Market Highlights: Wall Street sees a September cut and 5 ASX small caps to watch

ASX 200 set to open lower despite positive Wall Street session
Tesla added 27pc last week
Silver and Copper to shine on Monday

Australian shares look like they’re set to open lower despite the bump Wall Street enjoyed on Friday when equities edged higher on renewed rate cut chatter.

At 8.30am AEST, the ASX 200 (SPI) futures contract was pointing down by -0.15%.ASX futures were down 0.13%.

In New York on Friday the latest jobs data smoked US Treasury yields and did a good job of outlining a slowing economy, with the June US unemployment rate clocking its highest level since late 2021 – the latest layer of numbers-cake sparking fresh expectations of an early US Fed rate cut.

Naturally, Wall Street still closed at fresh, fresh record highs.

For the fickle moment US markets are currently pricing in x2 interest rate cuts, with no. 1 a likely starter for September, as per the CME FedWatch Tool.

By the numbers, the S&P500 rose 0.5% to 5,567 and the Nasdaq added 1% to close at 18,352.

In US corporate news, Tesla rose more than 2% – ending an extraordinary week 27% higher.

Apple also added 2% – a new all-time high.

Chip champ, Nvidia fell 1.75% after New Street Research, downgraded NVDA’s outlook, citing limited upside.

The Dow Jones added 67 points, or 0.2% on Friday and a robust 0.7% for the week.

That left Wall Street ahead for a fourth in five weeks.

The tech heavy Nasdaq was the strongest, adding a casual 3.5% in five sessions.

At home, the S&P/ASX200 closed lower on Friday as well, dropping 9.50 points or 0.12% to 7,822.30.

It added 0.71% over the week.

The ASX200 is currently 1.11% off its 52-week high.

Meanwhile, in commodity markets, Mrs Silver (2.79%) and Dr Copper (2.38%) look strong. Muscular. Like an ’80s action star.

Ahead of breakfast – Orange Juice (3.52%), Coffee (3.20%) and Oats (2.17%) are all more expensive. On the cheaper side of the table – Sugar (-2.23%), Corn (-2.14%) and Rubber (-2.03%).

Do not eat the rubber.

In other markets …

Gold prices are up 1.5% to US$2,392.16.

Oil prices – there was a slight Mid East peace bump for Crude Oil WTI (-0.71%) and Brent Crude Oil (-0.51%).

US Treasury notes were down, with the 2 Year yield at 4.60% and the 10 Year yield at 4.28%.

The yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was unchanged at 4.23% while the 10 Year yield was down at 4.40%.

The Aussie dollar was higher last week and sits at 67.47 US cents.

The iron ore price fell by +1.1% to US$111.30 a tonne.

Since Friday, your best of commodity basket includes Platinum (2.89%), previously plugged Silver (2.79%) and Copper (2.38%).

Finally, in Cryptoland on Monday, Bitcoin( BTC) and Ethereum are slipping and sliding, like the song. Ether has slipped -2.85% in 24 hours.

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Astute Metals (ASX:ASE) says rock chip assay results from its 100%-owned Red Mountain Lithium Project in Nevada, have returned high-grade mineralisation of up to 4,150ppm Lithium.

Notable results returned up to 1.4km north of the recently reported discovery include:
• 4,150ppm Li, brown-green claystone sampled 490m north of RMRC002
• 2,900ppm Li, brown claystone sampled 990m north of RMRC002
• 2,550ppm Li, brown claystone sampled 1.40km north of RMRC002

A total of 81 samples were collected and assayed, adding to Astute’s understanding of the prospective horizons at Red Mountain and complementing the initial drill results from its maiden drilling campaign, for which assays for eight holes remain pending.

Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) says initial assays have been received for the Pericles and Stirling deposits RC drilling program, within the 287koz Au Lady Shenton System at the Menzies Gold Project. Brightstar’s MD Alex Rovira says the results from the Lady Shenton System highlight the immense potential that Menzies holds. “With numerous high-grade hits in all three deposits.” The Menzies drilling program is part of the +30,000m drilling program, targeting resource upgrades & extensions across Brightstar’s 1.45Moz Au portfolio in the Eastern Goldfields

Bowen Coking Coal (ASX:BCB) says it has completed the sale of a 10% stake in the Broadmeadow East Mine for cash plus royalties to MPC Lenton Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Formosa Plastics Group. BCB will recieve $13mn cash from the Formosa Group as well as a royalty of $2.10 per ROM tonne of MPC’s share of production from the mine until 31 December 2026. Bowen says US$7mn of the cash will go straight to repaying some of BCB’s senior debt facility.

4D Medical (ASX:4DX) has signed another handy commercial contract – this time with local operator Jones Radiology, which boasts some 29 diagnostic and interventional radiology clinics across South Australia and Alice Springs. 4DX says the contract win follows a successful pilot at three of Jones Radiology’s Adelaide clinics and will further expand patient access to 4DMedical’s XV Technology platform in Australia.

Larvotto Resources (ASX:LRV) says it has received firm commitments for a placement to raise $5mn (before costs) through the issue of 47.6 million New Shares at $0.105. LRV says it is now well-funded to continue development and exploration at its flagship Hillgrove gold-antimony project (100%-owned)1 in New South Wales. The proceeds from the Placement will be focused on further development of the Hillgrove project including near-term completion of the Pre-Feasibility Study as well as exploration drilling to follow-up recent high-grade intersections.

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