Market Open: Maybe the Strait of Hormuz is closed, maybe it’s ‘permanently open.’ Either way, Oz stocks go up

At The Bell — The Australian share market is heading for a 40-point gain at open on Monday, after a long weekend of global volatility that saw the critical Strait of Hormuz seem to be “permanently open” and then slammed closed again every few hours from Friday evening to coffee time early today.

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Iran had originally announced the reopening of the shipping channel late Week 16, only to reverse its decision midway through the weekend.

Trump’s said the U.S. won’t be blackmailed, even after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took control of the waterway; then soon had the U.S. Navy seize an Iranian cargo ship attempting to run his Iranian blockade.

Not the calmest of weekend’s – when are they ever, these days – so it’s a little strange that after all that we’re heading into a +0.4% advance Down Under, but it could just be the fact that traders are becoming used to the chaos.

Elsewhere in Oz, Treasurer Jim Chalmers pledged to stay the course on his ambitious reform agenda, which includes tax, productivity, and saving goals, and to address the nation’s supply chain vulnerabilities. He has admitted, however, the impending May budget will be “impacted by global economic turmoil.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the fuel crisis effects Chalmers’ budget; fuel spending just dropped 4% last week, after dropping 18% the week before.

ASX stocks to watch

Now, time to talk tickers. First up, Woolworths (ASX:WOW) is all set to face the ACCC in Federal Court Tuesday, where it will say it “fundamentally disagrees” with claims it misled customers with promotions. Woolies arch-rival Coles (ASX:COL) already started its battle vs. the regulator in February.

Elsewhere, Macquarie (ASX:MGQ) is looking to bring a local flavour to its fast-growing banking division, hiring more than a 100 customer service jobs in Australia rather than the Philippines as it looks for an edge in the lending market. Macquarie still employs ~1,000 people over in the Philippines, too.

Tabcorp (ASX:TAH) has got the green light from Victoria’s gambling regulator to install new live-betting devices in pubs and clubs. The “puck-like” device let punters tap phones and place bets during live sport and racing events.

And, Zip Co’s (ASX:ZIP) April rally rolls on into Week 17, after the digital finance company posted a 41.5% jump in third quarter cash earnings on strong momentum that’s been building in U.S., and at home in Oz.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys US 71.2c.

In commodities, all in the greenback,

Brent Crude remains the single biggest watch here, up nearly +8% through to early Monday morning, at $96.80/Bbl right now,

Iron Ore is down around -0.5%, at $105.75 a tonne in Singapore,

Gold‘s steady at $4,777/ounce, and,

US natgas futures are $2.71 per gigajoule.

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

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