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ASX today − Australian shares are expected to open Week 4 basically flat, ending five days of gains as markets Down Under join the rest of the world in holding their breath amid Trump and Europe’s latest trade salvos.
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Trump dialled things up a bit over the weekend, suggesting he’d tariff some eight European nations until Greenland is (peacefully) sold to the States.
This makes it 4/4 on weeks where Trump has done something that’s impacted markets this calendar year already− and he’s got another chance to rattle things when he takes centre stage at the World Economic Forum. That Davos moot runs through Week 4; Trump is appearing there for the first time in six years.
What could go wrong? Well, with Donny, anything, but people will be watching his mid-week address to see if he actually enforces tariffs, and whether he’ll pull the trigger on his long-boasted housing stimulus.
Beyond Trump (hard to get away from), local employment data is out in Oz this week; the RBA will watch that closely for its rate meeting next month.
Now, let’s take a look at some company news coming out in Week 4.
ASX stocks to watch
First up, Talga Group (ASX:TLG) has signed an agreement with V4Smart to design and make Talga’s fast-charging battery anode together. The deal will eventually stretch beyond auto applications, too, Talga chief Phillips said.
Truscott Mining (ASX:TRM) is getting underway at Westminster this quarter, too − at least, should “weather permit” − with the first 2,500 metres of reverse circulation drilling expected to fire up through early February.
Elsewhere, the ACCC has admitted it has no power to stop airport market power in Australia’s biggest cities, where airlines like Qantas (ASX:QAN) and Virgin (ASX:VGN) can take advantage of “geographic monopolies.”
And, NextDC (ASX:NXT) has today landed the “necessary” permits for its M4 Melbourne Data Centre in Port Melbourne, which it will start working on soon.
Finally, we’re getting our second CY26 IPO this week: Northern Territory critmins explorer Barkly Rare Earths is lined up for Thursday.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, our Oz dollar’s buying 66.7 U.S. cents.
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore has dropped this week, to sell at $106 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is up +0.6%, to $64.13/Bbl,
Gold is at $4,617 an ounce, and,
US natgas futures is down -0.8%, at $3.10 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.
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