Market Highlights: Wall St's miserable month, RBA's decision, and 5 ASX small caps to watch today

The ASX will open modestly higher on Monday
Wall Street closed out a miserable September
Focus this week will be on the RBA decision on Tuesday

Local shares are set to open modestly higher. At 8am AEST, the ASX 200 October futures contract was pointing up by just 5 points.

On Friday, Wall St extended its loss by 1.5% as it closed out a miserable month.

It was the worst month for the S&P 500 since March 2022 as the index lost 8.25%. The Dow also had its worst ever September in 20 years (down 7.77%), and Nasdaq (down 8.40%) is at the lowest point this year.

Biggest moving stock on Friday was Carnival Corp, which plunged 23% after the cruise company forecast a loss for Q4.

Nike also dropped 13% after warning that its exports profit will be squeezed by the strong dollar.

Government bond yields across US and Europe were mainly higher following the plunge last week.

Oil prices were down 2% on Friday and 10% for the month, with Brent crude trading now at US$85 a barrel.

It has been over two years since oil posted a quarterly loss, but it was a miserable quarter filled with fears of a recession.

“The crude demand outlook is not getting any favours from economic data or corporate reports,” said OANDA analyst Edward Moya.

“OPEC+ will have an easy job next week, but oil prices won’t catch a bid until energy traders are confident an aggressive reduction of output at around 1 million bpd will be delivered. Brent crude is poised to consolidate below the $90 level.”

Gold is flat at US$1,660 an ounce, while iron ore added just 10c to US$95.95 a tonne.

Back home, the week’s focus will be on the RBA’s interest rates decision on Tuesday.

Another supersized hike of 75bp is still on the cards, but economists at the Big Four banks are predicting a 50bp rise. CBA was the only outlier, forecasting a 25bp hike.

CBA says that over the longer term, once the RBA has held the cash rate for long enough to affect inflation, the Board may choose to cut the cash rate in late 2023.

And according to the ASX, stocks to make their debut listing this week are: software company Bridge SaaS (ASX:BGE) and carbon credits specialist LGI Limited (ASX:LGI).

5 ASX small caps to watch today

Forbidden Foods (ASX:FFF)
FFF’s Blue Dinosaur brand has secured ranging with Associated Food Stores in the US, a retailer cooperative supplying more than 500 retailers across the Intermountain West, including stores throughout Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, and Wyoming. The Blue Dinosaur range is Non-GMO Certified, with all products plant-based, grain free, gluten free and containing nothing artificial.

Douugh (ASX:DOU)
Douugh has banked $2.22m in Research and Development (R&D) credit from the tax office ahead of its imminent Australian soft launch. Douugh is on course to soft launch the first phase of its all-in-one money management platform in Australia after its success in the US.

Wellfully (ASX:WFL)
Wellfully announced that its Swiss facility, SWISSWELL in Lugano, has received Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification. The receipt of the ISO certifications is an important milestone for the company’s operation that has already received the approval for the use of the SWISS MADE label earlier this year.

Castillo Copper (ASX:CCZ)
Cobalt-focused drilling campaign at the BHA Project’s East Zone is now underway. Over the next four weeks, the team will complete one diamond core and 17 RC drill- holes for 2,100m across four prospects.

De.Mem (ASX:DEM)
The waste water treatment specialist has signed a binding agreement to acquire the remaining 25% stake in its German subsidiary De.mem-Geutec GmbH. Subject to the pending completion of the acquisition, De.mem will own 100% of the company. De.Mem will pay approximately $340k for the remaining 25% acquisition.