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ASX today – Australian shares are heading for a -0.4% decline once trading begins on Thursday morning, with the inflation report shared by the ABS yesterday truly denting any excitement traders have had Down Under.
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The CPI spike – the first in three years – leaves any RBA rate cut next Tuesday at very long odds. Some even think it may stop the ‘cut’ cycle completely.
Then, adding to the bearish woes, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell refused to change his cautious tune on interest rates, suggesting the U.S. may well be in pretty much the same boat as Australia heading into Christmas.
Wall Street already had its first chance to trade under Powell’s sentiment: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones both dropped, up to -0.2% through the day.
And so, we’re set for a 40-point loss out the gates. Now, let’s look at companies.
ASX stocks to watch
James Hardie (ASX:JHX) has grabbed the biggest ASX headlines after furious investors ousted the company chair, Anne Loyd, as well as several directors, over the $14 billion Azek buyout that was never voted on.
Elsewhere, two more senior WiseTech (ASX:WTC) executives are being investigated in the ASIC crackdown that saw company headquarters raided last week.
Woolworths (ASX:WOW) will also be a watch, with a potentially fiery shareholder gathering coming today after the retail giant delivered lacklustre sales growth numbers. Chief Amanda Bardwell said she’s still “cautiously optimistic” for the holidays; whether Woolworths shareholders agree remains to be seen.
And finally, HotCopper users have been heavily discussing Boss Energy (ASX:BOE), Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN), and Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) after the uranium trio jumped as much as +20% on Trump’s $80B reactor plans.
Coles (ASX:COL), IGO Ltd (ASX:IGO), MinRes (ASX:MIN), and Lynas (ASX:LYC) are among the companies sharing quarterlies today.
Buck and ore
Now, in forex, the Oz dollar buys 65.7 U.S. cents.
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore advanced +1.2%, to sell at $107.05 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is up +0.6% at $64.82/bbl,
Gold has held relatively steady below $4K, and is at $3,943 an ounce, and,
US natgas futures have dropped -1.8%, to $3.79 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.
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