Key Points

• Spot price of gold hovering around using $1,800 an ounce
• Disconnection from current market factors to gold price
• Demand for the precious metal expected to surge

The price of gold has failed to live up to investor expectations over the course of 2021. The yellow metal is traditionally seen as a safe haven when markets are in panic mode.

Yet, during COVID-19, the spot price of gold has travelled sideways to trade under US$1,850 per ounce. It was only for a brief movement in May 2021, that the gold price hit above the US$1,900 mark.

At the time of writing, the price of gold is fetching for US$1,826.48 per ounce. This means that the precious metal has lost 1.22% since this time last year.

What’s weighing down the price of gold?

If history is anything to go by, gold should be gleaming to record highs today.

Rising inflation amid the lowest interest rates the world has seen, and the economic downfall from COVID-19 should be valid reasons. However, the price of gold has remained relatively steady for the past 18 months.

In today’s environment, investing in gold is done without acquiring physical bullion due to delivery and storage costs.

As such, commodity futures exchange offer ‘unallocated’ gold to investors. This means that the precious metal remains the property of the bank, but the investor is essentially a creditor to the bank.

On the other hand, ‘allocated’ gold enables financial institutions like banks to place leveraged bets on the future price of these metals.

With a minuscule amount of gold products traded daily on financial exchanges, physical bullion has lost interest among investors. That has forced gold mining companies and investors to accept the futures price for their physical bullion transactions.

The large increase in trading of futures and options contracts is being blamed for holding back the price of gold.

Is a comeback on the cards?

Each year, global gold mining adds around 2,500-3,000 tonnes to the overall above-ground stock of gold. While gold production has shown an upward trend in recent years, this is likely to level off in the future.

Mine production accounts around 75% of the total gold supply each year. However, annual demand has outpaced how much gold is being produced.

Jewellery accounts for the largest slice of global gold demand at around 50%. This is followed by central bank reserves at 25%, individuals at 15% and industrial uses at 10%.

Consumer demand led by gold jewellery has risen strongly in recent times, particularly across emerging markets. Nonetheless, recovering demand for gold jewellery could help push the price of gold higher.

In addition, new global banking rules could spark fresh interest from investors in owning bullion should inflation continue to soar.

The post Will the price of gold make a comeback this year? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) share price risen 10% in a week?
• The BrainChip (ASX:BRN) share price has rocketed 100% in a month. Is this AI tech company worth its valuation?
• How to be 100% invested and still sleep at night
• 3 exciting ASX growth shares with major upside potential in 2022
• 2 beaten-up ASX tech shares analysts rated as quality picks

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Key Points

• Regis share price up 10% since last Tuesday
• Investor appear to have found the bottom of the company’s shares
• Non-executive director decides to depart the company

The Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) share price has been travelling higher over the past week. This comes despite the company providing a shock announcement regarding a resignation from a board member on Friday.

At market close, the gold miner’s shares finished down 0.25% to $1.995.

Why are Regis shares on the rebound?

It appears investors believe that the worst is behind the company now, sending the Regis share price higher last week.

After hitting a multi-year low of $1.665 on 3 December, Regis shares broke the negative trend to surge higher.

The relative strength index (RSI) fell to a lowly 24, indicating that the company’s shares were oversold. This may have spurred investors to take advantage of the share price weakness which attracted buyers to the market.

If the company’s shares can break above the psychological barrier of $2, then further gains could await investors. Currently, there is a support level at $1.90 in place, which may hold provided that the price of gold doesn’t plummet.

Furthermore, investors shrugged off the news that Regis’ non-executive director, Russell Barwick resigned with immediate effect citing personal reasons.

The board expressed its appreciation for the contribution that Mr Barwick made since his appointment in March 2020.

Regis chair, James Mactier said:

I would like to thank Russell for his work over the last 2 years during which time, notwithstanding the extensive travel restrictions due to COVID-19, he has made a significant contribution to the company.

Regis share price performance

It’s been a rough 12 months for the Regis share price, having plummeted by more than 40% for investors. Its shares are marginally higher by 2% for year-to-date after staging a small comeback.

Based on valuation grounds, Regis has a market capitalisation of roughly $1.51 billion, with approximately 754.78 million shares on issue.

The post Why has the Regis Resources (ASX:RRL) share price risen 10% in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• These were the 5 worst ASX 200 mining shares to hold in 2021
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Key Points

• BrainChip share price accelerates 100% since last month
• Positive announcements boost market confidence in the company
• valuation has doubled at $2.57 billion

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The BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price is off to an incredible start in 2022. The company has gathered plenty of investor excitement following the adoption of its Akida technology into a Mercedes concept car.

At Friday’s market close, the artificial intelligence (AI) technology company’s shares finished 7.14% higher to $1.50 apiece.

What driving BrainChip shares higher?

With the world ushering towards an era of technology innovation across AI platforms, BrainChip has been racing ahead.

In the past few months, the company announced a number of positive developments regarding its Akida chip technology.

As such, the company struck a deal with Japanese semiconductor firm, MegaChips for developing next-generation edge-based AI solutions.

Under the multi-year licence agreement, MegaChips will have access to BrainChip’s intellectual property. This will see the use in designing and manufacturing the Akida technology into external customer’s system on chip designs.

In exchange, BrainChip will receive an upfront license fee and other payments of the transaction.

In a separate announcement, Information Systems Laboratories is developing an AI-based radar research solution for the United States Air Force. The technology will employ BrainChip’s Akida neural networking processor as a tool to incorporate into their portfolio of research engineering and engineering solutions.

Most recently, the company submitted a capital call notice to its 8th biggest shareholder, LDA Capital Limited.

A capital call notice refers to when a company requires funds from a partner whenever the needs arise. The “short-term” loan ensures enough liquidity for the company to fund ongoing investment projects.

Capital calls are legally binding agreements between both the company and the partner. Failure to adhere to a capital call can result in penalty charges, as well as the partner being forced to sell its shares.

Under the notice, LDA Capital will subscribe for up to 15 million BrainChip shares. LDA currently holds a 0.68% interest or approximately 11.14 million shares in BrainChip.

Is BrainChip worth its exorbitant valuation?

When looking at valuation grounds, BrainChip has a market capitalisation of around $2.57 billion, with around 1.71 billion shares outstanding.

To put this into perspective, the company is valued just as much as established tech firms like Megaport Ltd(ASX: MP1) and Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR).

However, in BrainChip’s September quarterly report, receipts from customers totalled US$0.1 million, a decrease of 42% from the prior period. The company noted that it expects the Akida production units and boards to its EAP customers late last year. Although there has been no word on this regarding increased revenues.

Furthermore, the company spent US$4 million on net operating cash outflows. This reflects an increase of 29% on the US$3.1 million recorded in Q2 FY21.

BrainChip closed the September quarter with US$23.9 million in cash. Based on the current attrition rate, this gives the company just over 6 quarters of available funding.

It appears that investors have priced in a lot of good things to come for BrainChip, given its high valuation.

It is also worth noting that the relative strength index (RSI) is at 89, indicating the company’s shares are overbought.

The RSI is a momentum oscillator that is used to assess the strength or weakness of a share price. Normal levels range between 30 and 70, as anything outside of this should ring warning bells, particularly at current.

BrainChip share price snapshot

BrainChip shares have gained more than 160% over the last 12 months. The BrainChip share price reached a 52-week high of $1.896 last week, before treading lower, possibly as a result of profit-taking.

The post The BrainChip (ASX:BRN) share price has rocketed 100% in a month. Is this AI tech company worth its valuation? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why AnteoTech, BrainChip, City Chic, and ResMed shares are charging higher
• Why the BrainChip (ASX:BRN) share price is rocketing 21% to a new record high
• Why BrainChip, Crown, Objective, and South32 shares are racing higher
• Why BrainChip, PointsBet, PolyNovo, and Syrah shares are pushing higher
• Why have BrainChip (ASX:BRN) shares become such hot property?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Dicker Data Limited and MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Dicker Data Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Australian share market is home to a number of companies growing at a rapid rate. Three that could be well-placed for growth are listed below.

Here’s why they have been rated as buys and tipped to provide strong returns for investors:

Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Bigtincan. This sales enablement platform provider has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years thanks to the increasing popularity of its offering. For example, in FY 2021, Bigtincan reported a 48% increase in annualised recurring revenue (ARR) to $53.1 million. Looking ahead, its position in the market has been strengthened via the acquisition of US-based Brainshark. It is an industry-recognised and multi-awarded leader in its field of sales coaching, learning and readiness. Management expects the acquisition to underpin combined ARR of $119 million in FY 2022. This represents a 124% year on year increase.

Morgan Stanley is very positive on the company. It currently has an overweight rating and lofty $2.10 price target on its shares.

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

Another ASX growth share to look at is IDP Education. It is a provider of international student placement services and English language testing services. While the last two years have been tough for the company, its future remains as a bright as ever. Especially given its leading position in a growing market, which has strengthened during the pandemic thanks to easing competition and a key acquisition in the lucrative India market.

The team at Morgan Stanley is also positive on IDP Education. It currently has an overweight rating and $40.20 price target on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

A final ASX growth to look at is this cloud-based accounting solution provider to small and medium sized businesses. Xero has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years and continued this trend in FY 2022. During the first half, it reported a 23% increase in subscribers to 3 million, a 61% jump in total subscriber lifetime value (LTV) to NZ$9.9 billion, and a 29% lift in annualised monthly recurring revenue (AMRR) to NZ$1,132 million. Positively, Xero’s subscriber count is still well short of its total addressable market of 45 million subscribers globally. This and its plan to monetise its growing user base give it a very long growth runway in the 2020s.

Goldman Sachs is bullish on Xero. Its analysts currently have a buy rating and $158.00 price target on its shares.

The post 3 exciting ASX growth shares with major upside potential in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 beaten-up ASX tech shares analysts rated as quality picks
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• An ASX XI to take on the world
• Down 14% in 10 days, is the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price now an undervalued buy?
• The Xero (ASX:XRO) share price has already dumped 13% so far this year. What’s next?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO, Idp Education Pty Ltd, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gone gangbusters over the last couple of years.

The index returned a chunky 13% during 2021, and has risen more than 54% since the trough of the March 2020 COVID-19 panic sell-off.

So it’s not entirely surprising that many investors are nervous that a brutal correction is just around the corner.

Should you be exiting out of ASX shares and saving it as cash? Then that cash can be used to buy back in later when stocks are cheaper?

Timing the market is a fool’s game

Aoris Investment Management chief investment officer Stephen Arnold reminded investors that while that strategy sounds great in theory, in practice it’s playing with fire.

“History shows that attempting to profit from the market’s zigs and zags along its upwards journey is far more likely to detract from investment returns than add to them,” he said in a letter to investors.

“What matters is what you own.”

Those investors who increase their cash allocations trying to foreshadow a market correction suffer from “the fallacy of composition”.

“They believe that what is true of the whole is also true of all the component parts. Having formed a view on the equity market in totality, they project this view onto all equities.”

Stock selection is key to beat a correction

Stock selection is far more important than any market movements, because indices don’t really represent any single portfolio.

“The index is mostly made up of businesses we don’t own. I’ve seen many poor investment decisions made as a result of confusing these two constructs,” said Arnold.

“Over an investment cycle, the returns from a stock portfolio such as ours will be largely a function of the change in value of the businesses we own over that multi-year period.”

According to Arnold, the reality is that returns from any individual ASX share will look “nothing like the average”.

“Thinking about equity market indices and averages misses the dispersion of stock returns within an index,” he said. 

“To illustrate this dispersion, in 2021 the returns of the best 20% of the global equity market exceeded those of the worst 20% by almost 90%.”

‘The future is unknowable’

Arnold said he has no view on which way the market will head in 2022.

“I do, though, have a considered view on the value of each of the 15 companies we own, as well as all those on our reserve list.”

This is why he remains fully invested and “holds as little in cash” as possible for his clients.

“I believe the value of the 15 companies we own is rising at a rate of around 10% per annum,” he said.

“To hold $1 of portfolio capital in cash and eschew the opportunity to have it invested in one of our companies in the expectation that the share price may fall 10% or more from an already attractive level would not be judicious.”

True long term investors know that yearly events have minimal impact on their ultimate success.

“The future is unknowable, and we simply have to make peace with that,” he said.

“In equity investing, living with uncertainty is much easier when we realise that much of what most market participants and commentators fret about, such as election outcomes and monetary policy, have very little bearing on long-term returns.”

The post How to be 100% invested and still sleep at night appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 exciting ASX growth shares with major upside potential in 2022
• 2 beaten-up ASX tech shares analysts rated as quality picks
• 2 consumer ASX shares ready to pop
• Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Key points

• A few ASX tech shares look good value after recent declines
• Xero is rated as a buy by Citi. It’s growing revenue and subscribers rapidly
• Airtasker is rated as a buy by Morgans. It’s generating resilient growth

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Some ASX tech shares have suffered quite sizeable sell-offs in the last few weeks. They could be attractive opportunities for investors to consider. That’s what analysts think.

Businesses in the technology sector have the ability to achieve high profit margins and grow quickly thanks to the intangible nature of software.

Investment ideas can open up quite quickly if the share price drops falls rapidly.

These two are rated as buys:

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is one of the world’s largest cloud accounting software businesses with a market capitalisation of more than $18 billion according to the ASX.

Since the start of the year, the Xero share price has fallen more than 18%. It’s currently rated as a buy by the broker Citi which has a price target of $160. That’s a potential increase of more than 30% over this year if the broker is right.

Xero is one of the ASX tech shares with the highest gross profit margins. For the six months to 30 September 2021, the gross profit margin increased from 85.7% to 87.1%. This turns a lot of revenue into gross profit for the business to spend on further growth.

The company says that it’s committed to delivering the world’s most insightful and trusted small business platform to make life better for people in small business, their advisors and communities around the world. To support that, Xero is going to continue to prioritise investing in product development and partnerships, and execute on its strategy to meet its customers’ evolving needs in both the short and long term.

Xero continues to grow both its subscriber numbers and average revenue per user (ARPU). In the six months to September 2021, its ARPU grew by 5% to NZ$31.32. There is revenue growth built into its annualised monthly recurring revenue (AMRR). The AMRR increased 29% to NZ$1.13 billion. But the Xero share price is the lowest it has been since May 2021.

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

Airtasker is another ASX tech share that has seen a decline in recent weeks. The Airtasker share price has fallen 11% in 2022 to date.

The task marketplace continues to see more growth as more jobs are done through the platform.

It’s currently rated as a buy by the broker Morgans with a price target of $1.27. That suggests a potential upside of more than 60% this year if the broker is right. Morgans was impressed by the first quarter in FY22.

In the three months to September 2021, the ASX tech share’s gross marketplace volume (GMV) rose 6.2% year on year to $35 million.

It’s achieving rapid growth of its international GMV, which was up more than 100% driven by strong growth in the UK in the first quarter. In the USA, it’s looking to expand in Dallas, Kansas City and Miami.

According to Airtasker, people are becoming increasingly comfortable in using the ASX tech share’s services as they get more used to the service. It’s investing in a ramping up of international marketing to drive its growth in the future.

It has a very high gross profit margin of more than 93%.

The post 2 beaten-up ASX tech shares analysts rated as quality picks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• An ASX XI to take on the world
• Down 14% in 10 days, is the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price now an undervalued buy?
• 2 exciting small cap shares named as buys
• The Xero (ASX:XRO) share price has already dumped 13% so far this year. What’s next?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dropping 3% over the past 5 months, investors are at a crossroads.

Do you hold off to see which direction the market wants to head this year, or buy the dip now?

Celeste Funds Management provided some commentary to its clients recently, which may sway you to the latter for 2 particular consumer-focused ASX shares. 

‘Further selling appears unwarranted’

Shares for women’s fashion retailer City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX) actually dropped 25.6% since the start of December, before a massive 11.6% recovery on Friday to finish the week at $4.99.

It seems the market has woken up to the faith that Celeste Funds holds in the business.

“Further selling appears unwarranted,” Celeste’s memo read.

“With major marketplace partners Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) and The Iconic, we believe City Chic is ripe with opportunity as supply chain pressures ease.”

Like most retailers, City Chic has been under pressure due to global supply chain disruption and exorbitant cargo costs.

But Celeste believes these concerns were flagged by the business well in advance and the share price has very much priced in those hurdles.

“City Chic advised they were well-stocked for the peak trading period, and with no physical store presence in the US they are also sheltered from the wage inflation and lockdown concerns impacting [rival] Torrid Holdings Inc (NYSE: CURV)’s 3Q.”

Seven out of 9 analysts currently rate City Chic shares as a buy, according to CMC Markets.

‘Ability to raise prices’

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG) boasted a nice 5.4% return last month but has given all of that back plus more this month, to trade 4.1% down since the start of December.

The home appliance maker has been, like City Chic, hit by supply chain issues. But the Celeste team believes it has an ace up its sleeve.

“We believe Breville has the ability to raise prices, as it has done in the past,” its memo to clients read. 

“Longer term, we believe Breville has a significant opportunity to grow revenue supported by further penetration into new and existing markets, combined with the pandemic’s impact on augmenting BRG’s addressable market.”

Other analysts are split on Breville, with 3 out of 6 rating the stock as a buy on CMC Markets.

Breville shares finished Friday down 1.44% at $28.84.

The post 2 consumer ASX shares ready to pop appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why AnteoTech, BrainChip, City Chic, and ResMed shares are charging higher
• Why did the City Chic (ASX:CCX) share price just drop then pop 13%?
• Analysts name 2 excellent ASX growth shares to buy right now
• 3 fantastic ASX growth shares rated as buys
• The City Chic (ASX:CCX) share price tumbled 8% today. What’s happening?

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re looking for some ASX dividend shares to help you overcome low interest rates, then you might want to look at the ones listed below.

Here’s what you need to know about these highly rated dividend shares:

Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)

The first dividend share to consider is ANZ. It could be a top option for investors with limited exposure to the bank sector thanks to its strong position in business banking. This gives ANZ some protection from the aggressive competition in retail banking for home loans.

The team at Morgans continues to be very positive on the bank. At present, the broker has an add rating and $31.00 price target on its shares. This compares to the current ANZ share price of $28.39.

As for dividends, Morgans is forecasting solid growth in its payouts over the coming years. It has pencilled in fully franked dividends per share of $1.47 in FY 2022 and then $1.64 in FY 2023. This implies yields of 5.2% and 5.8%, respectively.

Centuria Industrial Reit (ASX: CIP)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is Centuria Industrial. It is the largest domestic pure play industrial REIT with a portfolio of high-quality assets across key locations throughout Australia.

This includes the recent acquisition of eight freehold urban infill industrial assets for $351.3 million. These acquisitions expand Centuria Industrial’s exposure across attractive industrial sub-sectors including distribution centres, cold storage, and transport logistics.

Macquarie is positive on the company and has put an outperform rating and $4.16 price target on its shares. In addition, the broker is forecasting a 17.3 cents per share distribution in FY 2022 and an 18.7 cents per share distribution in FY 2023. 

Based on the current Centuria Industrial share price of $3.90, this will mean yields of 4.4% and 4.8%, respectively

The post Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX shares with growing fully franked dividends
• ANZ (ASX:ANZ) will lag other majors on this key growth metric in 2022 says top broker
• Is Westpac (ASX:WBC) going to be the best big 4 bank for dividends in 2022?
• Could this impact the performance of ASX 200 banks more than interest rates in 2022?
• These were the top 5 ASX 200 bank shares in 2021

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished the week on a disappointing note. The benchmark index fell 1.1% to 7,393.9 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Monday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rise

The Australian share market looks set to start the week in a positive fashion. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 28 points or 0.4% higher this morning. This follows a mixed end to the week on Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones fall 0.55%, the S&P 500 rise 0.1%, and the Nasdaq storm 0.6% higher.

Oil prices charge higher

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) will be on watch after oil prices charged higher on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 2.1% to US$83.82 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price pushed 1.9% higher to US$86.06 a barrel. Oil prices rose despite speculation that China will release some of its reserves.

Tech shares on watch

It could be a good day for tech shares such as Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) today after tech shares rebounded on Wall Street on Friday night. As they tend to follow the Nasdaq’s lead, its 0.6% gain bodes well for trade today. However, with the Block share price continuing its slide, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price may not fare as well as others.

Gold price falls

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could start the week in the red after the gold price dropped on Friday night. According to CNBC, the spot gold price fell 0.3% to US$1,787.40 an ounce. The gold price dropped amid rises in US bond yields and the US dollar.

Iron ore prices soften

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) shares will be in focus today after a pullback in the iron ore price. According to Metal Bulletin, the benchmark iron ore price fell 0.9% to US$126.75 a tonne. Market sentiment is being weighed down by most mills finishing the restocking of iron ore at China’s ports ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Why this expert sees an opportunity for ASX property shares in 2022

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Afterpay Limited, Appen Ltd, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Afterpay Limited, Appen Ltd, and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re not yet invested in exchange traded funds (ETFs), you could be missing out.

For example, you only need to look at the market beating returns from these ETFs to see how they could have complemented your portfolio.

Here’s what you need to know about these ETFs:

VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (ASX: MOAT)

The first market-beating ETF for investors to look at is the VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF. This fund aims to invest in a group of companies with sustainable competitive advantages and attractive valuations.

Among the ~50 companies included in the fund are the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, American Express, Boeing, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Microsoft, Philip Morris, Pfizer, and Salesforce.

Companies with competitive advantages have historically generated strong returns for investors. It is for this reason that Warren Buffett looks for these advantages when choosing his investments.

Over the last five years, the index the fund tracks has generated a return of 18.7% per annum. This would have turned a $10,000 investment into almost $23,500.

Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)

Another market-beating ETF to consider is the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. This ETF provides investors with exposure to the world’s largest listed companies.

Vanguard notes that this ETF provides Australian investors with exposure to many of the world’s largest companies listed in major developed countries. It also offers low-cost access to a broadly diversified range of stocks that allows them to participate in the long-term growth potential of international economies outside Australia.

Among its 1529 holdings are the likes of Apple, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Visa.

Over the last five years, the index the fund tracks has generated a return of 15.2% per annum. This would have turned a $10,000 investment into almost $20,300.

The post 2 market-beating ETFs for ASX investors in January appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How did the VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (ASX:MOAT) more than double the ASX 200’s returns in 2021?
• Is the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX:VGS) the most diversified ETF on the market?
• 2 excellent ETFs for ASX investors to buy and hold
• 2 ETFs for ASX investors to check out this month
• 3 ASX ETFs for smart investors in 2022

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF and Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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