Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
ASX today – Friday may go some distance to recovering Thursday’s roughshod sell-down, with this morning’s ASX 200 futures pointing to a 47-point advance – some +0.5% – despite Wall Street struggling to pick a direction.
Listen to the HotCopper podcast for in-depth discussions and insights on all the biggest headlines from throughout the week. On Spotify, Apple, and more.
Only the Nasdaq really moved beyond flat in the U.S., and that was the wrong way for any bulls: The tech-heavy index dumped on a software selloff.
Everywhere else, including London and Japan, was decently in the green today, though. And so too Australia, at least early on Friday morning.
There’s plenty that will rattle things either way heading into Week 6, including the RBA meet next Tuesday and Trump heralding his Powell replacement “next week,” but we have eight Aussie trading hours before then.
The vibe, it seems, is “buy” – or, at least, don’t sell quite as much.
And so, with little weighing on the macro level, let’s head on to stock news.
ASX stocks to watch
First up, Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC) is expected to announce it’s selling its national radio network today. The report, first out in The Australian, says the asset fire sale includes the 2GB, 3AW, and 4BC stations.
Elsewhere, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) is being pressured by its U.K. shareholders to merge with Glencore. Rio has long mulled scrapping its FTSE listing.
Twiggy Forrest is under the microscope late in Week 5, too, after suggestions his green hydrogen plot at Fortescue (ASX:FMG) – now all but ditched – cost Oz taxpayers as much as $80 million before the idea was abandoned.
And, we have our second CY26 debutant ringing the bell. Barkly Rare Earths had originally been scheduled to land weeks ago, but pushed things out to January 30 to prep properly. It will arrive under ticker code “BAK” at 1pm. The Aussie mineral explorer is looking to raise $8M at an offered 20cps.
In a similar vein, too, $400M gold miner Wiluna is preparing for a triumph ASX return after being placed in receivership in CY22. No date there yet.
Reports: Origin (ASX:ORG), Champ Iron (ASX:CIA), ResMed (ASX:RMD) today.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, the Aussie dollar is buying US 70c.
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore is up +1.5%; today selling at $104.60 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude‘s up +3.2%, to $70.64/Bbl,
Gold is selling at $5,401/ounce,
US natgas futures are up +4.2%, to $3.89 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – happy trading.
Join the discussion. See what’s trending right now on Australia’s largest stock forum and be part of the conversations that move the markets.
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.
