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Australian shares are now expected to wade into positive territory this Thursday morning, with ASX 200 futures pointing to a 0.29% gain, to 8,124 points.
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There’s still plenty of factors swirling around the bourse, not least Cyclone Alfred’s landfall, another tipped European rate cut, and Trump flip-flopping on tariffs again.
Despite all that though, we may see a welcome respite from the downhill rush today.
Now, in that aforementioned tariffs news – which have seemed near-daily in March – Trump hit pause on those directed at automakers in Mexico and Canada. The exemption will last for one month, but it was enough to get Wall Street excited.
Following the pause, all three major U.S. indices bumped at least 1.1% higher; the Nasdaq composite surged the most, closing the Wall Street trading day up 1.46%.
In particular, Ford, GM, and Stellantis all enjoyed rip-roaring days, up as much as 8%.
Back home, the ASX is looking into several companies that it deemed dropped “surprises” on results day, including Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), Bendigo Bank (ASX:BEN), Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG), and more.
The crackdown – which companies must reply to with “please explain” letters – will also shine on Reece (ASX:REH), NIB Group (ASX:NBH), and Iress (ASX:IRE) after volatility.
There’s also some panic around Healthscope (ASX:HSO) – Australia’s second-largest private hospital operator has been quietly speaking to KordaMentha to prepare contingencies should it soon be placed in voluntary administration.
Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) is in the spotlight after an ABC report this morning suggested Eraring, the country’s largest coal-fired power station, is “unreliable” and has been a factor in driving up electricity prices through this cost of living crisis.
Elsewhere, Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) applied to expand its Darwin Project in Chile by as much as 3,200 hectares after recently landing top-tier gold and copper grades.
Warriedar (ASX:WA8) has shared good news: It hit “very high” recoveries at Windinne Well.
We may also see Star Entertainment (ASX:SGR) enter voluntary administration today.
More market news
Pushing in: Ukraine’s minerals are in Trump’s sights. What does this really mean?
Tough trim: Why rate cuts are bad news for the Australian economy
Looking at forex, the Aussie dollar is buying 63.3 US cents.
To commodities, which are in the greenback,
Iron Ore has sagged 1.1% to $99.70 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is trading at $69.39,
Gold is trading at $2,930 per ounce, and,
US natgas futures are at $4.45 per gigajoule.
That’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre, stick with us for HotCopper’s Market Update.
