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The ASX share market is being dogged by worries of an imminent correction, but some experts believe the ASX is set to outpace its global peers in 2021.

Make no mistake, valuations of ASX shares are looking overstretched on several metrics after its rapid rebound since March.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) surged by nearly 50% since its COVID‐19 low and rocketed by a record breaking 10% in November alone!

The top large cap performers of 2020 include the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price, Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price.

Outlook for ASX shares brightens in 2021

Impressive as this sounds, the ASX 200 still hasn’t quite fully regained all its lost during the COVID market meltdown. It’s still around 7% below its February peak and is a laggard compared to global peers such as the S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX), which hit new record highs.

But don’t sell your ASX stocks just yet. Next year could be the time when the ASX really shines, reported Bloomberg.

ASX 200 tipped to break new records

Strategists from AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) are tipping the ASX to break record highs in 2021. Further, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) is forecasting double-digit returns for ASX investors, according to the article.

The bullish assessment is fuelled by the belief that a successful COVID vaccination program will be rolled out. This will give cyclical shares a big boost and the ASX 200 is stacked with cyclicals.

Cyclicals are stocks that are most correlated to economic growth, such as miners and banks. These make up around half of our top 200 benchmark.

Earnings for ASX 200 forecast at 20% in 2021

The path of least resistance for global GDP growth is up. It’s hard to think it could go any lower from the 2020 recessionary levels. The global economy is expected to contract by 4.9% this year but will surge back into the black to the tune of 5.4% in 2021.

That will still put it around 6.5 percentage points below what the International Monetary Fund was expecting for 2020 before COVID, but it’s the change in growth rates that’s exciting analysts.

The sharp turnaround in 2021 is the key reason why Morgan Stanley and Macquarie are expecting earnings of ASX 200 stocks to jump by 20% on average. If this comes to pass, it would mark the best earnings expansion since 2016, added Bloomberg.

“Just as 2020 was dominated by the pandemic and this determined the relative performance of investment markets and stocks, 2021 is likely to be dominated by the recovery,” Bloomberg quoted Shane Oliver, the head of investment strategy at AMP Capital.

Australian shares are “likely to be relative outperformers.”

More reading

• What today’s economic outlook means for the BHP (ASX:BHP) share price
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• The Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price is down 20% in one month. Time to buy?
• ASX 200 rises 0.7% on Wednesday
• Should I care about this week’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook?

Brendon Lau owns shares of AMP Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Macquarie Group Limited. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T 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 economy has shown further signs of recovery as its retail sector bounces back to pre-COVID levels.

October retail trade estimates of turnover and volumes for retail businesses, including store and online sales, rose 1.4% month-on-month or 7.1% higher compared to October 2019. The resilience and recent strength of retailers has drawn a series of broker upgrades. Here are the ASX200 shares that have been upgraded this week. 

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) 

Credit Suisse raised its Harvey Norman share price target from $5.06 to $5.30 with an outperform rating. This represents a 16% upside to its closing price on Wednesday of $4.570. The broker predicts that the work from home trend will stick and provide further upside potential to earnings. 

More recently, on 25 November, Harvey Norman updated the market with its year-to-date profit and sales figures. Its aggregated sales revenue increased 28.2% for the period from 1 July 2020 to 21 November 2020 when compared to the prior corresponding period. Similarly, its unaudited preliminary profit before tax for the period 1 July 2020 to 31 October 2020 had jumped more than 160.1%. 

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) 

Similarly, Credit Suisse also upgraded its JB Hi-Fi rating from neutral to outperform, and share price target from $50.62 to $53.02. The price target is just below the JB Hi-Fi’s previous record all-time high of $52.99 set in early October. 

The broker was pleased with the company’s strong balance sheet and low debt levels. Credit Suisse anticipates the work from home trend to continue and support earnings growth. 

Michael Hill International Ltd (ASX: MHJ) 

The Michael Hill share price jumped almost 20% last Thursday after a strong first quarter update. This update highlighted strong same store sales growth of 7.9% for the 22 week period ended 29 November 2020. As such, all markets achieved a significant lift in sales, resulting in online sales increasing 110% for the 22-week period. 

Despite the temporary store closures and ongoing foot traffic impacts on the key Christmas trading period, the company currently expects to deliver an EBIT result for first-half FY21 to materially exceed the prior year half one result.

The update exceeded Citi’s expectations and the broker raised its price target from $0.50 to $0.620 with a neutral rating. This represents a 6.8% upside to its closing price on Thursday of $0.580. 

More reading

• ASX 200 falls on Tuesday
• ASX 200 down 0.1%: APRA removes bank dividend restrictions, Fortescue slides, Zip higher
• Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price rises on Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) partnership
• Aussie dollar breaking to new 30-month high will boost these ASX stocks
• JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) share price lifts today on broker rating upgrade

Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim 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 Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) share price is on watch this morning after the entertainment and gaming company received a liquor licence for its Crown Sydney resort.

After market close yesterday, the Crown share price finished the day at $9.85, up 1.2%.

What did Crown announce?

In the release, Crown advised that the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) has approved Crown Sydney for a liquor licence.

The new permit is on an interim basis for non-gaming areas in the building such as the hotel, bars and some restaurants. The liquor licence is valid from yesterday’s update to 30 April 2021.

Crown will need to re-apply in order to extend its liquor licence for the period of 1 May 2021 and thereafter. This will allow the ILGA to assess suitability on whether to grant further approval following the ILGA enquiry. The outcome of the report is due early next year.

As Crown Sydney’s casino remains closed until February 2021, the company is finalising its pre-opening activities for non-gaming areas. It is expected that it will open its doors to the public from 28 December 2020.

What did the liquor and gaming authority say?

ILGA chair Phillip Crawford said the authority was considering a further two liquor licences for other non-gaming areas of the casino, with a final decision expected within the week.

He went on to say:

The licence issued today will allow Crown to serve alcohol at the Crown Sydney resort, which includes a number of bar areas. The additional licence applications still to be determined apply to two restaurants at Crown Sydney.

Crown share price summary

The Crown share price has had a bumpy ride for the last 6 months, following COVID-19 restrictions,  the recent money laundering investigation and class action lawsuits launched by shareholders.

While its shares are trading materially lower than its normal range of around $11 to $13, investors wil no doubt be hoping the worst is behind the company. Crown reached a 52-week high of $12.71 in January before falling to a decade low of $5.84 in March.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Crown Resorts (ASX:CWN) woes continue with latest lawsuit
• Crown Resorts (ASX:CWN) share price falls as Austrac calls junkets high risk
• Here’s why the Crown (ASX:CWN) share price is pushing higher today
• Crown Resorts (ASX:CWN) share price is up 6% despite Fitch downgrade

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Crown Resorts 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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The three ASX tech shares in this article may be exciting to some investors and could be worth watching:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

According to the ASX, Altium has a market capitalisation of $4.4 billion.

Altium is an electronic PCB software design business that is one of the leading players across the world. Jason Kururangi of Aberdeen Standard Investments recently said that Altium was a buy as a long term investment.

Altium has a few leading offerings in its portfolio including Altium Designer and Octopart.

The company is aiming for market domination of its industry by 2025 with a goal of 100,000 Altium Designer seats. It wants to win over the industry like Microsoft did with office software. Altium is hoping to reach US$500 million of revenue by 2025 (or perhaps 2026 because of COVID-19 impacts).

COVID-19 hurt growth in FY20 as it found it harder to win new customers during the final quarter. This led to price discounts and longer payment terms. However, it still managed to grow normalised earnings per share (EPS) by 5%.

In FY21, before the sale of the TASKING business, the ASX tech share was expecting to grow revenue by 6% to 12% to US$200 million to US$212 million with an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of between 38% to 42%.

The company is looking to shift the business towards the cloud with its Altium 365 product.

According to Commsec projections, Altium is trading at 44x FY23’s estimated earnings.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

According to the ASX, Temple & Webster has a market capitalisation of $1.1 billion.

This ASX tech share is a growing e-commerce player that sells a wide range of furniture and homewares.

FY20 was a year of strong growth for the company. Many shoppers had to go online for their products with plenty of physical retail stores shut for some period of time during 2020.

Over FY20, it reported revenue growth of 74% to $176.3 million. Revenue grew 94% in the second half of FY20 and 130% in the fourth quarter. It also grew its EBITDA by 483% to $8.5 million. The ‘adjusted EBITDA’ margin improved from 2.5% to 5.3%.

Management were pleased to generate such strong growth whilst keeping a high level of customer satisfaction. Active customers grew 77% year on year.

The growth has continued into FY21. Between 1 July to 19 October, the ASX tech share had delivered revenue growth of 138% and it had generated $8.6 million of EBITDA in the first quarter of FY21.

The contribution margin was ahead of its 15% target and customer satisfaction remained at record levels with a net promoter score of around 70%.

Temple & Webster said that it’s committed to a high growth strategy to take advantage of the structural shift towards online shopping.

According to the Commsec, Temple & Webster is valued at 34x FY22’s estimated earnings.

Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL)

According to the ASX, Redbubble has a market capitalisation of $1.7 billion.

Redbubble is an online marketplace business that sells a wide variety of artist-produced products like wall art, clothes, phone cases and masks.

In FY20 Redbubble grew its marketplace revenue by 36% to $349 million. Gross profit went up 42% to $134 million and operating EBITDA surged 141% to $15.3 million. It generated $38 million of total free cashflow in FY20. During the locked-down fourth quarter of FY21, the ASX tech share’s marketplace revenue grew 73%, gross profit rose 88% and it made $8.4 million of operating EBITDA.

At the time of the FY20 result, Redbubble Martin Hosking said: “RB Group’s on-demand fulfilment model and differentiated consumer offerings provide us with distinctive advantages. The strong financial performance follows from these fundamentals. It has been pleasing to see the acceleration of existing trends in the last few months. 2021 represents a year of opportunity for the business. We are positioned to build on a decade of momentum and aggressively pursue the global opportunity presented by the shift to online activity and increasing adoption of e-commerce platforms.”

Redbubble’s growth also continued into the first quarter of FY21 – marketplace revenue was up 116% to $147.5 million, gross profit grew 149% to $64.5 million, it made $22.1 million of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and Redbubble generated $27.1 million of operating cashflow.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why Althea, Altium, Fortescue, & Retail Food Group are dropping lower
• Is the Altium (ASX:ALU) share price in the buy zone?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• ASX 200 rises on Monday

Tristan Harrison owns shares of Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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 Federal Government’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) is due today and iron ore prices are top of mind. The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price will be one to watch alongside Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) as the government looks to commodities to keep its budget deficit under control.

What is the economic and fiscal outlook?

The Federal Government releases the MYEFO each year to provide an economic update to the country. It is a highly-anticipated release from the Government regarding its half-year expectations which updates the outlook from the previous budget.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is set to open higher this morning ahead of the release but there’s already talk about what’s inside.

What does it mean for the BHP share price?

According to an article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the forecast deficit for this financial year is set to stay below $200 billion. That’s largely thanks to a dramatic decrease in the number of JobKeeper recipients combined with strong iron ore prices. Iron ore prices have been booming in recent months thanks to strong offshore demand and infrastructure boom.

The expectation for higher commodity prices has been a big factor in a strong rebound for ASX miners in 2020. The BHP share price has climbed 9.2% for the year and 68.9% in the last 9 months. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) shares have surged 13.1% and 103.8%, respectively.

Iron ore is generally considered a ‘safe’ export to China amid the ongoing trade spat. That’s largely due to Australia’s market dominance in the industry, with few substitutes around the world. BHP, Rio and Fortescue are three of the “Big Four” producers, with troubled Brazilian company Vale the other major competitor. Given the strong demand for the commodity, iron ore exports are expected to remain relatively unaffected by the deteriorating relations.

Coalition governments have historically been conservative in estimating iron ore prices for budgeting purposes. That looks set to continue with the MYEFO using a forecast free on board price of US$55 per tonne by September 2021.

Foolish takeaway

The BHP share price will be one to watch today as the Federal Government talks through its MYEFO for FY2021. It looks like iron ore is once again firming up as a key cog in Australia’s economic machine which could make the Aussie miner’s shares worth tracking in 2021.

More reading

• 2 blue chip ASX dividend shares to buy
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• ASX 200 rises 0.7% on Wednesday
• Should I care about this week’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook?
• Why the Codan (ASX:CDA) share price is surging 5% higher today

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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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Are you looking to add a small cap share or two to your balanced portfolio?

Then take a look at the ASX small cap shares listed below, which are both growing at a rapid rate in 2020. Here’s what you need to know about them:

IntelliHR Ltd (ASX: IHR)

IntelliHR is a cloud-based human resources and people management platform provider which has been growing at an explosive rate this year. During the first five months of FY 2021, the company reported an impressive 148% increase in subscriber numbers. As a result, it now has almost 30,000 contracted subscribers on its books.

This strong customer growth has underpinned similarly strong revenue growth. As of its last update, IntelliHR’s contracted annual recurring revenue (ARR) was up 81.3% to $2.8 million.

But management isn’t resting on its laurels and remains highly focused on delivering further growth in the years to come. This will be supported by its high quality software, international expansion, and favourable industry trends.

In respect to the latter, the company notes that it is well-positioned in a high growth global market that is being disrupted by the trend to Working-from-Home brought on by the pandemic.

Pointerra Ltd (ASX: 3DP)

Pointerra is a growing technology company with a focus on the commercialisation of 3D geospatial data. It provides a software solution that allows users to manage, visualise, and share large digital 3D datasets. This software is able to extract vital information from the data that would otherwise take many hours to do.

Demand for the company’s technology has been growing strongly. This led to its Annual Contract Value (ACV) increasing 18% to US$5.82 million between October and November. This, however, is still only scratching at the surface of its market opportunity. Management estimates that it is currently worth a staggering $500 billion annually.

More reading

• ASX small caps could get a boost with the Aussie dollar hitting 28-month highs
• Why the IntelliHR (ASX:IHR) share price rocketed 26% higher to a 52-week high
• Here are the best performing ASX tech shares in November
• intelliHR (ASX:IHR) share price surges 8% on rapid expansion
• Pointerra (ASX:3DP) share price falls 6% despite positive update

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 Pointerra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointerra 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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The Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM) share price is on watch this morning on news the company will significantly upscale its manufacturing capacity.

The Immutep share price finished Wednesday’s trading session at 43 cents, up 6.1%.

Immutep is a biotech company focused on the development of LAG-3 immunotherapeutic products for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

What did Immutep announce?

In today’s release, Immutep advised it will begin ramping up the manufacture its lead product candidate, eftilagimod alpha, otherwise known as efti or IMP321.

The decision to increase production follows the company’s positive interim results from its efti clinical trials.

Immutep will expand its efti manufacturing process from 200 litres to a proposed 2,000 litre bioreactor capability. The WuXi Biologics plant in China will house production of the soluble LAG-3 protein, which is expected to scale up throughout 2021.

Although management did not specify the cost involved, it said a recent conversion of warrants will fund the strategic move.

CEO commentary

Commenting on the progress, Immutep CEO Marc Voigt said:

Following the very encouraging interim Overall Survival data announced last week from our largest clinical trial, AIPAC, we have activated our plans to upscale the manufacturing of efti to 2,000L single-use bioreactors to prepare for potential commercial manufacturing and potential registration trials in multiple indications.

WuXi Biologics is an important and long-term partner for us with excellent technical and commercial capabilities. We are entering 2021 in a very strong position, both financially and operationally.

About the Immutep share price

The Immutep share price has soared recently, reaching 63 cents just a few days ago. While its shares have pulled back around 31%, the company is still up 40% from 1 month ago.

Immutep has grown from an ASX micro-cap share to a now small-cap share, with a market capitalisation of $211.9 million.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Immutep (ASX:IMM) shares blast up 60% on trial news
• Why a2 Milk, Crown, Immutep, & Suncorp shares are dropping lower

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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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price will be one to watch after the buy now pay later provider announced a capital raising.

What did Zip announce?

Late on Wednesday Zip announced the launch of a $150 million capital raising.

This comprises an underwritten $120 million placement to institutional and sophisticated investors and a non-underwritten $30 million share purchase plan.

According to the release, Zip is raising the funds at $5.34 per new share, which represents a 4.1% discount to its last close price of $5.57.

Why is Zip raising funds?

Zip revealed that it is undertaking the capital raising to support its US growth and UK expansion, explore new markets, and product expansion.

The majority of the proceeds will be used on its growing US-based QuadPay business. Management intends to deploy 58% or $85 million of the capital in this market.

It notes that it has been experiencing significant growth in the $5 trillion market. In November, the company’s transaction value and customer number tripled to $264.2 million and 2.8 million, respectively. Pleasingly, it is achieving this growth with market leading unit economics.

Management wants to build on this and expects the capital raising to accelerate its growth. This includes customer acquisition, app usage, and merchant partnerships.

What else are the funds being used for?

Approximately 10% or $15 million will be deployed in the UK to scale its operations, support merchant and customer acquisition, and underpin its receivables funding until a local facility is established.

In addition, Zip intends to use 24% of the raise or $35 million to support its recently established New Markets division. This side of the business has been established to lead the active pursuit of global growth opportunities. It will also invest in strategic interests, greenfield launches, and local partnerships outside its core business.

The company revealed that its New Markets division has already made a couple of strategic investments. The first is United Arab Emirates-based buy now pay later provider, Spotii. The second is leading payments platform provider Twisto. The latter is operational in Czechia and Poland. It has an omni-channel product set aligned with Zip and the ability to passport licensing across the European Union.

Finally, the remaining 8% or $12 million will be deployed in the ANZ market. This includes supporting the launch of the Zip Business offering and the development of additional products within its digital wallet.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• The Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price is down 20% in one month. Time to buy?
• Openpay (ASX: OPY) share price rockets up 8% after major announcement
• ASX 200 falls on Tuesday
• Creso Pharma and Nuix were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week

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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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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With interest rates unlikely to be improving any time soon, the share market looks set to remain the best place for income investors to earn an income for some time to come.

But which ASX dividend shares should you buy this month? Two blue chip ASX dividend shares that are rated as buys right now are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)

The big four banks have been very strong performers over the last six weeks. In fact, since the start of November, the ANZ share price has risen a mouth-watering 24%. While the majority of its gains may be gone now, the bank has still been tipped as one to buy by analysts at Citi.

Earlier this week the broker put a buy rating and $23.75 price target on its shares. Citi is also forecasting a 105 cents per share dividend in FY 2021 and a 140 cents per share dividend in FY 2022. Which, based on the latest ANZ share price, represents dividend yields of 4.5% and 6%, respectively, over the next couple of years.

Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)

Thanks to very favourable copper and iron ore prices, this mining giant appears perfectly positioned to deliver another strong result in FY 2021. And with its balance sheet looking robust, the majority of the free cash flow it generates looks set to be returned to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividends.

One broker that is positive on Rio Tinto is Ord Minnett. This week the broker reiterated its buy rating and $150.00 price target on its shares. It expects a dividend of ~$6.31 per share in FY 2021 and then ~$7.27 per share in FY 2022. Based on the current Rio Tinto share price of $114.37, this will mean fully franked dividend yields of 5.5% and 6.35%, respectively.

More reading

• 3 key takeaways from the ANZ annual general meeting
• Brokers warning high iron ore prices are unsustainable
• ASX 200 up 1.1%: ANZ AGM, Resolute jumps, travel shares soar
• The Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price is climbing higher today. Here’s why.
• Here’s how ASX 200 bank shares have performed in 2020 so far

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was back on form and stormed higher. The benchmark index rose 0.7% to 6,679.2 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Thursday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 to rise again.

The Australian share market looks set to continue its rise on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 27 points or 0.4% higher this morning. This is despite it being a reasonably mixed night of trade on Wall Street. Late on, the Dow Jones is down 0.3%, the S&P 500 is down 0.05%, and the Nasdaq is up 0.1%.

Zip equity raising.

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price will be on watch after it announced a $150 million capital raising to support its growth. This comprises an underwritten $120 million institutional placement and a $30 million non-underwritten share purchase plan. The buy now pay later provider is raising the finds at $5.34 per share, which represents a 4.1% discount to its last close price. It will use the capital to support its US growth, UK expansion, and product expansion.

Oil prices higher.

Energy producers including Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) could have a solid day after oil prices rose again. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.5% to US$47.85 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is 0.75% higher to US$51.13 a barrel. Oil prices overcame news of a surprise build in US inventories and pushed higher.

Gold price edges lower.

Gold miners such as Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) could come under pressure after the gold price softened. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.1% to US$1,854.0 an ounce. This follows the release of an update by the US Federal Reserve.

Crown update.

The Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) share price will be on watch today after the casino and resorts operator released an update on its Sydney operation. According to the release, Crown Sydney has been granted a liquor licence on an interim basis for certain non-gaming operations. This includes the Crown Towers hotel, bars, and some restaurants. It has been granted for the period 16 December 2020 to 30 April 2021.

More reading

• The Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price is down 20% in one month. Time to buy?
• ASX 200 rises 0.7% on Wednesday
• Should I care about this week’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook?
• Why the Codan (ASX:CDA) share price is surging 5% higher today
• ASX 200 up 1.1%: ANZ AGM, Resolute jumps, travel shares soar

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