Market Open: Nvidia powers Wall Street and likely to impact ASX

ASX today – The S&P/ASX 200 is expected to open steady today after Wall Street was up across all levels on the back of a massive result from AI powerhouse Nvidia overnight.

Reporting quarterly revenue of US$96.2 billion the company beat expectations and forecast even stronger sales ahead. The second-quarter results sent Nvidia’s shares surging 8.7%.

On the market front, Nasdaq Composite led the way, rising 1.5%, the S&P 500 increased by 0.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.

However, the ASX may be muted compared to Wall Street with concerns lingering over potential interest rate increases and the release of final annual earnings reports.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed lower yesterday, dropping 89.60 points or 0.98% to 9,038.20. The index had lost 0.50% for the last five days but sits 2.78% below its 52-week high.

Locally, private new capital expenditure (capex) fell 3.6 per cent in the June quarter of 2026 according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

“June’s fall in investment was the result of a 53.0 per cent drop in spending on information media and telecommunications equipment, after record investment in server racks and processing equipment for data centres saw an increase of 199.6 per cent last quarter,” Tom Lay, ABS head of business statistics, said.

“Despite the quarterly fall, total capital expenditure remains 10.7 per cent higher than the same time last year.”

On the market news front:

Energy exploration and production company Echelon Resources (ASX: ECH) delivered a strong result for the year ended 30 June 2026, with Group Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) increasing 341 per cent to $28.2 million, compared with $6.4 million in the prior year;

Air New Zealand (ASX: AIZ) announced a loss before taxation of $336 million for the 2026 financial year, compared with earnings before taxation of $164 million in the prior year. The result is slightly better than the guidance range provided to the market in May 2026. Net loss after taxation was $242 million;

Multidisciplinary construction and engineering services provider Civmec (ASX: CVL) delivers FY26 revenue of $903 million and NPAT of $52 million;

West Cobar Metals (ASX: WC1) is ready to expand scandium drilling targets at Salazar; and

Lodestar Minerals’ (ASX: LSR) drilling results have strengthened the IOCG model at Three Saints.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar is buying US$0.719

Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,

Iron Ore was up 0.10% to $95.68 in Singapore today,

Brent Crude was up 1.99% to $89.590 per barrel,

Gold was selling at $4595.90,

US natgas futures were up 0.99% to $2.9025 per gigajoule.

That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Colin Sandell-Hay – happy trading.

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