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The ASX200 is tipped to open 0.4 per cent higher.
The performance of gold was a highlight overnight hitting US$2300 on ounce – equivalent to above A$3500 an ounce.
Silver also added 4 per cent overnight and copper was up more than 3.3 per cent… but iron ore fell below that key US$100 a tonne mark. It has since recovered to hover around US$104 per tonne.
The precious metals’ performances outshone lacklustre US markets, where the Nasdaq added 0.2 per cent; the S&P500 gained just 0.1%; while the Dow Jones shed 0.11%.
Spotify was a leader, adding nearly 8.5% on increased subscription pricing and Netflix was also up 1.8%.
The ASX has had an IPO drought so far this year, but today welcomes BlinkLab (ASX:BB1) to the bourse, which will trade under the ticker code BB1 from this morning.
It is a company developing Princeton University technology that uses an AI-driven smartphone app to screen for autism and ADHD. The company, led by former ResApp Health chair Brian Leedman, raised $7 million with 20 cent shares through the IPO process. It is working towards US Food and Drug Administration approval.
In other companies to watch this morning: Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) is selling its New Zealand Life Insurance business, Asteron Life Limited, to global insurance group Resolution Life for A$375 million.
Small cap gold stocks should shine as the metal hits record highs, Westar Resources (ASX:WSR) is expecting assay results later in the month after beginning gold sampling at its Mindoolah Mining Centre in WA’s Murchison region; and, Kula Gold (ASX:KGD) is reporting it has a rock chip assay reading 11.2 grams per tonne of gold from its Brunswick Project within an historical mining area near Donnybrook in WA.
One Australian dollar is buying US65.6 cents.
Iron ore has recovered to be hovering around US$104 a tonne; gold was around US$2300 an ounce; brent crude has been just below US$90 a barrel (US$89.53); and, natural gas has been at US$1.84 per million British thermal units.
