Market Highlights: Musk to get his US$56 billion; and 5 ASX small caps to watch today

Broadcom stocks surged on strong earnings and announcements
US jobless claims rise to highest in 9 months
Tesla shareholders voted for Musk’s US$56bn compensation package and move to Texas

The ASX 200 is poised to track Wall Street higher when the market opens on Friday. At 8am AEST, the ASX200 futures contract was pointing up by +0.1%.

Overnight, S&P 500 rose by +0.23% to another all-time high, the blue chips Dow Jones index was down by -0.17%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lifted by +0.34%, also to a new record high.

Nvidia rose by +3.5% and Broadcom, a company that supplies parts to Apple, saw its stock soar by 12%, reaching a record high.

This surge followed its announcement of a 10-to-1 stock split and better-than-expected quarterly profits and sales, driven largely by a 280% increase in their AI business compared to last year.

Adobe jumped +16% post market, while Tesla rose +3% after shareholders showed their support for CEO Elon Musk by voting in favour of his US$56 billion compensation package and moving the company’s incorporation to Texas.

The results of the vote were announced at Tesla’s annual meeting in Austin. The night before, Musk had hinted on social media that both proposals were winning by large margins.

Meanwhile, US jobless claims rose to their highest in nine months, led by California.

New unemployment claims went up by 13,000 to a total of 242,000 in the week ending June 8, according to the Labor Department, higher than what all the economists had predicted.

Musk’s package approved

Tesla’s investors showed their confidence in CEO Elon Musk by approving his US$56 billion pay package and the company’s state of incorporation to Texas, even though sales are down and the stock price has recently dropped sharply.

The vote on Musk’s pay is only advisory, meaning it doesn’t guarantee he will get the money.

Earlier this year, a Delaware judge nullified Elon Musk’s 2018 compensation plan, and Tesla intends to appeal, citing the shareholder votes as their basis for appeal.

If the appeal fails, moving the company’s legal base to Texas might help the board reintroduce the pay package in a state with more favourable courts.

The 2018 compensation package, approved by 73% of voters, allowed Elon Musk to earn up to US$55.8 billion in stock options if Tesla met specific goals.

As of Thursday’s market close, these options were worth about US$48.4 billion, according to Bloomberg.

In other markets …

Gold price dropped by -0.75% to US$2,303 an ounce.

Oil prices fell by -0.9%, with Brent crude now trading at US$82.02 a barrel.

The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield fell by a further 6 basis points (bond prices higher) to 4.25%.

The Aussie dollar was down by -0.45% to 66.35 cents.

The iron ore price rose by +2% to US$106.85 a tonne.

Bitcoin meanwhile fell by -2% in the last 24 hours to US$66,927, while Ethereum was also down around -2.3% to US$3,482.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Lightning Minerals (ASX:L1M)
Lightning said it had a successful visit to its Caraíbas and Sidrônio lithium projects in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and has completed the first phase of its exploration work. Field reconnaissance has confirmed lithium bearing outcrop at artisanal workings site within the Caraíbas Project, which produced peak lithium rock chip assay results grading up to 0.53% Li2O (lepidolite) and strong tantalum (1,245ppm), rubidium (1,175ppm) and caesium (1,455ppm) assays.

Minerals 260 (ASX:MI6)
Rock samples from the Jailor Bore Extension Prospect in the Aston Project, Gascoyne Province, WA, revealed high uranium (up to 1,095ppm U3O8) and vanadium (up to 518ppm V2O5) levels. This area is considered promising for uranium deposits. Other areas of the Aston Project also showed high uranium (up to 804ppm U3O8) and vanadium (up to 884ppm V2O5) levels from regional sampling.

Kingsrose Mining (ASX:KRM)
Kingsrose has received a Derogation Permit from the Ministry of the Environment for Area 1 of the Penikat Project. This permit allows it to proceed with exploration activities, including mapping, sampling, geophysics, and drilling, pending a valid exploration licence and compliance with operational conditions. This marks a key milestone for the project.

Sun Silver (ASX:SS1)
A drilling contract has been awarded to Alford Drilling, a well-experienced contractor based in Elko. The first drilling program at Maverick Springs is set to start in the upcoming weeks. Mineral deposits at Maverick Springs are still open in all directions and at deeper levels, offering several drilling opportunities to expand the resource base.

Equinox Resources (ASX:EQN)
After completing drilling at the Rio Negro hard rock rare earth site, Equinox has increased its field work across the Campo Grande Rare Earth Project. The company found many new exposed boulders in various areas that are promising for high-grade hard rock rare earth minerals. Samples have been collected and are being tested in the laboratory.

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