ASX to drift lower after a mixed session on Wall Street
Oil stocks dropped 2pc as OPEC+ agreed to another 1 million bpd supply cuts
Aussie home lifted to a record high in November
Aussie shares are poised to slide lower on the first day of December after a mixed day on Wall Street. At 8am AEDT, the ASX 200 index futures was pointing down by -0.1%.
In New York, the S&P 500 rose by +0.38%, the blue chips Dow Jones index was up by +1.47%, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped by -0.23%.
Oil stocks will be on watch today after OPEC+ agreed to additional output cuts of 1 million barrels per day, in addition to an extension of an earlier cut of equal size that was set to expire.
The decision was already priced in and sent oil prices lower by over 2%.
Inflation meanwhile continued to cool in the US. For the month of October, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index grew 3% year over year, down from 3.4% in September. PCE is the Fed Reserve’s favourite price index.
US traders are currently pricing in a 75% chance of an interest rate cut by the end of the Fed’s May meeting.
To stock news, data cloud company Snowflake surged 7% after quarterly earnings beat and an upbeat outlook for the quarters to come.
Social media stocks Pinterest and Snap Inc rose 2.4% and 6.55% respectively after rating upgrade from Jefferies to “buy” from “hold”.
Back home, Aussie shares had their best month since January after the ASX200 closed at 7,087 yesterday.
Traders however will have their eyes on the latest China Caixin manufacturing PMI expected at 12.45pm AEDT. A lower than expected data could adversely impact the Materials sector.
Aussie home prices at record highs again
National home prices defied the interest rate rise and lifted to a record high in November, according to the PropTrack Home Price Index.
The report found that national prices rose 0.22% month-on-month, while all capitals city markets, except Darwin, saw prices rise in November.
Sydney prices now sit 1% above their prior peak in February 2022, increasing 0.32% in November to reach a record high. They have risen 8.27% this year.
All capitals, except Darwin, saw prices rise in November. Perth (+0.74%) and Adelaide (+0.34%) led gains throughout the month.
Regional home prices meanwhile reached a fresh peak in November, rising 0.12% month-on-month.
Regional South Australia (+0.84%) and regional Queensland (+0.35%) led regional gains in November, with prices in both markets reaching a new peak.
Worth reading: These are the suburbs where the Aussie property dream is still rising
In other markets …
Gold price finally retreated , down -0.41% to US$2,035.95 an ounce.
Bullion has been rising on the back of a weaker US dollar, and the recent rally has boosted hopes that it could top its all-time high of US$2,074.88 reached in August 2020.
Oil prices fell over -2%, with Brent now trading at US$80.47 a barrel after OPEC+’s decision to cut supply by 1 million barrels a day (bpd).
Prior to yesterday’s decision, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+ have already pledged total cuts of about 5 million bpd, in a series of gradual steps that started in late 2022
Iron ore futures traded sideways to US$130.46 a tonne.
The Aussie dollar gave up more of the recent gains, down by -0.15% to US66.07c.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin was up 0.1% in the last 24 hours to US$37,763.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
Auric Mining (ASX:AWJ)
Auric said 9,741 ounces of gold were produced at Stage One mining of the Jeffreys Find Gold Mine (the Project) near Norseman, WA. Gold sale price averaged $3,006 per ounce, earning Auric $4.7 million in cash, being its share of total surplus cash distributions. Jeffreys Find Gold Mine has a short project life. Stage two will begin in early 2024, and the Project is expected to be concluded by the end of 2024/early 2025.
Develop Global (ASX:DVP)
DVP announced that it has been awarded a $46 million underground development contract to establish and develop an exploration decline at the Mt Marion lithium mine in WA. Mt Marion, which is a joint venture between Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) and Ganfeng Lithium, is located 40km southwest of Kalgoorlie. It is also 95km from Develop’s Pioneer Dome Lithium Project. The contract has a term of 18 months and is expected to start in early 2024.
Dalaroo Metals (ASX:DAL)
Dalaroo’s Lithium mineral rights at the Lyons River Project have been acquired by Delta Lithium. Consideration for the transaction is $1m, consisting of $500k in cash and $500k in Delta Lithium ordinary shares. In addition, Delta Lithium must expend a minimum of 50% of the annual statutory expenditure requirements on the Lyons River Project tenements (a commitment of $280k per annum). Dalaroo now plans to focus on its Goodbody gold prospect, Browns base metal prospect and the View Hill REE prospect at the Lyons River Project.
The Calmer Co (ASX:CCO)
The health and wellness company formerly called Fiji Kava said ecommerce sales in Australia have risen to over $110k in November, a 70% increase. Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions contributed to the strong result and despite discounting, average order value for the channel has risen for the month. Shipping to NZ from the Australia Shopify store commenced on 25th November, with promising initial indications on demand from NZ.
AMA Group (ASX:AMA)
AMA announced the appointment of Mathew Cooper as Group CEO effective today. Cooper joined AMA Group in 2021 as the chief operating officer. He has had a portfolio of responsibilities encompassing business development, commercial partnerships, and operational management of all AMA Group business units. Cooper joined AMA Group from ASX listed Bapcor, where he spent over eight years in senior executive roles.
At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Dalaroo Metals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
The post Market Highlights: OPEC+ to cut supply, home prices at record highs again, and 5 ASX small caps to watch appeared first on Stockhead.
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