The Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX: NVA) share price has been on fire on Tuesday.

In late trade, the gold explorer’s shares are up 10% to 16.5 cents.

Why is the Nova Minerals share price charging higher?

Investors have been bidding the Nova Minerals share price higher today following the release of a positive announcement.

According to the release, Nova Minerals has achieved significant grades at Korbel Main, within its flagship Estelle Gold Project located in the prolific Tintina Gold Belt in Alaska.

The release explains that Korbel drilling is ongoing, with almost 10,000 metres drilled to date and further results to follow in the near term. The results to date are geologically looking very promising.

Management notes they show encouraging gold grade indicators. In fact, wide zones of mineralised intrusive containing internal higher grade “blow out zones” continue to be intersected in infill drilling. This could lead to a significant upgrade to the resource estimate in its next update.

Management commentary

Nova’s CEO, Christopher Gerteisen, appeared to be delighted with the drilling results.

He commented: “The significance of these grades obtained this early in the infill program further confirms a higher-grade feeder zone within the SE Block B area of the Korbel Main deposit. Our expectation is that we will start to consistently intersect internal high-grade ‘blow-out’ zones, and that is exactly what these results show.”

“This could mean a significant upgrade to the resource, with the next update to be released later this year. It will also have a major impact on our pit optimizations moving forward. As such, we see this upcoming interim scoping study as a ‘snap-shot in time’, a starting point, one which we are only set to grow from.”

“We are starting to get a clearer structure of the deposit, which bodes for our move into PFS [pre-feasibility study] after this interim scoping study, where we will continue to hone and improve our capital expenditure and operating expenditure estimates,” he added.

The post Here’s why the Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) share price is jumping 10% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James MIckleboro does not own any shares 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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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is slipping in afternoon trade.

CBA shares are currently down 0.6%, after moving 0.5% higher in early morning trade.

With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) up a slender 0.1% at time of writing, there’s no clear reason for the slide in CBA shares.

Likely the modest retrace we’re witnessing today – and witnessed yesterday when CommBank closed the day down 0.6% – comes as investors take some profits off the table following Friday’s record close.

What helped drive CommBank to a record high on Friday?

After struggling to overcome the long-lingering fallout from the banking Royal Commission, followed by an environment of plunging interest rates, the stars are beginning to realign for CBA shares and the other big banks.

Today, they’re flush with a lot more cash than the minimal levels they’re required to hold by law. And a lot of that money is expected to find its way back into investors pockets, either by way of increased dividend payments or potential share buybacks.

As Reuters reports:

Australia’s big banks are likely to return a record $15 billion or more of cash to investors over the next two years, with investors betting Commonwealth Bank… will move first and helping drive shares of the top lender to all-time highs.

How have CBA shares performed?

Friday saw CBA shares close at a new record high of $102.52. That came after the share price hit a new record intraday high of $102.64 earlier in the day.

Yesterday CommBank closed down 0.6%, to $101.93 per share.

Currently trading at $101.30, CBA shares are currently down 1.1% from Friday’s all-time closing high.

Taking a step back, longer-term shareholders will have little to complain about, with the share price up 40.4% over the past 12 months, more than twice the 18.8% gains posted by the ASX 200 over that same time.

The post What’s happening with CBA (ASX:CBA) shares today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Bernd Struben 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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The Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) share price is not having a great day today. Sigma shares are down 1.56% at the time of writing to 63 cents a share. In fact, the Sigma share price is now down about 4% since last Friday.

So let’s take a look at what Sigma has been up to lately.

Firstly, it’s interesting to note that Sigma has recently announced the impending departure of former managing director and CEO Mark Hooper. Mr Hooper tended his resignation in late April after heading the company for almost 11 years. He will depart Sigma by the end of October.

As we reported at the time, this move wasn’t greeted with enthusiasm by investors, who sent Sigma shares down close to 4% at the time. The company is still searching for a replacement for Mr Hooper.

More recently, merger and acquisition (M&A) rumours have been swirling around Sigma. M&A is reportedly hot right now. According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, Australia is on track for a record year of M&A, with $82.8 billion worth of deals announced in 2021 so far. That is well above the average of $25.8 billion annually over the past 5 years (excluding 2020 when COVID-19 stopped M&A in its tracks).

A separate AFR report this week once again linked Sigma to Australia Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API). API has circled Sigma in the past, most recently in 2018.

While that potential deal fell through, the AFR reports that both companies’ chairs have met up in recent weeks. As the report noted, Sigma is now the larger company, unlike in 2018 when API was the larger company.

About the Sigma share price

Sigma Healthcare is a leading network of independent and franchised pharmacies and healthcare providers across Australia.

Sigma shares have been virtually flat year-to-date, rising 2.42% in 2021 so far, while they have climbed 9.5% over the past year. At the current share price of 63 cents, Sigma has a market capitalisation of $672.6 million.

The post What’s been happening with the Sigma (ASX:SIG) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be a good way to find diversification.

Some ETFs give exposure to hundreds or even thousands of businesses. While others might have less than 50 positions.

These two ETFs could be ones to think about:

Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)

This ETF is about investing in the global share market with businesses that are listed across the world in economically developed countries.

It’s invested in over 1,500 businesses. The portfolio is predominantly invested in US businesses such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Alphabet, Facebook, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, Visa, UnitedHealth, Berkshire Hathaway, Nvidia and Home Depot.

But there are portfolio positions that are listed in other countries like Nestlé, ASML, Roche, LVMH, Novartis, Toyota, SAP, Softbank and AstraZeneca.

It’s invested in plenty of countries other than the US like Japan, the UK, France, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.

The biggest sector allocation is around 22% of the portfolio to information technology. Other sectors in the portfolio with a double digit allocation include financials, healthcare, consumer discretionary and industrials.

Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF has an annual management fee of 0.18%, which is one of the lowest fees in the global ETF market.

The returns of the ETF have been double digit over the long-term. Since inception in November 2014 it has produced net returns of 13% per annum. However, past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

This ETF has a much more focused portfolio than the Vanguard one. It has a total of 40 positions in the portfolio.

Its biggest holdings are: Cisco Systems, Accenture, Crowdstrike, Zscaler, Splunk, Proofpoint, Fortinet, Akamai Technologies, Juniper Networks and Leidos.

These businesses are global leaders and emerging players in the cybersecurity space. Cybercrime is on the rise in a world where more important information and data is held online.

More than half of the portfolio is invested in businesses that focus on systems software, but other sectors include IT consulting, communications equipment, internet services and infrastructure, application software and so on.

It has an annual management fee of 0.67%. Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF has grown its net assets to approximately $492 million.

The large majority of this ETF’s portfolio is invested in US shares, with a weighting of around 90%. The only other countries with a weighting of more than 1% are: Israel (3.4%), the UK (3.1%), Japan (1.4%) and France (1.4%).

Past performance is not an indictor of future performance, but Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF has produced an average return per annum of 19.3% since inception in August 2016.

The post 2 good ETFs that might be buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 shares of and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BETA CYBER ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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Motley Fool Australia Chief Investment Officer Scott Phillips joined Nine’s Late News on Sunday night to discuss the big economic week ahead, including payroll numbers, inflation, and credit card spending… and some analysts are expecting the ASX to finish the financial year with a bang!

The post A big week of data — and high hopes for the ASX. Motley Fool CIO Scott Phillips on Nine’s Late News appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Scott Phillips 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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It has been a very volatile day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) on Tuesday. However, in afternoon trade, things are looking positive and the index is up 0.2% to 7,294.8points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are trading lower:

A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

The A2 Milk share price is down almost 2% to $5.72. This may have been driven by a broker note out of Citi. Its analysts note that UK consumer goods company Reckitt has agreed to sell its China-based infant formula company. It believes this could be a sign that success in China will be increasingly challenging for foreign formula brands. The broker believes a2 Milk should be looking to diversify away from the market. Citi has a sell rating and $5.85 price target on the company’s shares.

ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX)

The ASX share price is down 1.5% to $74.23. Today’s decline appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Morgans this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded this stock exchange operator’s shares to a reduce rating with a $65.87 price target. Morgans was reasonably underwhelmed with the company’s latest monthly update.

Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY)

The Galaxy share price is down 4% to $3.84. With no news out of the lithium miner, this decline may have been driven by profit taking from investors. After all, the Galaxy share price is up 67% since the start of the year even after taking today’s decline into the equation.

Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU)

The Imugene share price is down 16% to 31 cents. This is despite there being no news out of the immuno-oncology focused biopharmaceutical company. Imugene’s shares are now down by over a third since hitting a record high late last month. Despite these declines, the pre-revenue company still has a market capitalisation of ~$1.5 billion.

The post Why A2 Milk, ASX Ltd, Galaxy, & Imugene shares are dropping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James Mickleboro owns Galaxy shares. 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 A2 Milk. 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 Race Oncology Ltd (ASX: RAC) share price is falling today after the pharmaceutical company announced a contract award for a leukemia trial.

Race Oncology has signed up a leading Israeli company to supply drugs and provide other clinical services for its phase 2 relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) trial.

AML is a type of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow, and usually moves into the blood stream. While treatment options are limited, if not addressed, AML can be life-threatening.

At the time of writing, Race Oncology shares are swapping hands for $3.73, down 1.06%.

What has Race Oncology announced?

The Race Oncology share price is losing ground today despite the company’s latest upbeat announcement.

In today’s release, Race advised it has entered into a contract with Israel’s leading pharmaceutical distributor, Trialog Clinical Trials. The agreement will see Trialog deliver trial drugs, including Bisantrene, and provide other clinical services. Bisantrene is a small-molecule anti-cancer drug being developed by Race for the treatment of AML.

Race Oncology is scheduled to run its phase 2 AML trial at the Chaim Sheba Medical Centre in Israel. The study will use Bisantrene in a novel three-drug combination to show its superior efficacy in AML cells. The trial involves 29 participants, with the first patient due to receive treatment in the third quarter of the calendar year.

The company said the supply agreement will cost a maximum of about US$800,000. This is expected to cover the patient enrolment period from 2021 to 2023.

Furthermore, the phase 2 AML trial will run alongside an Australian phase 2 trial in patients with extramedullary AML. The latter is planned to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Extramedullary AML is considered a rare and serious illness with about a 25% survival rate over a 5-year term. The disease occurs when the leukaemia spreads from the bone marrow and forms solid tumours in tissues such as the skin, breast, kidney, brain, or other organs.

About the Race Oncology share price

Race Oncology shares have gained more than 1,000% in the past 12 months and are up by more than 110% year to date.

Based on today’s price, Race Oncology has a market capitalisation of about $542 million, with 143 million shares on issue.

The post The Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) share price is stumbling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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Shares in Raiz Invest Ltd (ASX: RZI) are climbing today following the release of the company’s key metrics for the month of May. At the time of writing, the Raiz share price is $1.40 – 4.87% higher than yesterday’s closing price.

Within Raiz’s release today, the financial services company announced it has reached two major milestones and continued its upwards growth.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from Raiz Invest.

The month that was for Raiz Invest

For the first time, Raiz’s Australian funds under management exceeded $750 million.

According to the company’s managing director and global CEO George Lucas, the company is on track to have over $1 billion under management by the end of the year.

Its managed superannuation funds also met a milestone, surpassing $100 million. This was pushed by a 4.7% increase to the amount of Australian super managed by the company over the course of May.

Further, the number of Australian customers signing up to the company’s services grew by 1.6% in May. Its managed Australian investment accounts increased by 1.8% in the same time.

Last month’s boost means the company now has 76.2% more Australian funds under management than it did this time last year.

According to Lucas, Ramadan affected the amount of new Indonesian and Malaysian customers the company signed up last month, which increased by 7.2% and 9.3%, respectively.

Finally, the company shared that Acorns Grow Inc – which Raiz split from in 2018 – is planning to list on the Nasdaq exchange.

Acorns is the second largest shareholder of Raiz Invest.

Raiz share price snapshot

The Raiz share price has been performing well on the ASX lately.

Raiz shares have grown 42% since the start of 2021 and 91% on this time last year.

The financial services company has a market capitalisation of around $109 million, with approximately 81 million shares outstanding.

The post Here’s why the Raiz (ASX:RZI) share price has gained 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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The Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX: OBM) share price is one of the worst performers on the ASX today. This comes after the gold miner announced an update on its capital raising efforts.

At the time of writing, Ora Banda shares are down 12.20% to 18 cents.

What’s happening with the Ora Banda share price?

A major catalyst for the fall in today’s Ora Banda share price is an impending share dilution.

According to today’s announcement, Ora Banda has successfully completed a share placement.

The company received commitments from new and existing international and domestic institutions, raising $21 million before costs.

According to the placement, about 124 million shares will be issued at a price of 17 cents each. This represents a 17.1% discount to Ora Banda shares’ last closing price of 20.5 cents on 3 June before they entered a trading halt.

Ora Banda will use its existing placement capacity to create the new shares. Under listing rule 7.1, this allows up to 15% of its total shares to be issued without shareholder approval. In addition, the company will issue another 588,236 shares ($100,000 worth) to the managing director, David Quinlivan. This, however, is conditional on shareholder approval, with the general meeting expected to be held around 19 July 2021.

The proceeds of the placement will be used for the development of its Davyhurst Gold Project. This includes resource definition and reserve replacement, maiden reserves work, regional exploration, ramp-up costs and working capital expenses.

Lastly, Ora Banda says it will launch a $4 million Share Purchase Plan with the same terms offered to eligible investors. Up to 23.5 million new shares will be created, with the monies being put towards corporate purposes and working capital.

Management commentary

Ora Banda managing director, David Quinlivan said:

FY 2021 has been an incredibly busy time for Ora Banda. It was the year in which the Company started three new mines, installed and commissioned a range of significant infrastructure on site including a new LNG power station, built a new camp, completed the planned process plant remedial works program on time and within budget and then recommissioned this plant.

All of this achieved during a year of significant global “Covid-19” disruptions. With three mines on line by the end of June, the Company has a solid and flexible production base as processing ramps up to nameplate capacity.

Funding to progress resource and reserve definition and advance high priority exploration targets ahead of when previously planned will further underpin the Company’s long-term future.

The Ora Banda Energy share price is down by more than 30% since this time last year.

The post Why the Ora Banda (ASX:OBM) share price is sinking 12% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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The MNF Group Ltd (ASX: MNF) share price has been a solid performer again on Tuesday.

In afternoon trade, the VoIP network provider’s shares are up 5% to $5.60.

This means the MNF share price is now up almost 14% since the start of the week.

Why is the MNF share price charging higher today?

Investors have been buying MNF’s shares today following the release of a business update.

According to the release, the company has been working hard preparing for its expansion into the Singapore market.

It is currently in the process of conducting its final technical trials with several customers, before officially going live in the market on 1 July. This is pending final regulatory approval.

This may be the first of a number of expansions in the near future. In February, management revealed that it has been completing due diligence to assess the next Asia-Pacific market to expand into. At that point, it had six possible target countries shortlisted.

Guidance update

MNF also confirmed that it is on target to achieve the top end of its earnings guidance in FY 2021. This guidance is for operating earnings of $40 million to $43 million for the 12 months ended 30 June.

It commented: “Business performance in the last quarter has been solid, and after receiving preliminary financials overnight for the month of May, the company now expects FY21 EBITDA to be within the top half of the guidance range provided. This is based on the performance of the company over a number of months including the latest results for May, the business has greater confidence in earnings projections as the end of the financial year approaches.”

Following today’s gain, the MNF share price is now up an impressive 27% since the start of the year. This compares favourably to a 9% gain by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

The post Why the MNF (ASX:MNF) share price is racing higher again today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James Mickleboro does not own any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended MNF Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended MNF Group Limited. 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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