted the market with $1.6B

Bought $890M of $SPY Puts
Bought $740M of $QQQ Puts

This now makes up 93% of his entire portfolio

Look out below. pic.twitter.com/jiOEYxpVra

— Michael Burry Stock Tracker ♟ (@burrytracker) August 14, 2023

In other markets …

Gold traded down by -0.3% to US$1,907.09 an ounce.

“Gold’s status as a safe-haven asset has waned due to rising interest rates, and an increased appetite for riskier investments,” says market expert Nicholas Earl.

Crude prices fell around 1%, with WTI now trading at US$82.44 a barrel.

Iron ore 62% fe was also down by -0.7% to $US104.63/tonne.

Iron ore prices fell on Monday on expectations of lower steel output in China amid weakness in the country’s property segment.

Bitcoin meanwhile was trading flat in the last 24 hours at US$29,366.

After delaying its decision on Ark 21Shares bitcoin ETF application over the weekend, the SEC is now expected to also delay Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETP Trust application on September 1, with other giants like BlackRock and VanEck in the queue.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Acusensus (ASX:ACE)
The road safety solutions company says its mobile phone and seatbelt contract with the QLD Department of Transport has been extended to include additional Acusensus ‘Heads Up’ solution. The additional contract is for a five-year period, and revenue from the contract variation totals around $10.2m.

Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW)
The online furniture retailer reported that for the full year FY23, it achieved revenue of $396 million and a Net Profit Before Tax of $12 million. Pleasingly, TPW says around 90% of the Covid-19 impacted revenue was retained in FY23.

European Lithium (ASX:EUR)
EUR has received a grant of new mining licences and extensions for the Wolfsberg Lithium Project in Austria. In addition, three mining licences had their area extended. EUR says the mining licences now extend beyond the existing resource, doubling the Wolfsberg footprint.

DevEx Resources (ASX:DEV)
Step-out drilling has intersected more significant uranium at the Nabarlek Project in the NT, as 2023 exploration gathers momentum. The ongoing 2023 reverse circulation drill campaign at Nabarlek is delivering uranium results at several prospects surrounding the historical mine. Intercepts include: 33.7m @ 0.12% (1,200ppm) eU3O8 from 59m (RC 88).

Decmil Group (ASX:DCG)
Decmil has secured an $84m bulk earthworks contract at the Ceres Urea Plant Project in the Pilbara region of WA. Decmil says the contract value fits within its project size sweet spot. Decmil’s orderbook (contracted and preferred) has now surpassed $550 million following the contract award.

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