ASX 200 set to open lower as US bonds rise on weak manufacturing data
Oil and iron ore stocks will be on watch after price slumps
Life360 plans Nasdaq listing
The ASX 200 is poised to fall when the market opens on Monday. At 8am AEST, the ASX200 futures contract was pointing down by -0.2%.
Overnight, Wall Street was mixed. The S&P 500 rose by +0.11%, the blue chips Dow Jones index was down by -0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up by +0.56%.
The US bond market climbed (yields slumped) after a report showed that manufacturing in the US isn’t doing so well.
This led to further speculation that the Fed Reserve may opt to reduce interest rates later this year. 10-year US treasury yield sank by -10 basis points after the report.
Oil related stocks will be on watch today after crude prices slumped by over -4%. Prices tumbled after OPEC+ surprised the market by announcing a plan to increase production this year.
Iron ore stocks will also be in focus after iron ore futures prices in Singapore plunged 4% yesterday to $US110.65 a tonne. This comes as measures aimed at supporting the property market in China failed to inspire confidence in a rebound.
Biggest movers overnight include Gamestop Inc, which rose +21% after Reddit user, ‘Roaring Kitty’ (real name Keith Gill), who sparked the frenzy around meme stocks in 2021, shared a screenshot of his US$116 million investment in the video game retailer.
“Gill is putting his money where his tweets are, and some investors are clearly following his lead and rekindling interest in meme stocks,” Ben Laidler at eToro said.
Nvidia rose +5% after revealing its latest versions of the computer chips fuelling the worldwide surge in AI development.
And ASX-listed Life360 (ASX:360) has this morning announced its intention to list on the Nasdaq.
The $3bn+ market capped company that created a popular family-tracking app plans to sell 5,750,000 shares of its common stock.
The company intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “LIF.”
EU goes to the poll
Meanwhile, Europeans are gearing up for elections as citizens across the 27 EU countries prepare to choose their reps in the European Parliament starting this Thursday.
This election, which happens every five years, will shape the agenda of the bloc on various issues such as climate change and migration.
Right-wing parties are anticipated to see significant advances this year. For instance, in France, the far-right National Rally is polling at 32%, surpassing its nearest competitor by more than double.
The European Parliament, with locations in Brussels and Strasbourg, is responsible for enacting laws that impact the daily lives of EU citizens.
Additionally, it approves the EU’s annual budget, which for this year amounts to €189 billion.
Furthermore, the outcome of the elections influences the selection of the President of the European Commission.
Voting kicks off on Thursday, June 6 in the Netherlands, then continues in Ireland and Malta the next day, followed by Latvia and Slovakia on Saturday.
The majority of EU member states will cast their votes on Sunday, June 9.
In other markets …
Gold price climbed by +1% to US$2,350.50 an ounce.
Oil prices retreated by almost -4%, with Brent crude now trading at US$78.14 a barrel.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield was down a further 10 basis points (bond prices higher) to 4.40% on weak US manufacturing print.
The Aussie dollar rose by +0.6% to 66.94 cents.
The iron ore price dropped by -4% to US$110.65 a tonne.
Bitcoin meanwhile rose by +1.7% in the last 24 hours to US$69,108, while Ethereum was down around -0.5% to US$3,774.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
Evolution Energy Minerals (ASX:EV1)
EV1 has teamed up with Treadstone Resource Partners as its strategic and financial advisors. Treadstone will help to expand the company’s efforts in identifying strategic investors to finance the Chilalo Graphite Project. EV1’s main focus is to advance Chilalo towards a Decision to Mine. Progress in securing debt financing has been made.
Siren Gold (ASX:SNG)
Siren shared an update on the Lyell tenement within the Reefton Project. New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (NZPaM) has approved the company’s request to extend the Lyell exploration permit for another five years. Once an access agreement is finalised, drilling to explore high-grade areas will begin shortly after.
AFT Pharmaceuticals (ASX:AFP)
AFT has partnered with Alexso to distribute Combogesic (Maxigesic Rapid Tablets) in the US, the world’s largest pharmaceutical market. Dr. Hartley Atkinson, AFT’s managing director, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration, which marks the company’s second patented pharmaceutical launch in the US this fiscal year. AFT is also in discussions with other distributors to expand its US market presence.
Condor Energy (ASX:CND)
Condor has shared progress on its exploration in offshore Peru. The company has identified two significant oil prospects, Raya and Bonito, and their regional mapping indicates that the main source of oil, the Heath Formation, is mature for oil generation across much of the exploration area.
Neometals (ASX: NMT)
NMT has provided an update on the initial metallurgical test work program completed in the PMR pilot plant in Colorado, USA. Neometals has entered an option to acquire an 80% equity interest in PMR, which operates a pilot plant to recover precious metals from industrial waste streams. During March and April, Neometals observed testing of approximately 4.28 tonnes of feedstocks, revealing variability in metal recovery across different chemical regimes and techniques. The results of this trial will be used as the basis for preparing an operating model to consider the investment case.
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