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ASX today – Australian shares are heading for a hearty +0.75% leap at open this Thursday morning after the Fed Reserve trimmed U.S. rates for the third time in a row, this time on a slightly split 9–3 vote among the central board.
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Perhaps more interestingly still, as many as six of the Fed’s 12 committee members actually then declared they didn’t support the Week 50 rate chop.
This Market Link journalist would have said that was enough to sow some doubt about futures, both in the U.S. and here at home, but Wall Street rolled on its merry way to +0.7% for the S&P 500 and +1% gains on the Dow.
The board suggested there may be more cuts in CY26, too, despite some members’ misgivings; that prospect helped buoy the Aussie dollar quite nicely, and it’s now buying 66.8 US cents at a three-month high.
Between the blooming Aussie and copper continuing its steady climb through a long-term demand story, there may be opportunities aplenty.
On that note, let’s look through some ASX company news.
ASX stocks to watch
St Barbara (ASX:SBM) has signed a deal with China’s Lingbao Gold Group that will see it trade 50% in the company for a $370M injection. The deal would fully cover costs St Barbara needs to pay for the Simberi expansion.
Elsewhere, Transurban (ASX:TCL) has said it could scrap admin fees by mid-2026 and pay the NSW gov’t for extra traffic generated by a $60-a-week toll cap. The state gov has been pushing out toll reforms recently.
Neometals (ASX:NMT) has partnered with BML Ventures to “further the Ironclad Gold Deposit.” The JV means Neometals can start on open-cut mining.
Further along the line, Marmota (ASX:MEU) has declared that final assays from the Greenewood gold project prove that it’s “a spectacular gold discovery.” The “bonanza” grades run over an almost one-kilometre strike.
And, Black Bear Mining (ASX:BKB) has started drilling at Shafter Silver today.
Buck and ore
In forex, as noted, the Oz dollar buys 66.7 U.S. cents.
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore has regained +1% this morning, to $102.75 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude gained +1%, to $62.59/bbl,
Gold is at $4,234 an ounce, and,
US natgas futures have lost -1%, to $4.61 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.
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