US sharemarkets finished mixed on Tuesday as investors digested a delayed November jobs report and signs of slowing economic momentum. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 302 points, while the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.2% higher after reversing earlier losses. Payrolls rose by 64,000 in November, beating forecasts, but a sharp downward revision to October employment and a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.6% reinforced concerns that the US labour market is weakening. Despite the mixed data, expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in January were largely unchanged, with markets continuing to price a low probability of near-term easing.
Elsewhere, US crude oil prices fell below US$55 a barrel to their lowest level since early 2021, weighing on energy stocks including Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Technology shares were mixed as profit-taking continued in several artificial intelligence-related names, alongside a rotation into more defensive sectors such as health care and utilities. Australian shares are set to open little changed, with ASX 200 futures down 2 points to 8,581, ahead of full-year results from Elders and an investor call from Treasury Wine Estates. Globally, attention is turning to November inflation data from the UK and euro area, where headline inflation is expected to ease further.
In company news,
Southern Cross Gold expands high-grade Apollo system at Sunday Creek
Southern Cross Gold Consolidated Ltd (ASX:SX2; TSX:SXGC) reported new drilling results from its 100%-owned Sunday Creek gold-antimony project in Victoria, confirming mineralisation extends both at depth and along strike at the Apollo prospect. The company highlighted its deepest east-west hole to date, which returned 3.6m at 14.7g/t gold-equivalent, including a very high-grade interval, and identified a new mineralised zone between major fault structures, opening additional untested ground. Results also reinforced the project’s significant antimony content alongside gold, with multiple high-grade intercepts, as the company continues a large-scale drill program aimed at defining the extent of what it describes as a globally significant gold-antimony system.
Proteomics secures US patent for PromarkerEso blood test
Proteomics International Laboratories Ltd (ASX:PIQ) secured a US patent for its PromarkerEso blood test, providing intellectual-property protection in the world’s largest healthcare market for its diagnostic technology targeting oesophageal adenocarcinoma. The patent strengthens the commercialisation pathway for PromarkerEso, which aims to detect the cancer earlier than current endoscopy-based screening, and adds to existing protection in Australia, Europe, China and Hong Kong. The company highlighted the high unmet need, noting that most cases are diagnosed at a late stage despite costly and invasive screening, and said the patent supports future direct sales, licensing and partnership opportunities in the US healthcare system.
Nanoveu advances 16nm edge-AI chip to final pre-fabrication stage
Nanoveu Limited (ASX:NVU) reported that its wholly owned subsidiary EMASS has completed front-end design, synthesis and physical design for its 16-nanometre ECS-DoT edge-AI system-on-chip, with the project now entering final GDS sign-off ahead of tape-out and fabrication at TSMC. The new chip integrates Bluetooth Low Energy directly on-chip, expanded SRAM, a dedicated object-detection accelerator, a hardware floating-point unit and a fine-grained power-management architecture designed for always-on, ultra-low-power applications. The milestone marks a transition from design execution to silicon realisation and positions EMASS among a small group of developers delivering advanced-node edge-AI silicon, with post-fabrication validation and benchmarking planned once first silicon is received.
