• The ASX is poised to open lower on Monday
  • Wall Street ends a four-week winning streak last week
  • Oil and gold also edge lower

Local shares are set to open lower today. At 8am AEST, the ASX 200 September futures contract is pointing down by 0.40%.

Wall Street fell on Friday, snapping a four-week winning streak. The S&P 500 ended the week 1% lower, while the Nasdaq lost 2%.

The NYSE Fang Index, which covers growth tech stocks, fell by 2% on Friday. The VIX index – sometimes called the fear index – was back up by 5%.

After rising by 160% in the past month and 500% in the last three, Bed, Bath & Beyond shares fell 40% following news that GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen had sold all of his holdings in the meme stock to take profits.

Occidental Petroleum rose 10% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway got permission to buy as much as 50% of the stock.

UK consumer confidence has hit the lowest level since records began in 1974, falling to -44 in August. UK inflation is at 10% now, and many analysts see that rising to 13% by end of the year.

Oil prices were down again 1% on Friday, ending another volatile session for the week. Iran nuclear talks are still ongoing, which remains a potential negative for crude prices given that Iran could be allowed back into the oil market.

Gold is also edging lower to US$1,746.92 as the US dollar continues to see strong support.

“The resurgence in the greenback has weighed heavily on the yellow metal which was already seeing profit-taking after reaching US$1,800,” said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.

In other markets, the iron ore price was down 1% to US$99.70 a tonne, while Bitcoin is up 1.60% in the last 24 hours to US$21,492.

Ran Neuner, the host of Crypto Banter, a popular crypto-themed podcast, said the crypto market has hit a bottom.

“Crypto suffered one of the biggest liquidations we’ve ever seen. We had the LUNA ecosystem collapse, a $100 billion ecosystem, which caused a cascade of liquidations throughout the market. We’ve hit the bottom,” Neuner said.

The ASX earnings season continues, and stocks expected to announce today include: Ampol, Nick Scali, Austal, Adairs, Lendlease and The Star Group.
 

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Nick Scali (ASX:NCK)
For the full year, Nick’s revenue was up 18.2% on FY21 to $441.0m. Underlying EBIT was $124.6m and underlying net profit after tax for the year was $80.2m. Given the elevated order book at the end of June, and the incremental sales revenue from the Plush business, Nick Scali says it expects sales revenue for H1 FY23 to be materially above the previous year.

Audinate Group (ASX:AD8)
The tech company reported that revenue in FY22 increased 33.4% on FY21 to US$33.4 million. Both its main revenue categories (Chips Cards and Modules and Software) experienced strong growth, however NPAT for the full year was a loss of $4.5 million. Audinate says it enters FY23 with a backlog of software revenue to support its USD revenue growth.

Plexure Group (ASX:PX1)
The global mobile marketing company has commenced an orderly Board renewal, with Bill Crichton appointed chair. Plexure Group is to be renamed TASK Group Holdings, reflecting the completion of its business’ transformation. Plexure’s primary listing will move to the ASX, but will also retain NZX secondary listing, subject to regulatory approvals.

Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ)
Group revenue was $38.1m, up 68% on FY21. The strong revenue was built on the traction in Germany and Australia & NZ, while it continues to scale the core business in the UK. Adjusted NPAT was up $3.9m to $2.2m.

Recce Pharma (ASX:RCE)
Recce says 10 subjects in Cohort 7 of the Phase 1 clinical trial in Recce 327 (R327) have been intravenously dosed with R327 at 6,000mg. An independent Safety Committee Cohort 7 data review is now underway, and Recce anticipates recommendation to proceed to a Cohort 8.

 

Read MoreMarkets

Featured Companies

You might be interested in