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The Tesserent Ltd (ASX: TNT) share price has had an eventful day so far with the company releasing 3 major announcements to the market in the past 24 hours.

Starting with the latest announcement first, the cybersecurity company said it has acquired yet another cybersecurity business, this time with government connections.

Tesserent has also made a deal to increase the amount of money the company can borrow. And finally, the company announced its admission to the ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) after the closing of trade yesterday. 

All this news has made it an interesting day for the Tesserent share price, which plunged by 3% after opening but has since bounced back. 

At the time of writing, the Tesserent share price is 28.5 cents, up 3.64% on yesterday’s close. 

Let’s take a closer look at the company’s announcements.

New acquisition

In Tesserent’s newest acquisition, the company has purchased Secure Logic, a provider of managed security services to the NSW and federal governments.

Secure Logic operates a 24/7 security operations centre in Sydney and also provides security for corporate and financial clients domestically and internationally. The company has offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore.

Tesserent advised it plans to use the acquisition to leverage its state and federal government relationships and capabilities.

Further, the acquisition will help establish a strategic partnership to distribute Tesserent-owned products across Australia and New Zealand.

The company will pay for the acquisition with a mix of cash and Tesserent shares, putting forward $10.75 million and approximately 42,000,000 shares. It noted Secure Logic’s audited $9 million recurring revenue and $4.2 million sustainable EBITDA as a key reason for the acquisition.

Tesserent chairman Geoff Lord said the acquisition would help the company reach its goal of making a $150 million turnover by the end of the 2021 financial year.

Increased debt facility

Tesserent’s new agreement with existing debt facility provider PURE Asset Management has raised its debt capacity by $20 million, leaving the company with a total debt facility of $35 million.

The company said it planned to use the new debt facility to continue its strategy of growth through acquisition. It has previously acquired several competing cybersecurity businesses, including Pure Security, Rivium, Airloom and iQ3. 

It also managed to secure improved repayment terms – the interest rate on the new facility has decreased from 8.9% to 8.5% per year.

As part of the deal, Tesserent provided Pure with approximately $20 million worth of warrants.

In this case, the warrants work like an IOU for company shares. Pure is guaranteed to receive nearly 44.5 million Tesserent shares at a future date,  locked-in at 45 cents apiece.

These shares will be received directly from Tesserent. Tesserent stated that by agreeing to receive warrants, Pure showed it has faith in the company’s long-term strategy.

Tesserent co-CEO Julian Challingsworth said the company was pleased to continue its relationship with Pure.

This extended facility provides the funding cornerstone to continue to drive the company’s acquisition strategy with minimal dilutionary impact on our existing shareholders.

Growth through acquisition continues to increase our capabilities, geographic reach and the number of organisations that the Tesserent group serves. We now have increased funding flexibility and certainty around funding potential future acquisitions to continue this strategy.

Tesserent share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Tesserent share price has risen by an incredible 612%. However, the company’s shares are also down by more than 18% year to date.

Based on the current Tesserent share price, the company has a market capitalisation of around $275 million with 1 billion shares outstanding. 

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Calm restored to the ASX 200
• Tesserent (ASX:TNT) share price jumps 14% on solid half-year results
• ASX tech correction? 10 of the worst-hit shares
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes higher, despite tech selloff
• Why the Murray River Group (ASX:MRG) share price lifted today

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 of Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) and News Corporation (ASX: NWS) are both trading higher during Tuesday’s session. At the time of writing, the Nine share price is sitting at $3.03, up 1.34%. Meanwhile, the News Corp share price is trading 0.89% higher at $31.86.

For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also in the green today, currently having risen by 0.91%.

The positive share price movements for the media companies come following recent news of both companies signing deals with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB).

Facebook to pay News Corp, signs letter of intent with Nine

News Corp announced today it has come to a three-year agreement with Facebook under which the social media giant will pay News Corp for use of its Australian news content. This includes content from publications including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, and news.com.au.

The company also announced today that Sky News Australia, a News Corp cable television network, has come to a parallel agreement with Facebook.

News Corp had previously come to an agreement with Facebook for its US content in October 2019.

Commenting on today’s announcement, News Corp CEO, Robert Thomson said:

The agreement with Facebook is a landmark in transforming the terms of trade for journalism and will have a material and meaningful impact on our Australian news businesses.

He added:

We are grateful to the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Rod Sims and his team for taking a principled stand for publishers, small and large, rural and urban, and for Australia.

Mr Thomson was referring to the recently passed News and Media Bargaining Code legislation enacted by the Australian Government. Facebook and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) owned Google were the initial subjects of the law.

Facebook was so opposed to the code it initially blocked all Australian news from being shared on its platform for five days. The social media company only dropped the news ban when the government agreed to make several amendments to the bill.

Prior to today’s announcement from News Corp, speculation was already circulating yesterday regarding a possible deal between the company and Facebook.

News Corp did not disclose the value of the deal.

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) is reporting today that Nine Entertainment has also signed a letter of intent with the US$780 billion social media company. Nine is unlikely to formally announce a deal, according to the paper.

Facebook News

Facebook intends to showcase news on its latest Australian offering, Facebook News. Launched in 2019, and coming to Australia soon, a section of the platform will be devoted to displaying news stories personalised to individual user preferences. Facebook will pay publishers for this content.

The company had previously excluded Australia from the initial launch of the product due to the aforementioned dispute with the government over its media code.

Nine and News Corp share price snapshots

One year ago, the Nine and News Corp share prices were sitting at $1.17 and $14.76, respectively. If an investor had bought shares in one of these companies at that time, they would be sitting on a tidy 159% or 116% return on investment.

The market capitalisations of Nine and News Corp are $5.1 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.

More reading

• Could this have moved the News Corp (ASX:NWS) share price today?
• Could this be the pin to pop the Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) bubble?
• ASX 200 climbs, Westpac in the clear, Nine reveals a WIN-ning deal
• Why the Southern Cross Media (ASX:SXL) share price is tumbling 14%
• Nine (ASX:NEC) share price edges higher on positive update

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Marc Sidarous has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Facebook. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Facebook. 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 Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM) share price is soaring in early-afternoon trade. This comes after the company announced a second clinical trial collaboration with subsidiaries of Merck & Co. (MSD). At the time of writing, the biotechnology company’s shares are up 5.97% to 36 cents.

New Phase 2b trial

The Immutep share price is on the move as investors have been rallying up on the positive news.

According to its release, Immutep advised that it has entered a second clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD. This will see Immutep commence a new Phase 2b trial, named TACTI-003 using first-line head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

HNSCC is an aggressive life-threatening cancer that affects either the mouth, sinuses, nose or throat. The disease has a high mortality rate. Because of this, it is considered one of the most common cancers in the world. Global cancer statistics revealed 890,000 cases were diagnosed with 450,000 deaths reported in 2018 alone.

The trial will be a 1:1 randomised and controlled study involving around 160 first-line HNSCC patients. Furthermore, Immutep will seek to assess the safety and efficacy of its lead product candidate, eftilagimod alpha with MSD’s KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab). This will be compared against administering pembrolizumab alone to treat the HNSCC disease.

Immutep’s TACTI-003 trial will take place over multiple locations across the United States, Australia, and Europe. Moreover, the first patient is expected to be enrolled in the study during the middle of this year.

It’s worth noting that the company is also evaluating eftilagimod alpha and KEYTRUDA in its Phase 2 TACTI-002 trial. The encouraging results received led Immutep to conduct an additional TACTI-003 study.

Words from the CEO

Furthermore, Immutep CEO Marc Voigt touched on the company’s developments, saying:

We are excited to be deepening our collaboration with MSD through this second agreement and the TACTI-003 clinical trial. Advancing to this later stage Phase IIb trial will allow us to explore the combination therapy in the commercially relevant 1st line therapy setting which has a high unmet medical need.

About the Immutep share price

The Immutep share price has gained close to 30% over the past 12 months. However, the company is down 13% year-to-date.

Based on the current valuations, Immutep has a market capitalisation of about $233.5 million. Additionally, Immutep has 648 million shares on issue.

More reading

• Why the Immutep (ASX:IMM) share price will be in focus today
• Why is the Immutep (ASX:IMM) share price dipping today?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a solid gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up a sizeable 1% to 6,843.3 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are racing higher:

Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV)

The Clover share price has jumped 7% to $1.43. Investors have been buying the specialty ingredients company’s shares following the release of its half year results. As expected, for the six months ended 31 January, Clover delivered a 21.7% reduction in total net sales revenue to $29.4 million. This soft result was primarily driven by difficult trading conditions caused by COVID-19 across the infant formula industry.

PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The PointsBet share price has stormed 5% higher to $14.89 after announcing an acquisition. The sports betting company is acquiring Banach Technology for US$43 million. Banach Technology is a Dublin-based provider of proprietary risk management platforms and quantitative driven trading models. These platforms and models support complex pre-game and in-play betting products across numerous sports.

Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR)

The Syrah share price has climbed 3.5% to $1.20. Investors have been buying the graphite producer’s shares after it revealed that it has restarted production at Balama less than a month after announcing plans to do so. This positions it ahead of schedule versus the expected lead time of two to three months for its first production.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The Temple & Webster share price has jumped 10% to $10.09. This gain appears to have been driven by a rebound in the tech sector and a broker note out of Morgan Stanley this morning. In respect to the latter, its analysts have initiated coverage on the online furniture and homewares retailer with an overweight rating and $14.00 price target. It believes the recent weakness in its share price is a buying opportunity.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.8%: Metcash update, tech shares rebound, PointsBet acquisition
• Why the Clover (ASX:CLV) share price is climbing 5% this morning
• 2 ASX shares that are rapidly growing
• Here’s why the Syrah (ASX:SYR) share price is pushing 5% higher today
• Why all eyes will be on the PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price today

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Clover Limited, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. 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 Venturex Resources Ltd (ASX: VXR) share price is falling hard today, down 16% in late morning trade.

Venturex closed yesterday at 51 cents per share and is currently trading at 44 cents per share, down 15%.

Below we take a look at the ASX mining company’s half year results for the financial year ending 31 December (H1 FY21), released yesterday after market close.

Financial results for H1 FY21

Venturex shares are tumbling today after the company reported a consolidated loss (both before and after income tax) of $2,789,000. That compares to a loss of $2,775,000 in the prior corresponding period. (Note, figures rounded to the nearest thousand.)

Basic and diluted loss per share both came in at 0.75 cents compared to 0.99 cent loss per share in H1 FY20.

Venturex ended the half-year with cash and cash equivalents of $2,595,000. This was up from $2,257,000 in the corresponding prior half-year. Borrowing fell to $1,171,000 from $2,088,000.

The company did not pay any dividends for the half year.

Venturex reported that during the half year its focus remained on “the further advancement to development of the Sulphur Springs Copper-Zinc Project” and the ASX resource explorer “continued to explore its tenements, which are located in the Pilbara in Western Australia”.

Management said that due to continued uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasting the potential impact on future operations was not practicable.

Share price snapshot

The Venturex share price has been a star performer over the past 12 months, with shares really taking in February. That rapid boost has seen shares gain 514% since this time last year. By comparison the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 40% in that same time.

Despite falling hard today, the Venturex Resources share price remains up a stellar 231% in 2021. At the current share price, Venturex has a market cap of $178 million.

More reading

• Here’s why the Venturex Resources (ASX:VXR) share price has rocketed 233%

Motley Fool contributor 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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If you asked a group of ASX investors what their ideal portfolio would look like, I’d bet that some would answer ‘high growth with low volatility‘. This is especially the case when it comes to a superannuation account. This is understandable to an extent. None of us truly enjoy watching the value of our ASX share portfolios bounce around, or crater. For many readers, the memories of what was happening this time last year might still be fresh. That was a scary time indeed.

But low volatility is not something that can be achieved with regularity. Or I should say with regularity without giving up growth opportunities.

Modern portfolio theory, a classic framework for analysing investments that won its creators a Nobel prize, is very clear on this. If you want higher growth, it walks hand in hand with higher volatility. Now, modern portfolio theory has its critics. May investors, like Warren Buffett for instance, don’t agree with all of its teachings. But it does have a point here. Assets that inherently deliver low volatility also usually deliver low growth. Think about it, the appeal of holding cash is its absence of volatility. That’s why many investors try to convert their shares to cash in a market crash.

Volatility and your ASX share portfolio

There are two main ways investors try and reduce volatility in their portfolios. The first is to do exactly what we just talked about – convert volatile assets to cash when volatility emerges.

But that strategy for avoiding volatility is fraught with danger. Remember, we only know the market is crashing when the crash itself has already begun. Because of this, converting your shares to cash in order to avoid volatility usually results in ‘locking in’ a loss on your investment. You then have to time the recovery again to get back in, potentially locking yourself out of a rising market. This rarely works, and almost never does consistently. That’s why there’s that phrase ‘time in the market beats timing the market’.

The second way investors try and beat volatility is by holding assets that are believed to be less volatile in the first place. It could be an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds bonds or cash. It could be infrastructure companies, consumer staples businesses, or other investments like gold that investors consider ‘defensive’. However, these investments are usually not market-beating performers over the long-term. That’s partly why they are called ‘defensive’ in the first place.

And we are back where we started: If you want lower volatility, you have to give up the prospects of higher growth.

Foolish takeaway

Most successful investors, like Warren Buffett, have accepted that volatility is a part of this success. Think about it, anyone who held their nerve in the market crash last year and didn’t touch their portfolio has probably come out the other side stronger than ever. And volatility also gives us the chance to buy our favourite ASX shares at cheap prices. Volatility can be scary, but it can also be our friend if we let it.

More reading

• Gold as an investment: A good idea in 2021?
• These 2 ASX shares are the newest “buy” ideas from top brokers
• What’s happening with the Centuria (ASX:CNI) share price today?
• ASX 200 up 0.8%: Metcash update, tech shares rebound, PointsBet acquisition
• What’s with the Clean TeQ (ASX:CLQ) share price today?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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After a stellar year in 2020, gold has come off the boil in 2021 so far. Last year saw the price of gold break its 2011 record high, and brought renewed interest in the metal for its fabled ‘hedge against chaos’ properties.

This is understandable. You could not ask for a more perfect environment for gold, the ultimate ‘safe haven’, than a global pandemic. But what of gold as an investment for 2021?

Well, gold has certainly been falling. According to Bloomberg, the price of gold today is sitting at US$1,729 an ounce. That’s well below the US$1,895 an ounce at which it started the year, and even further away from the peak of US$2,069 that we saw back in August last year.

But does that mean we should be considering investing in gold right now? ‘Buy low, sell high’ and all.

Gold as an investment in 2021

Gold is far from the perfect investment. As its critics will tell you, gold is just a metal. Unlike property or shares of a company, it produces no yield. And with storage costs and possible insurance, it will probably actually cost you money to even hold it.

But there are still potential reasons to consider gold as a useful investment in 2021. Billionaire investor and Bridgewater Associates fund manager Ray Dalio agrees. Dalio has just released an article on the matter, in which he stated the following:

The economics of investing in bonds (and most financial assets) has become stupid… Imagine that the economy is a person and government policy makers are doctors. When the economy’s pulse plunges the doctors run to inject a big dose of stimulation into it. When you see them running to the patient and injecting the giant dose of stimulation, you should buy reflation assets like stocks, inflation-indexed bonds, and gold because the response to the stimulation will initially cause these assets to rise before the stimulation passes through to the economy and the patient starts running around.

Because gold’s supply is finite, it is an asset that will theoretically perform well in an inflationary environment, such as the one Dalio is predicting will come to pass.

Dalio went on to say this:

I believe a well-diversified portfolio of non-debt and non-dollar assets along with a short cash position is preferable to a traditional stock/bond mix that is heavily skewed to US dollars.

So his recommendation seems to be that owning gold as a part of a diversified portfolio is a prudent idea.

So how does one do this?

Well, there are a few options. There’s always the physical metal itself in bullion form. However, the cost of buying gold this way can be prohibitive to many investors. As such, you can always consider buying an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds gold. An example on the ASX would be the ETFS Physical Gold ETF (ASX: GOLD).

There are always mining companies too. If a company owns a gold mine, it technically owns all of the gold within it. You would also own part of this gold by extension as a shareholder. The ASX’s largest gold miner is Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM),  but there are quite a few others to choose from as well.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Calm restored to the ASX 200
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Is it time to give ASX gold shares another chance?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Newcrest Mining Limited. 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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No one will blame you if you feel there’s a lack of buying opportunities among ASX shares as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) pushes towards record highs.

But there are ASX shares that are in the “buy” zone and leading brokers have picked the latest two that’s worth considering in this toppish market.

The first is the Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV) share price as Citigroup initiated coverage on the stock with a “buy” recommendation.  

Going nuts about earnings growth

The broker believes the almond grower’s profits will increase at 41% a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from FY20 to FY23.

The big profit drivers for the Select Harvests share price are a rebound in almond prices on lower Californian supply, the acquisition of the high-yielding Piangil orchard and a normalisation of water costs.

The ASX share on a new bull cycle

“Almond prices have historically followed a 10-year cycle driven by Californian industry fundamentals,” said Citi.

“While COVID-19 has disrupted this cycle, we forecast almond prices to peak at US$4.48/lb (A$13/kg) in 2024/25; almost triple current levels.”

The broker’s 12-month price target on Select Harvests is $6.50 a share. The Select Harvests share price jumped 1.8% to $5.61 in morning trade.

Upgraded to “buy” despite rising bond yields

Meanwhile, the Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) share price is also outperforming at the time of writing.

The industrial property group got upgraded by UBS to “buy” from “neutral” despite rising bond yields.

Property shares typically move in the opposite direction to bond yields, but the broker isn’t concerned.

Multiple reasons to buy this ASX share

This is partly because Goodman Group’s valuations are inherently conservative, according to UBS. This provides a substantial buffer to material interest rate movements.

Further, the group’s development margins are in excess of 30% on conservative end-value yields and management can improve its portfolio through developments and divestments.

UBS also estimates that a 50-basis point increase in the discount rate (tied to bond yields) will cut the share valuation by 12%. But this can be largely offset by rent increases and inflation.

Finally, Goodman Group’s strong balance sheet and ability to fund growth via equity means its reasonably insulated from the rising cost of debt.

“Given that the stock is now trading at a significant discount to our unchanged A$18.70 FY22E NAV-based price target, and given acceleration in the underlying business, we see risk-reward as skewed to the upside over our forecast horizon,” added UBS.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.8%: Metcash update, tech shares rebound, PointsBet acquisition
• We’ll get 7.8% yield from ASX this year, says investment pro
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• ASX 200 recovers, Evolution Mining acquisition, Afterpay sinks
• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy for income

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau 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 Centuria Capital Group (ASX: CNI) share price was up 1% in early morning trade before retracing. At the time of writing, the Centuria share price is up 0.63%.

Centuria is listed on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and is currently trading for $2.38 per share.

We take a look at the latest announcement from Centuria Healthcare, a subsidiary of Centuria Capital, below.

What did Centuria Healthcare announce to the market this morning?

Centuria’s shares are moving today. This comes in light of the company reporting that its Healthcare subsidiary has partnered with a joint venture (JV) to deliver a new private hospital. Furthermore, the $64 million short-stay facility will be developed in Kew, Melbourne.

The JV consists of 42 specialist doctors along with Medibank. Centuria Healthcare reported it will also own the asset. In addition, the company reports that the JV has committed to a 15-year lease term.

Comments from the managing director

On the partnership, Andrew Hemming, Centuria Healthcare managing director, said:

We are delighted to partner with the joint venture doctors and Medibank to develop and own the real estate delivering this new short-stay surgical facility. This is a transformative project that can change the landscape of the healthcare sector and we are pleased to be the real estate partner of this forward-thinking project.

Hemming also added that the project aligns with Centuria Healthcare’s strategy “to partner with top-tier operators backed by secure lease covenants”.

Centuria Healthcare currently has around $1 billion of modern healthcare real estate assets across Australia.

However, the new hospital development remains subject to obtaining the standard licensing and planning approvals.

Centuria share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Centuria’s shares have gained 16%. That compares to a 36% gain on the ASX 200.

Year-to-date the Centuria Capital share price is down 8%.

More reading

• Centuria Capital (ASX:CNI) reports $57 million healthcare asset purchases
• Centuria (ASX:CNI) share price down after $162 million in equity raising in 8 weeks

Motley Fool contributor 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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At lunch on Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a solid gain. The benchmark index is currently up 0.8% to 6,825.3 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market on Tuesday:

Metcash strategy update

The Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) share price is trading lower today following the release of its strategy update. In addition to its strategy update, the wholesale distributor revealed strong sales momentum for all business segments so far in the second half of 2021. Supermarket, hardware and liquor sales have all experienced double digit growth compared to the prior corresponding period. Another positive is that Metcash has increased its target dividend payout ratio from 60% to 70% of underlying net profit after tax.

Tech shares rebounding

It has been a better day for tech shares such as Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) on Tuesday. Thanks to the easing of bond yields in the United States, investors have been piling back into the sector again. This led to the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rising over 1% during overnight trade. On the local market, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has followed its lead and is up 1.2% at the time of writing.

PointsBet announces acquisition

The PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price is pushing higher today after announcing the acquisition of Banach Technology for US$43 million. Banach Technology is a Dublin-based provider of proprietary risk management platforms and quantitative driven trading models. These platforms and models support complex pre-game and in-play betting products across numerous sports, including the four major American sports and international soccer. In-play wagering is expected to represent ~75% of all sports wagering activity in the United States within three years.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Tuesday has been the ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB) share price with a 4% gain. This is despite there being no news out of the 4×4 accessories company. The worst performer has been the Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA) share price with a decline of 3% on no news.

More reading

• Why the Metcash (ASX:MTS) share price is in focus
• We’ll get 7.8% yield from ASX this year, says investment pro
• Why all eyes will be on the PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• ASX 200 recovers, Evolution Mining acquisition, Afterpay sinks

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ARB Limited and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. 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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