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ASX today – Australian shares are flat on Tuesday, with the bourse shaving less than five points into open this morning as CY25 trade now looks to close out with a spluttering whimper rather than any big bust or boom.

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It all feels like there’s a whole lot of nerves getting around, which hasn’t been helped by Santa Claus simply not turning up for a rally for the second year running. (Here’s hoping our Chrissy day pressies are a little more festive!)

The ASX 200 looks happy to follow Wall Street lower; indexes there have opened the week a similarly spluttering flat. The Nasdaq lost most, down -0.5%.

There could have been some respite if Oz instead tracked Europe (though that was never as likely): London’s FTSE bounced +1% higher at last close, while the major Eurostoxx added +0.74% on growing bank strength.

On that flattish outlook, here’s the ASX companies getting news out.

ASX stocks to watch

First up, Oz IPOs are in the spotlight again after recent debutants Saluda Medical (ASX:SLD), Epiminder (ASX:EPI), and Carma (ASX:CMA) ended up being duds. Each has dropped as much as -20% since ringing the bell.

We still have a bunch more scheduled before Christmas, too, with Advance Energy Minerals and Equus Energy in for Thursday and Channel Infrastructure, Trade Window Holdings, and Unity Metals lined up Friday. They may well break the mould, but it’s clearly not been a stellar run for new arrivals recently.

Elsewhere, Venari Minerals (ASX:VMS) is lauding the discovery of the “highest-grade lithium intersection to date” at its Red Mountain project in Nevada.

And, Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) has confirmed a new bid came in from Robex Resources (ASX:RXR) late last week. That means Perseus Mining’s (ASX:PRU) mid-December swoop is now deemed “no longer superior.”

Orica (ASX:ORI) has an AGM running today, too.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys 66.4 U.S. cents.

Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,

Iron Ore retreated -0.5%, to $101.45 a tonne in Singapore,

Brent Crude dropped -1.2%, to $60.37/bbl,

Gold is at $4,309 an ounce, and,

US natgas futures slumped another -2.5%, to $4.01 per gigajoule.

That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.

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The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.

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