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Hello, and welcome to HotCopper‘s Market Open for Wednesday, Week 19, I’m Colin Sandell-Hay
The ASX 200 is tipped to potentially rebound on positive Wall Street news overnight and a 3.83% fall in Brent crude prices.
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ASX futures were up 38 points or 0.4% to 8719 after a 0.8% rise in the S&P 500. at the time of going to press.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq set new records in the US behind a strong tech market and increased support for AI chip stocks.
With US officials downplaying Iran’s recent attacks on the UAE and the ceasefire appearing to be holding, crude oil prices finally headed back down.
Locally, investors are contemplating news that further interest rate rises may be on the cards following yesterday’s decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia board to increase the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent.
The board said the conflict in the Middle East had added to inflationary pressure, with sharply higher fuel and related commodity prices.
That was borne out in new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures which found household spending rose strongly in March, driven by a 5.1% rise in transport costs.
Fuel prices spiked during the first week of March, with prices peaking at the end of March as motorists made smaller, more frequent trips to the petrol station.
Strength in public transport spending also contributed to the rise in household spending, with the ABS stating this likely reflected some households switching away from private vehicles in response to rising fuel costs.
Now – in forex, the Oz dollar was up buying $0.718 US
In commodities, all in the greenback, at the time of going to press
Brent Crude was down 3.83% to $110.056 per barrel
Iron Ore was up 0.06% to $108.50 in Singapore
Gold was up to $6357.05 per ounce
Natgas futures were down 2.95% to $2.7824
ASX stocks to watch
On the ASX market front
Redcastle Resources (ASX: RC1) announced it is on target to transition from gold explorer to producer;
Clinical-stage Australian biotech company Noxopharm (ASX: NOX) has brought in specialist support to help progress its US regulatory strategy;
Infrastructure specialist Duratec (ASX: DUR) has landed a $68 million sub-contract with the Darwin ship lift facility project; and
Advance Metals (ASX: AVM) is spinning the bit at the Gavilanes silver project in Mexico.
That’s HotCopper‘s Market Open, I’m Colin Sandell-Hay – good luck today.
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