Market Open: Tuesday hike hangs over Oz heads as we trudge into Week 19 largely flat

At The Bell – Australian shares are meandering into Week 19 relatively flat, with traders taking a deep breath before the Reserve Bank of Australia’s next board meeting where most expect us to see a third consecutive cash rate rise. That sets up an interesting two days before the 2PM meeting tomorrow.

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Before that, we have Monday trade to get through, and right now the ASX 200 is tipped to move between zero and five points at the opening bell.

After Oz closed eight of the last nine trading days in the red, even a “turtle” morning Monday would likely be welcome, especially as we have to watch Wall Street continue to chug on to more record resets, like Friday.

If we look at bond markets, there’s an 83% we see a hike Tuesday, and then maybe again in June. That certainty will actually help trade, but traders have been so flighty recently that anything may take us down again.

The countdown to the RBA call, and then Governor Michele Bullock’s speech later on Tuesday, starts from today. Let’s look at stocks while we wait.

ASX stocks to watch

Company-wise, it’s nearly all earnings in Week 19, starting with National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB), which has already told shareholders it missed expectations with its $2.64 billion first-half cash profit. The Big 4 bank said accounting adjustments amid concerns over the economic outlook were why.

Both Amcor (ASX:AMC) and NexGen Energy (ASX:NXG) will also be reporting today, while Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), Westpac (ASX:WBC), and Macquarie (ASX:MGQ) are among those coming a little later this week.

Elsewhere, the a2 Milk Company (ASX:A2M) voluntarily recalled several batches of its U.S.-labelled “a2 Platinum” infant formula after cereulide, a highly potent, acid-resistant toxin linked to foodborne illness, was detected.

Forrestania (ASX:FRS) has wrapped up its Karonie acquisition; the WA explorer has already ticked up some +2% higher in indicative pricing.

And, Podium (ASX:POD) has confirmed “strong continuity” at Parks Reef.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys US 72.1c.

In commodities, all in the greenback,

Brent Crude is at $106.34/Bbl to start the week, after slipping around -1,7% through the weekend and into Monday,

Iron Ore down +0.7%, to $107.05 a tonne in Singapore,

Gold is back slightly, $4,634/ounce, and,

US natgas futures basically flat, $2.78 per gigajoule.

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

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