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Australian shares are expected to open very nearly flat today, losing less than 0.1% according to ASX 200 futures – though things could go anywhere near that we’ve hit Day One of the 2025 Australian Election campaign.

Listen to the HotCopper podcast for in-depth discussions and insights on all the biggest headlines from throughout the week. On Spotify, Apple, and more.

After months of waiting, Anthony Albanese called the election for Saturday, May 3.

Albo – who said he was “born ready” at a presser this morning – is all confidence. So too Peter Dutton, though he’s not spoken since the poll call yesterday.

Most recently, Dutton already staked out ground for one early election battleground: He and the Liberals have pitched lower power prices as a key tussle point, with their solution being to “force” more gas into domestic markets.

HotCopper is sure we’ll see plenty more skirmishes in the weeks ahead as May 3 rushes up quite quickly – and it’s one every Aussie investor will watch closely.

In company news, Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) still has the brakes on this Friday. The gold miner is mulling a possible downward adjustment for its production guidance and asked to stop ASX trade until it has completed a review.

Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) will be one to watch too after wrapping up its renounceable rights issue from Feb. 28; the explorer issued 605M new shares and 302M new options and has walked away with a little over $3.6M in its pockets.

On HotCopper forums, Helix Resources (ASX:HLX) has chins wagging after acquiring the 23sqkm, seven-tenement White Hills copper-gold project in Arizona.

Westar Resources (ASX:WSR) is also being watched a major board reshuffle this week.

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Looking at forex, the Aussie dollar is buying 62.9 US cents.

To commodities, which are in the greenback,

Iron Ore has jumped another 1.2% to sell at $103.65 a tonne in Singapore,

Brent Crude is trading at $74.02,

Gold is trickled higher, to $3,078 per ounce, and, 

US natgas futures are today selling at around $3.92 per gigajoule.

Join the discussion: See what’s trending right now on Australia’s largest stock forum and be part of the conversations that move the markets.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.

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