By 
- FTSE 100 index up 30 points
- Wall Street starts higher
- UK labour productivity sees record decline in second quarter
3.35pm: What a long, strange trip it’s been
On what has been a long working day (for political junkies and market observers), the Footsie has regained its mojo after a mid-afternoon snooze.
London’s index of leading shares was up 67 points (1.2%) at 5,854 as confidence grows that Democratic candidate Joe Biden might well end up in the White House but without control of the Senate, and therefore the clout to do anything deemed too dangerously socialist, such as implement reforms of the health system.
Key states Biden is leading in:
Wisconsin, 97% in:
Biden 49.5%
Trump 48.8%Arizona, 98% in:
Biden 51.0%
Trump 47.6%Michigan, 90% in:
Biden 49.3%
Trump 49.1%Nevada, 86% in:
Biden 49.3%
Trump 48.7%— US Politics Polls (@USPoliticsPoll) November 4, 2020
Coincidentally or not, drugs companies are among the big gainers in London, with AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN), up 5.7% at 8,420p, atop the Footsie’s greasy pole, with GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LON:GSK), up 4.3%, not too far behind.
Banks, in contrast, were out of favour as bond yields sank.
Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN), HSBC Holdings PLC (LON:HSBA) and Natwest Group PLC (LON:NWG) suffered falls ranging from 1.9% to 4.3%.
Among the small caps, Cpl Resources Plc (LON:CPL) was up 42% at 1,010p after succumbing to an €11.25 per share offer from Japanese rival Outsourcing Inc (doesn’t sound very Japanese – Ed.) but still wasn’t London’s top riser.
That honour went to IQ-AI Limited (LON: IQAI), which was up 86% at 8.35p, after it received US regulatory clearance for a virtual biopsy that can help assess chronic liver disease.
3.15pm: Proactive North America headlines:
Loop Insights Inc (CVE:MTRX) (OTCQB:RACMF) eyes monthly recurring revenue from 550 Your CBD Store locations in the US
Gatling Exploration Inc (CVE:GTR) (OTCMKTS:GATGF) (FRA:G28) discovers third gold trend at its Kir Vit prospect at Larder project
Vuzix Corporation (NASDAQ:VUZI) (FRA:V7XN) says Istanbul University Faculty of Dentistry using its Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses to support remote student learning
Valens Company Inc (CVE:VLNS) (OTCQX:VLNCF) (FRA:7LV) wins wholesale licences to sell and supply cannabis-derived medical products in Australia
TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TCON) driving the development of targeted therapies for cancer
Silvercorp Metals Inc (NSYEAMERICAN:SVM) (TSE:SVM) (FRA:S9Y) unveils encouraging exploration drill results from one mine at its flagship Ying project
Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (TSE:TBP) (OTCQB:TBPMF) (FRA:JAM1) says ARDS-003 has potential to earn $500M in revenue from royalties, upfront payments by 2026
Benchmark Metals Inc (CVE:BNCH) (OTCQX:BNCHF) (FRA:87CA) unveils new mineralized zones at its Lawyers precious metals project in the Golden Triangle
BetterLife Pharma Inc (CSE:BETR) (OTCQB:BETRF) (FRA:NPAT) selects Florence Healthcare to help accelerate clinical trial operations of AP-003 as COVID-19 therapeutic
2.47pm: Wall Street opens higher
As expected, and seemingly despite the electoral uncertainty, the main indices on Wall Street began Wednesday’s session in the green.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% to 27,756 while the S&P 500 climbed 1.7% to 3,427 and the Nasdaq rose 2.9% to 11,485.
The bullish open on Wall Street came as the true picture of the US election results continued to emerge, with recent data from the Associated Press indicating that Biden may have managed to eke out victory in Wisconsin and has also taken a very slight lead in Michigan, both key Rust Belt states that Trump flipped red in 2016.
If the trend continues and both states go for Biden, the former vice-president will need to, at a minimum, secure the six electoral votes from the state of Nevada to win a total of 271, one more than needed to claim victory. Any victories in other states that have yet to be called, Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, will expand this margin.
Wall Street also seems to have paid little mind to the US ADP employment report, which reported that the American private sector added 365,000 jobs in October, below the 600,000 estimate and down sharply on the 753,000 added in September.
Back in London, the FTSE 100 had lost a little steam and was up 30 points at 5,816 at 2.45pm.
1.20pm: The Footsie steadily extends the morning’s gains
Output per hour, the UK’s headline measure of labour productivity, fell by 1.8% year-on-year in the second quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Output per worker fell by 21.7% over the same period; this reflects the impact of furlough schemes, which reduced hours worked but preserved workers’ employment statuses, the ONS said.
Output per job fell by 21%, which also reflects how the “furlough scheme” has enabled people to retain their jobs while not working.
“UK productivity – measured in terms of output per hour worked – saw a record decline in the second quarter as it fell 2.0% quarter-on-quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS),” said Howard Archer, the chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club.
“Output per hour worked fell 2.0% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2020 as gross value added (GVA) contracted a record 19.8% while hours worked declined 18.4%.
“However, the ONS reported that the results on a sector level mask much bigger changes. By far the most significant fall in output per hour was in the hotels and catering industry. Productivity in this industry decreased by 72.2%. There were also marked falls in other services (21.3%), government services (14.0%) and transport and storage (12.4%). Outside of the services sector, the largest falls were in transport equipment manufacturing (34.5%) and textiles, wearing apparel and leather (30.9%),” he added.
“The impact of COVID-19 magnified existing concerns around the UK’s productivity performance, which has been weak for some time. Indeed, the flat productivity performance over 2019 after an underwhelming 2018 extends the UK’s overall poor productivity record since the 2008/9 recession,” the economist noted.
In the London stock market, the Footsie continues to creep higher, extending its gain to 55 points at 5,842.
12.30pm: US indices to ignore election confusion and open mostly higher
Despite the presidential election not delivering the decisive result the market wanted, stocks are set to start mostly higher on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones is expected to open 150 points higher at 27,630, the broader-based S&P 500 is tipped to start 22 points firmer at 3,391 while the NASDAQ Composite is expected to kick-off 385 points to the good at 11,556.
The electoral race is on the proverbial knife-edge. Depending on what news source you prefer, Biden is either leading Trump by 238 or 225 electoral college votes to 213.
If Biden wins AZ, NV, MI and WI that’s ballgame. He could lose PA, GA and NC and he’d still have 270.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 4, 2020
One company not especially bothered about the national vote is taxi hailing app outfit Uber, which got a huge boost from the poll in California.
As well as voting on the usual political stuff, Californian voters also cast their votes on “Proposition 22”, which essentially allows cab drivers and delivery couriers to be considered as independent contractors rather than employees. The vote was 58% in favour, with the value of the decision demonstrated by the US$58.3mln Uber spent campaigning in favour of it.
The decision relieves Uber of the need to provide unemployment insurance for its Californian … er … not-employees.
Sector rival Lyft, which whacked US$48.9mln into the campaign, is also set to benefit from the vote.
With all the political shenanigans going on, people may not be paying as much attention today the US trade balance for September, payrolls-processing firm ADP’s employment report for October or the services ISM (Institute of Supply Management) for October.
In London, the FTSE 100 was up 38 points (0.7%) at 5,825.
11.10am: It’s a real up-and-downer
Confusion continues to reign in equity markets, with the Footsie surrendering some of its earlier gains.
The index had put on a mid-morning spurt as sterling took a battering against the dollar but it’s now up just 24 points (0.4%) at 5,811 with the Presidential election result on a knife-edge, with Democratic candidate Joe Biden leading President Trump with 238 electoral votes to 213; the winning total is 270.
“It looks like Wisconsin is going to be a 1-point race or so. That’s pretty far off the polling average, which had Biden up by 8 points but a weird thing about this election is that it doesn’t look like the polling average has been uniform,” said Nathaniel Rakich, an elections analyst at polling analysis website fivethirtyeight.com.
“For instance, the Georgia polls look like they’ll be pretty good — that race is a toss-up right now, and the polls gave Biden only a 1-point lead. What I’m saying is, don’t assume Trump has won again because some states saw big polling errors in Republicans’ favour. In fact, Biden looks like he’s in fairly good shape to win because of his multiple pathways through the likes of Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania,” Rakich said.
Earlier on, punters on gambling web site Betfairwere confident Trump had it in the bag; quoted at around 2.88 (i.e. a £1 bet would return £2.88, including the initial stake) before the polls closed last night, the odds were down to 1.52 (i.e. “odds-on” shortly after 7.00am today but have now lengthened to 2.38.
Anyway, enough of gambling and back to <ahem> serious investment but before that, some more commentary on this morning’s services sector PMI for October, which was revised downwards to 51.4 from the flash estimate of 56.1
Economists had expected a revision downwards but only to 52.3.
The composite PMI declined to 52.1, from 56.5 in September; the consensus forecast was for a value of 52.9.
“Markit’s survey suggests that the economic recovery essentially ground to a halt in October, with GDP likely still some 8% below its pre-Covid peak, as rising Covid-19 cases and slightly tougher regional restrictions prompted households to retreat to their homes. It’s pointless to place much weight on the PMI’s past relationship with month-to-month growth in GDP—it should have been in the 70s or 80s to correctly signal the rebound that occurred in the summer—but its fall back to a level consistent with negligible growth tallies with other evidence,” said Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
“For instance, the ONS’s Business Impact of Covid-19 survey shows that firms’ turnover was only about 1% higher in the two weeks to October 4 than six weeks previously. Similarly, usage of public and private transport has dropped progressively during October, while Google Trends and OpenTable data signal that demand for discretionary consumer services incrementally declined last month. The second wave of Covid-19 is the obvious driver of the slowdown, though the recovery likely would have decelerated anyway, given that pent-up demand after the first lockdown ended temporarily pushed activity in the consumer services sector above its sustainable level over the summer. Note too that the PMI is a diffusion index which does not capture the magnitude of changes in demand at businesses. It will be too upbeat if most firms are growing modestly but some consumer services businesses are enduring large falls in demand,” he added.
Sam Fuller, the director of Financial Markets Online, won high marks for tying in the presidential election snarl-up with the PMI data.
“If nothing else, America’s political paralysis is at least offering a welcome distraction from Britain’s increasingly grim economic picture,” Fuller said.
“UK equities ended October deep in bear territory as momentum slowed and Downing Street accepted the inevitable by plunging England back into a national lockdown.
“Today’s service sector PMI data reveals the scale of the hit that both growth and sentiment are taking.
“In October the sprawling service sector, which accounts for four-fifths of the UK economy, saw new orders slump for the first time since June.
“While business activity continued to tick upwards, the pace of growth has now slowed dramatically and is sliding towards stagnation.
“With business confidence slipping to its lowest level since May and the wave of job cuts showing no sign of abating, the engine of the UK economy is sputtering badly. Few expect England’s month-long lockdown to do anything other than apply the brakes further,” Fuller said.
And yet, blue-chip equities remain firmer on balance, with Smurfit Kappa Group plc (LON:SKG) helping with the heavy lifting after its trading update this morning.
The shares rose 3.2% to 3,194p after the packaging giant said its third-quarter performance was ahead of expectations.
10.00am: Services sector recovery stalls in October
The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) Business Activity Index registered 51.4 in October, down sharply from 56.1 in September.
Although the index declined month-on-month, a value above 50 still indicates an increase in activity.
The latest reading was lower than the earlier ‘flash’ reading for October (52.3) and signalled the weakest service sector performance since June, said IHS Markit.
“October data indicates that the UK service sector was close to stalling even before the announcement of lockdown 2 in England, with tighter restrictions on hospitality, travel and leisure leading to a slump in demand for consumer-facing businesses. This was only partly offset by sustained expansion in areas related to digital services, business-to-business sales and housing market transactions,” said Tim Moore, the economics director at IHS Markit.
“The service sector as a whole recorded its slowest output growth since June, while new orders declined for the first time in four months. A lack of forward bookings in parts of the economy most affected by lockdown measures led to widespread reports of redundancies and another sharp fall in total employment numbers during October.
“November’s lockdown in England and a worsening COVID-19 situation across the rest of Europe means that the UK economy seems on course for a double-dip recession this winter and a far more challenging path to recovery in 2021,” he added.
Duncan Brock, the group director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) said ongoing lockdown measures “knocked the wind out of the sector’s sails”.
“The return to uncertainty and curbs on free movement have started to wipe out the gains of the summer, and consumer-facing businesses were the hardest hit.
“Some supply shortages also continued to bite, resulting in higher business costs. These were increasingly difficult to pass on to a reduced pool of customers, as competition intensified and discounting continued.
“Instead, staff headcounts were cut with more businesses resorting to redundancy schemes to keep staff costs low and total service sector employment dropped for the eighth month in a row. Though government support will continue, this may not be enough for many businesses as large parts of the service sector enter a deep freeze state in November,” Brock said.
The FTSE 100 was up 51 points (0.9%) at 5,838, helped by a resurgence of the US dollar on foreign exchange markets. Sterling, down nine-tenths of a cent, is just one currency bowing down before the mighty greenback this morning.
8.40am: Worst of all possible worlds
The FTSE 100 was becalmed at the outset on Wednesday with the London market seemingly nonplussed by the US presidential election.
The index of UK blue-chips opened 4 points lower at 5,782.73.
Predictably the race was far closer than opinion polls had forecast and – equally predictably – Donald Trump is already threatening legal action, perhaps reflecting the likely reality he has lost the contest by the narrowest of margins.
The President said he was going to the Supreme Court to stop all vote-counting immediately.
And with key states such as Georgia – which sent its vote counters home to bed – yet to declare, chaos will inevitably ensue. It will likely be days or even weeks before a definitive winner emerges.
With so much negativity already priced into the Footsie ahead of the second UK coronavirus lockdown – remember it is off around a quarter since the start of the year – there wasn’t much further it could drop on what looks the worst of all outcomes from the US election.
It will be interesting to see how US equity markets react to the manoeuvrings of the Trump camp as Wednesday plays out.
On the market, BAT (LON:BATS), up 3.5%, continued its bounce back following the recent acquisition of tobacco pouches group Dryft.
The drug stocks – AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) – were also well bid early on as they advanced 3.3% and 2.5% respectively.
Proactive news headlines:
IQ-AI Limited (LON: IQAI) said it has received US regulatory clearance for a virtual biopsy that can help assess chronic liver disease. The group noted that it has received US Food & Drug Administration 510(k) market clearance for the Liver Surface Nodularity (LSN) software developed by AI Metrics. IQ-AI unit, Imaging Biometrics, has the global rights to manufacture, market, and distribute the technology, which presents a new way to analyse CT scans for conditions including liver inflammation, early fibrosis, advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis.
Alpha Growth PLC (LON:ALGW) said that assets under management (AUM) at its BlackOak Alpha Growth Fund have grown to roughly US$20mln. The financial services specialist in the growing senior life settlement asset class said it received US$7.6mln in subscriptions in October alone. The growth in AUM is significant because some investors are prohibited from comprising more than a certain proportion of a fund’s assets, thus as the fund grows, so the range of potential investors grows. The fund continues to perform well and is on course to provide a return within the 10% to 14% target range, Alpha Growth said. For the months of August and September 2020, the returns were 1.82% and 1.42% respectively.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) told investors that the first project milestone has been achieved for its Colorado prospects as sampling results reveal high-grade assays. The company, which is earning into the assets through a deal with vendors American Vanadium (AVU), said the sampling results have exceeded the criteria for the first milestone share issue to AVU. Some 18mln Thor Mining shares are now being issued to AVU as a performance payment. Sampling, carried out in the due diligence period, has yielded assay results of high-grade uranium (up to 1.25%) and vanadium (up to 3.47%). For the performance to apply fifteen or more samples would’ve needed to measure above 0.1% uranium or 1% vanadium.
ECSC Group PLC (LON:ECSC), the provider of cybersecurity services, said it saw momentum continue in the third quarter with adjusted underlying earnings exceeding £50,000 a month. The group also said its revenue for the quarter had exceeded the average quarterly revenue seen in 2019, with Managed Detection and Response (MDR) recurring revenue up 22% compared with the same quarter of 2019. In a sign of growing confidence, the group added that it has resumed recruitment in Security Operations Centres, partner and MDR sales and consultants to meet growing demand.
Bango PLC (LON:BGO) is deploying its data-driven commerce platform to power bundled subscription services for BT Group (LON:BT.A). The electronic payment specialist said its technology will be a “key integration point to deliver a range of third-party products”. Bango added that the partnership will open up greater entertainment and commerce opportunities for BT’s customer base. The first launch will be BritBox, the BBC-ITV ‘boxsets’ offering, where BT customers will be given a six-month complimentary subscription before being offered the chance to continue paying for the content.
Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd (LON:FOG, CVE:FO) has told investors that flow back operations continue for the Kyalla 117 N2-1H ST2 well at the Beetaloo project in Australia’s Northern Territory. In an operational update, the company noted that following a short initial flow back of hydraulic fracture stimulation fluid to surface, the well was shut-in and production tubing was successfully installed and tested. Subsequently, during late October, flow back operations recommenced and the company said that the well is currently flowing back at a rate of approximately 500 barrels per day with minor gas breakthroughs observed to date. Falcon owns a 22.5% interest in the project which is operated by Origin Energy.
Live Company Group PLC (LON:LVCG) has announced that BrickLive Animal Paradise is currently being installed at Naples Zoo in Florida in readiness to open to the public on November 21, 2020. The AIM-listed media and events group noted that this is the first time it is working with Naples Zoo – one of the oldest zoos in the USA who last year celebrated 100 years as a botanical garden and 50 years as a zoo. Animal Paradise will stay at the zoo until April 2021. The company also announced that BrickLive Safari which is currently at Paignton Zoo in Devon has been extended to January 2021.
Stobart Group Limited (LON:STOB) said freight operations at Southend Airport had helped offset some of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic during the six months to end September 2020. The company said revenues for the period dropped by 29% to £53.2mln, with Aviation seeing a 49% drop and Energy, Stobart’s other key division, down by 22.5%. Stobart posted an underlying loss of £4.9mln against a profit of £2.5mln a year ago, though losses by businesses for sale and also a £55mln impairment charge for airlines Stobart Air and failed carrier Propius meant a pre-loss of £77.4mln.
Primorus Investments PLC (LON:PRIM) (AQSE:PRIM) announced that it has completed the sales of its remaining shareholding in Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP). The company sold 20,000,000 shares at an average price of 23.09p per share, for gross proceeds of approximately £4,600,000 through a structured series of sales. As a result, the company no longer has an interest in the shares of Greatland. Primorus noted that it realised in excess of £6,500,000 over the life of its investment in Greatland having made an investment of approximately £630,000 in the company in late 2018 and early 2019.
Arkle Resources PLC (LON:ARK) has announced that under the receipt of a conversion notice from a holder of 4,000,000 warrants exercisable at 0.50 pence each, it has on Tuesday issued 4,000,000 ordinary shares of €0.0025 each at the exercise price of 0.50p per share.
Base Resources Limited (LON:BSE) (ASX:BSE) has said that the latest company presentation, which was presented on Wednesday at the Africa Down Under Conference in Perth, Western Australia, is available from the company’s website: www.baseresources.com.au
Benchmark Holdings PLC (LON:BMK), the aquaculture health, advanced nutrition, and genetics business, said it will be conducting a presentation covering its final results for the year ended September 30, 2020 for retail investors and wealth managers. The presentation will be hosted online by Trond Williksen, the company’s chief executive officer, and Septima Maguire, its chief financial officer. The event will take place at 12.00pm UK time on Friday, November 27, 2020. Questions can be submitted during the presentation to be addressed at the end. To register for the presentation, please visit: Benchmark Holdings Final Results Presentation and Q&A. A recording of the presentation will be available after the event at www.equitydevelopment.co.uk
NextEnergy Solar Fund Ltd (LON:NESF), the solar power renewable energy investment company, has said it intends to announce its interim results for the six months ended September 30, 2020, on Monday November 23, 2020. NESF’s Investment Adviser will host a webcast presentation for analysts on the day of the results. If you would like to receive further details of the webcast, please contact Camarco on 020 3757 4980 or mia.carlin@camarco.co.uk
Argentex Group PLC (LON:AGFX), the provider of foreign exchange services to institutions, corporates and high net worth private individuals, has said it will announce its interim results for the six months ended September 30, 2020 on Friday, November 20, 2020. There will be an online analyst presentation at 9.30am on Friday, November 20, 2020. Analysts wishing to register are asked to email: Argentex@fticonsulting.com
6.25am: Too close to call
The FTSE 100 index looks set for a cautious start on Wednesday as traders wait with some trepidation for the results from yesterday’s tighter than expected US election, with some commentators not seeing any outcome for days, maybe weeks, as every single ballot needs to be counted.
Betting market odds, however, have flipped to favour Republican incumbent Donald Trump over Democratic candidate Joe Biden, with the big swing state of Florida called for Trump, although Biden currently leads the count on electoral college votes at 209 vs 174, with 270 votes needed to win.
Spread betting firm IG expects the blue-chip index to open around 4 points firmer at 5,790, having surged 131.80 points higher on Tuesday to close at 5,786.77.
Overnight in New York, before the polls closed, the Dow Jones Industrials Average ended nearly 555 points, or 2.1% higher at 27,480, while the broader S&P 500 index gained 1.8% and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite added 1.9%.
US stock futures jumped late on Tuesday as Trump appeared to be doing better than expected in some key states as early results in the presidential election revealed a very tight race.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, commented: “As the night grinds on Donald Trump appears to have staged a remarkable comeback, as polling across the US suggests he has had a good night. The market reaction has so far avoided the volatility of 2016, at least on the downside, with yet more gains for stock futures.
“This impressive recovery by the party viewed as pro-business has been taken in a positive vein by markets, although there is still a lot of counting to be done. So far it is a tight race, but that was already a highly likely possibility for investors, which helps to explain why we haven’t had the same topsy-turvy movements as 2016.”
Beauchamp added: “Trump’s path to victory is still the same as it was, take the southern states and then Pennsylvania, and so far that appears to be working. But there is still much counting ahead, and a Biden win is still eminently possible. In particular Arizona offers a potential turning point for the flagging Biden campaign, leaving the former vice president still very much in the race.
Asian markets were mostly higher on Wednesday as investors stuck with bets on China’s recovery and held off any major portfolio changes as early results showed the US presidential election result as too tight to call. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.2% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 1.9%, albeit having been closed in the previous session.
M&S update to provide UK corporate focus
In London, a day ahead of the start of the latest coronavirus lockdown in England, the corporate spotlight will be on Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) which reports half-year results.
It will be the retailer’s first update since a surprise trading statement in August when M&S announced 7,000 job cuts but said food performance had been better than it had expected in May.
“Huge uncertainty” remains around M&S, said Sophie Lund-Yates, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown in a preview, especially around profit margins as discounting in clothing and home has weighed on performance.
“The closure of physical selling space for much of the ‘full price’ season in lockdown means there’s a very real chance this has got worse. Higher margin food items like sandwiches won’t have been flying off the shelves either as many people continue to work from home, so overall the gross margin story is likely to be a downwards one.”
Sales had fallen 49.5% by August and the analyst said she suspected this trend hasn’t reversed, while significant charges will hit the bottom line to cover restructuring.
Around the Markets:
- Pound down 0.1% to US$1.2982
- Gold down 0.5% to US$1,899.80
- Brent Crude Oil up 0.5% to US$40.62
6.20am: Early Markets – Asia/Australia
Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher on Wednesday even though the anticipated IPO of Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Group was suspended amid regulatory concerns.
Ant Group was looking to raise US$34.5 billion in what would have been the world’s biggest IPO.
Mainland Chinese stocks rose today, with the Shanghai up 0.09% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.72%.
South Korea’s Kospi was 0.59% higher. Australian shares ended the day lower, falling by 0.07%.
Proactive Australia news:
Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX:ALK) has further enhanced the future gold potential of the Tomingley Gold Project (TGP) in Central West NSW with a 50% increase in the resource estimate of the regional Roswell deposit to 660,000 ounces.
eSense-Lab Ltd (ASX:ESE) is making considerable progress in its research and development into the anti-viral qualities of terpenes as it focuses on synergies with joint-venture partners.
Pantoro Ltd (ASX:PNR) has confirmed the presence and continuity of two additional high-grade lodes at Wagtail Underground Mine, providing strong upside for the Halls Creek gold operations in WA’s Kimberley region.
Musgrave Minerals Ltd’s (ASX:MGV) (OTCMKTS:MGVMF) (FRA:6MU) regional drilling program targeting Starlight analogues at its Cue Gold Project in the Murchison district of Western Australia, has intersected up to 3 metres at 17.3 g/t gold from 1-metre.
Marmota Ltd (ASX:MEU) has received bonanza gold grades of up to 70 g/t in drilling at the Aurora Tank Project in South Australia which has also revealed multiple high-grade extensions.
Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX:PDI) has executed an agreement with Progress Minerals Inc, which will see ownership of its Burkina Faso property package, including the 184,000-ounce Bongou gold deposit, return to 100% from a 49% joint venture interest.
SUDA Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:SUD) passed a number of key milestones during the September quarter including approval from the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) for the registration of the ZolpiMist® (zolpidem tartrate) treatment for short-term insomnia in adults.
Pathfinder Resources Ltd (ASX:PF1) has started trading on the ASX today after raising $6 million via its initial public offer (IPO) of 30 million shares at 20 cents each.
Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX:YRL) has increased gold resources by 40% at Flushing Meadows deposit, which is part of the 100%-owned Ironstone Well Gold Project near Wiluna in the Yandal Greenstone Belt of Western Australia.
Force Commodities Ltd (ASX:4CE) shares are higher after the company completed the acquisition of majority stakes in two projects in a copper-rich region of Oman from AIM-listed resource development company Savannah Resources PLC (LON:SAV).
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