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ASX today − We’re heading towards a -0.15% retreat at open this morning, according to Wednesday’s ASX 200 futures. The dip is partly thanks to the U.S. reporting season starting − and failing to excite − and partly Donald Trump suddenly declaring his trade pact with Canada and Mexico is “irrelevant.”
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Not really helping things over on Wall Street either is the fact that December’s “moderate” CPI data print, released mid-Week 3, seems to suggest there won’t be any more Fed rate cuts early in CY26 over in the States.
Between Trump, cut hopes fading, and the middling reporting start, all three major U.S. indexes ended the day lower, and Oz seems happy to follow.
Now − America may have given us our morning path, but it looks like China will tell us how the rest of the day will go. The Middle Kingdom is sharing its trade data today, especially exports growth; they’re tipped to have dipped -5.5%.
While we wait for that print, let’s take a look at Aussie company news.
ASX stocks to watch
First up, Woodside (ASX:WDS) and Santos (ASX:STO) should have decent days in ASX trading after oil popped to two-month highs. Smaller caps like Beach (ASX:BPT) and Karoon (ASX:KAR) will be in focus, too.
Endeavour Group (ASX:EDV) had a good Christmas season, with Dan Murphy’s ticking up a record holiday season thanks to discounts − but profits remain a concern, with $411M the upper cap expected this quarter.
Elsewhere, Electro Optic Systems (ASX:EOS) remains a close watch after bursting +11% through Tuesday. The tech company is buying counterdrone developer MARSS group for $54M and markets really liked that move. (If you want more on that one, JD covered the Electro-DroneShield story yesterday.)
And, Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) is farewelling chief Amanda Lacaze after she guided the company for 12 years. She’ll wrap up when FY26 closes.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys 66.8 U.S. cents.
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore has pulled back -0.9%, to $108.20 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is up +2.4%, to $65.42/Bbl,
Gold is at $4,598 an ounce, and,
US natgas futures are up +0.3%, to $3.42 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.
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