The ASX is running lower today.
The S&P/ASX200 had dropped 15.00 points or 0.20% to 7,390.40 at time of writing, despite crossing above its 125-day moving average.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 2.29% and is currently 3.18% off its 52-week high.
The bottom performing stocks in this index are Redbubble Ltd (ASX:RBL) down 6.61% and Codan (ASX:CDA) Ltd down 4.08%.
Losses today marked the first down spike after four days of gains.
Mining companies fell in morning trading after iron ore lost more than 1%.
BHP dipped 1.4% and Rio Tinto lost 1.2%.
Magellan led Financials down 4%: its poor fund management and lower fees to wealth managers have seen investors bail out of the company.
Sydney Airport was up 2.7% on good news that the ACCC will not oppose its $23.6 billion acquisition by Sydney Aviation Alliance.
'“The ACCC maintains the view that the threat of regulation under the current limited monitoring regime does not constrain the pricing behaviour of our airports,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said in a statement.
IGO Ltd gained 4.5% on the back of a UBS upgrade to buy.
Looking further into Rio Tinto
Rio CEO Jakob Stausholm took a trip to Guinea to speak with newly-installed government leaders about its long-delayed Simandou high-grade iron ore project in West Africa.
"Our discussions centred around the exciting opportunities for Simandou’s high-grade iron ore in helping decarbonise the steel industry and, in turn, the world,” Stausholm said.
"Steel, especially green steel, will be key in the drive to net-zero. And this makes the timing right for Simandou’s development as demand for this commodity increases.
"We talked about what is required for Rio Tinto to invest to make this happen. This is a great step forward – through our joint venture CBG and Simandou, we have been in Guinea for 50 years and are committed to investing in projects here that support the country’s economic development."
Pizza time
Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd is now the first pizza joint to have a national footprint in Japan after opening its 862nd store there.
The latest store puts it in all of the country’s 47 prefectures.
Group CEO Don Meij said, “Less than three years ago we operated 550 stores and were not present in more than 10 prefectures," Meij says.
"We highlighted that our business model at the time did not allow us to reach some of these territories – that has now changed."
Surprisingly Domino’s was lower on the news, down 3.27% at $120.58 at time of writing.
RBA backs central crypto
Following up on the crypto news this morning, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe welcomes the government’s plans for a regulatory overhaul of the payments systems which “could emerge quite quickly” should Australians be quick to adopt digital wallets to pay with cryptocurrencies.
“With so much change taking place, regulators and the payments legislation can’t stand still,” Dr Lowe said.
“The digital economy is very important to Australia’s future and we need a regulatory system that encourages innovation and ensures the system is safe and stable.”
In a speech to the Australian Payments Network this morning, Dr Lowe gave a fairly clear signal that the case for an “eAUD” is gaining traction.
On the small cap front
AdAlta Ltd (ASX:1AD) (AdAlta Ltd (ASX:1AD)) is up 14.85%. 1AD achieved an important milestone in developing its novel therapeutic product AD-324 from its i-body platform, with initial testing of AD-214 nebulisation devices exceeding expectations.
Openn Negotiation Ltd (ASX:OPN) (Openn Negotiation Ltd (ASX:OPN)) is 11.54% higher. OPN has seen a key patent for its online real estate sales system accepted in the United States.
Lotus Resources Ltd (ASX:LOT) (Lotus Resources Ltd (ASX:LOT)) is up 4.69%. LOT hit an important milestone with the release of its inaugural sustainability development report for the Kayelekera Uranium Project in Malawi, as well as its head office in Perth, Australia.
Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX:PDI) is 2% higher. PDI continues to add to the golden potential of Bankan Project in Guinea with new results of up to 34 metres at 5.5 g/t gold below the NE Bankan resource.