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ASX today – We may well end W51 without much of anything really changing, considering Australian shares are again heading for a very flat open. Right now, at time of writing, there’s barely even a point’s change in futures.
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It’s arguably impressive that Australian traders are keeping things so very tepid, considering the tech-led dump on Wall Street playing out right now.
A selling wave has torn through the tech sector over in the U.S., mainly due to Oracle’s long-time infrastructure partner Blue Owl backing out of an AI data centre build. The S&P 500 has already lost nearly -1.2% through this morning, while the Nasdaq composite is bearing the full brunt, down -1.8%.
Not even Europe or Asia is giving Oz direction this morning, either; London’s FTSE is +0.9% stronger, and the Nikkei in Japan added +0.5%.
Maybe it all just boils down to the December malaise, that great Aussie tradition, which JD and I spoke about on the HotCopper Wire poddy some weeks ago.
(If nothing else says middling week, I’ve had to pick the “FLAT” imagery for these Market Open columns three days in a row. I’m not sure I remember ever plugging them in more than back-to-back before now.)
ASX stocks to watch
There’s more excitement in specific company news, though, especially with ANZ Group (ASX:ANZ) preparing for its second investor strike today. ANZ shareholders have been left disgruntled over a board pay plan and what they feel is light responses to the bank’s various compliance failures recently.
There’s a buzz around Santos (ASX:STO), with the Australian oil and gas heavyweight preparing financing for a large new LNG project in Papua New Guinea. That development will end up costing as much as $27 billion, all told.
Elsewhere, Elders (ASX:ELD) has a fascinating AGM coming up today, too. There, investors will demand to hear about succession plans. Long-time chief Mark Allison was originally to leave in 2022, but has since stayed on.
Netwealth (ASX:NWL) has struck a deal with ASIC, which will now see it pay more than $100 million to those impacted by First Guardian’s fund collapse.
And Treasury Wines (ASX:TWE) has lost -10% this week after sales misses.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys 66 U.S. cents.
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore has climbed another +1%, to $103.60 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude gained +2.8%, to $60.57/bbl,
Gold is at $4,350 an ounce, and,
US natgas futures have boomed +5%, to $4.10 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.
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