Wall Street falls, Nvidia soars
BTC nears all-time highs
Gold to move even further?
The ASX is poised to start flat on Tuesday, after overnight losses on Wall Street. At 8am AEDT, the ASX 200 index futures contract was pointing up by just 2 points.
In New York, the S&P 500 fell by -0.12%, the blue chips Dow Jones index was down by -0.25%, and tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled by -0.41%.
Bitcoin is now trading above $US67k, changing hands at US$67,410 at this time of writing. Bitcoin is within striking distance of its record high of around US$69,000 reached during the 2021 spike.
“As we approach the halving every four years, there’s a run-up. But you also have these ETFs which have recently been approved and a lot of inflows coming from that,” said Ian Rodgers of Ledger.
BTC’s rise coincides with that other store-of-value asset, the gold bullion, which also ripped higher by a further +1.6% overnight to US$2,116/oz. Gold prices soared to its all-time high of $2,135.39/oz at the end of 2023.
To stocks, Apple fell -2.5% after being fined €1.84bn by the EU for stifling competition from rival music streaming services on its platform. The news has prompted Goldman Sachs to cut the stock from its Conviction List.
Super Micro Computer popped another 19% ahead of the stock’s much anticipated entry to the S&P 500 index club.
Tesla fell -7% after reporting slowing China shipments and new price cuts in the country.
Nvidia lifted by another +3.6% to a new all time record.
Meanwhile, retail stock Macy’s jumped +13.5% after its pursuers, Arkhouse and Brigade, raised their buyout offer by a 33% premium to the closing price on Friday.
Is gold heading to the moon?
Gold prices are once again edging toward all-time highs amid expectations that rate cuts in the US would come sooner than expected.
Analysts are bullish on the bullion and anticipate the possibility of gold rates hitting $2,400/oz.
“We remain bullish on gold and expect the prices to hit new highs of around US$2,240 if the volatility continues. We also anticipate that prices can reach US$2,400 next year if the fundamentals remain strong,” Ajay Kedia of Kedia Advisory told LiveMint.
Gold’s appeal is growing stronger in the current macro environment for various reasons.
Firstly, when yields offered by short-term government bonds, which is a competing safe asset for gold, decline, it will force investors to seek better alternatives.
Second, gold ultimately serves as a hedge against economic risks, and is de-correlated with bonds and stocks – giving investors that diversification.
Hedge fund investor Paul Tudor Jones recommended that gold (as well as Bitcoin) should “probably constitute a larger portion of your portfolio than in the past.”
The legendary trader has said on record that he always maintains a 5% allocation to BTC in his portfolio, and sees both gold and BTC as safe havens during these uncertain times.
Other markets …
Gold price rose by +1.6% to US$2,115.15 an ounce.
Oil prices fell by around -1%, with Brent now trading at US$82.80 a barrel.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield lifted by around 4 basis points (bond prices lower) to 4.22%.
Iron ore futures climbed by +2% to US$115.60 a tonne.
The Aussie dollar tumbled by -0.25% to US65.08c.
5 ASX small caps to watch today
NickelSearch (ASX:NIS)
NIS says 14 lithium drill targets have been identified across the broader Carlingup Project. The new targets are based on new soil sampling results and re-assaying of historical
drilling pulps from the Nindilbillup nickel laterite deposit. Low cost on-ground exploration is now scheduled to commence for new tenements acquired during late 2023.
EROAD (ASX:ERD)
ERD announced the appointment of dual CEOs effective today. David Kenneson will work alongside Mark Heine as dual-CEO, as part of the next phase of the company’s global growth strategy. ERD says this move is a a key enabler of the EROAD strategy to grow its international markets (especially in North America) as well as strengthen its core markets here in Australasia.
Mach7 Technologies (ASX:M7T)
Mach7 announced a 3-year renewal agreement with Penn State Health for its Enterprise Imaging Platform. Total Contract Value (TCV) is $3.1m, which includes capital software licence fee of $1.m and $2m in maintenance and support fees
Carnegie Clean Energy (ASX: CCE)
CCE provided a status update on the €3.75m ($6.25m) EuropeWave Phase 3 Contract awarded to Carnegie’s subsidiary CETO Wave Energy Ireland. Following completion of contractual requirements, CETO has now signed a new Phase 3 of EuropeWave Pre-Commercial Procurement Programme. This marks completion of Project Milestone 1 and unlocks submission of the first invoice for €262,257 ($436, 890).
Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM)
Lucapa and its Angolan partners Endiama and Rosas and Petalas announced the recovery of two +100 carat diamonds in February from the Lulo Mine. Both diamonds were recovered from the terraces of Mining Block 46. The 116 carat type IIa diamond will be sold via a tender at a future date, along with other high value type IIa diamonds recovered recently, while the 162 carat will be sold as part of normal run of mine sale later this month.
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