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The ASX 200 is expected to open 0.07% lower at 8,185 points, though after yesterday’s defiant reversal things may change through morning trade.
Futures tipping a drop Down Under comes after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite both extended their losing streaks to the longest seen in the U.S. since April – much of which seems to be investors taking profits.
Impending U.S. economic data on CPI and payrolls may also be playing a role; fourth-quarter reporting will also be starting all across Wall Street from January 13.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.22% while the Dow Jones shaved 0.36%. The Nasdaq dropped 0.16%.
Back home, the Aussie dollar has continued sagging towards new lows – it’s buying 62 US cents this morning – with fears a dip below 60c could severely dent the RBA’s expected plans to trim interest rates in 2025’s early months.
The concerns have arisen after our Aussie forex posted a disappointing 9% decline through 2024, marking the worst calendar year for the dollar since 2019.
Some part of the drop is how strong the US greenback will become under Trump.
It’s been a relatively quiet start to January’s trading month Down Under too, with the slightly busy rush of announcements on Thursday this morning followed up by nearly zero price sensitive announcements.
One docket that has stood out is Imugene Limited (ASX:IMU), with the HotCopper forum favourite dosing its first Aussie patient as it tests its Azer-Cel technology.
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:ASX) has also declared today that it’s taking its crackdowns into hyperdrive as it keeps dealing with executives declaring company moves poorly – more fines will soon follow.
To commodities, which are in the greenback,
Iron Ore has stayed stagnant at $100.50 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is trading at $75.92,
Gold is trading at $2,666 per ounce, and,
US natgas futures are at $3.64 per gigajoule.
That’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre, stick with us for HotCopper’s Market Close.
