• ASX to open higher, tracking Wall Street
  • The US Fed kept its cash rate steady, and traders believe rate hikes are done
  • Money Block tips for women from an expert

 

Aussie shares are poised to open higher, tracking gains on Wall Street. At 8am AEST, the ASX 200 index futures was pointing up by +0.7%.

In New York, expectations that US interest rates have peaked after the Fed’s decision to pause, triggered a rush into equities.

The S&P 500 rose by +1.05%, the blue chips Dow Jones index was up by +0.67%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed by +1.64%.

The Fed Reserve’s decision to keep its main cash rate at 5.25%-5.5% was unanimous, and  many on Wall Street believe the Fed is done with rate hikes.

“The Fed did not rule out a rate increase in the coming months, but swap contracts showed traders weren’t convinced,” said Oanda’s Edward Moya.

“The Fed tried to deliver a hawkish hold but Wall Street is not believing additional tightening will happen this cycle.”

To stock news, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices soared 10% after saying that its new AI chip will generate US$2 billion in sales next year.

Shares of other AI-related stocks, Nvidia and Microsoft, also gained 4% and 2% respectively.

Biggest losers last night were Estee Lauder, which tumbled -19% to a 6-year low after the cosmetics giant issued another profit warning.

Also payroll processor Paycom Software, which crashed by 39% after a sluggish revenue guidance.

The yield on the US 10-year note meanwhile tumbled by 17bp after the Fed’s decision, and futures prices indicate the Aussie 10-year yield will also drop when trading begins this morning.

 

Money Block tips for women

Virginia Baker Woolf, former university lecturer and founder of The Women’s Money Project, says many women have a Money Block mindset – a feeling that gets in the way of them reaching the financial success they want.

“Money blocks are real,” Woolf said.

“The main reason we have money blocks is that we believe deep down that it’s not safe to have or make more money. We believe on some level that something bad will happen if we create more money in our lives.”

Until women shift these money blocks, Woolf says the brain will convince them that they’re in danger if they make more money.

The good news, according to Woolf, is that Money Blocks can be overcome.

Woolf’s top tips to overcome Money Block include: become aware of them and identify the root cause, challenge your negative beliefs about money, and work on building your self-worth.

“And most of all, love yourself, believe that you deserve everything good in this world including a healthy bank balance and the freedom to live your best life without financial worries,” she said.

 

In other markets …

Gold price traded flat at US$1,982.54 an ounce.

Oil prices tumbled another -0.15%, with Brent trading at US$85.02 a barrel.

Iron ore futures jumped 3% to US$122.33 a tonne.

Citi tips iron ore to rally to US$130 a tonne by the end of the year if China ramps us its policy stimulus.

Base metals prices were mainly lower, with 3-month nickel futures plunging by -2%, and copper futures by -0.37%.

The Aussie dollar climbed +0.8% to US63.93 on the back of Fed pause.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin was up +2.2% in the last 24 hours to US$35,338.

 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Finder Energy (ASX:FDR)
Finder has received an offer letter from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) in the UK notifying that it has been successful in winning a licence in the 33rd UK Offshore Licensing Round. The licence comprises blocks 16/8b and 16/13c, and is located within the South Viking Graben in the Central North Sea. The licence has been offered by the NSTA in priority because it has been identified by NSTA as having the potential to go into production quicker than other blocks.

Megado Minerals (ASX:MEG)
Megado has completed an airborne hyperspectral survey over its North Fork Rare Earth Project. Results show several new distinct areas of previously unidentified carbonatite outcrops. Of particular interest, most of the new outcrops appear coincident with geophysics targets. The majority of the newly identified carbonatites are as yet unsampled; and where sampled show high grades for REEs. Most of these trends are in the order of >1km strike length.

Calidus Resources (ASX:CAI)
Calidus announced completion of the first soil sampling program for lithium on E45/2983, part of the Tabba Tabba South Project of Pirra Lithium. More than 400 samples were collected from two areas amenable to soil sampling. The samples, which are the first collected for lithium exploration on the tenement (E45/2983), cover ~4km of strike of the shear zone. Samples will be dispatched to a laboratory in Perth this week.

Belararox (ASX:BRX)
Belararox has signed a non-binding terms sheet with Chemopharm to acquire the Solwezi East and Chantente exploration licences located in the Zambian Copperbelt. Five key copper mines surround the tenures, and are located within ~175km of the tenures: Sentinel (First Quantum), Lumwana (Barrick Gold Corp), Kansanshi (First Quantum), Kipushi (Ivanhoe Mines), and Konkola (Vendanta Resources) copper mines.

Critical Resources (ASX:CRR)
Multiple exploration techniques are being deployed to refine future drill targets surrounding the large spodumene-bearing outcrops in the northern prospects of the Mavis Lake Project Area. Comprehensive Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) soils program are completed by CRR field crews, with 1,356 soil samples collected proximal to the outcropping Tot Pegmatite. Active drilling program continues to test and extend the significant Swell Zone.

 

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Belararox is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.