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ASX today – We’ve made it to Melbourne Cup race day in Week 45, and that means there’s a major Reserve Bank rate decision waiting to be unveiled at 2:30pm (before the famous race that stops the nation jumps half an hour later).
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While we wouldn’t be able to tip the Melb Cup champion with any certainty (though I can say I’ll be on Valiant King), there’s a lot more locked in for when the RBA meet: A ‘cut’ call would be an all-time raceday upset.
Everything from unemployment and inflation to the simple rising costs of electricity and other household bills has forced the central bank’s hand.
Nothing’s 100% locked, of course, don’t bet against a ‘hold’ decision.
The ASX certainly isn’t; everything’s basically flat in Tuesday morning futures.
HotCopper expects that will continue through the day and past the Cup jump, when Governor Michele Bullock then shares an address. That starts at 3:30pm, so it’s worth tuning in once Oz restarts around 3:15pm today.
We’re clear of the quarterlies now, too, so it’s back to usual company reporting.
On that note, let’s take a look at what’s on the stock wire.
ASX stocks to watch
First up, lithium is being closely watched for a possible short squeeze; a surge in spodumene prices these last few months – up to US$977 a tonne – has helped shorted stocks like Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) more than double in value since the middle of the year.
Macquarie Bank (ASX:MGQ) is rushing to tighten restrictions on mortgages after a wave of buyer agents on TikTok spruiking ways to get “unlimited loans.” Macquarie fears these ‘tricks’ may lead to more defaults in the short term.
29Metals (ASX:29M) is trending on the HotCopper forums early after landing high-grade copper, zinc, and gold intercepts and its Golden Grove flagship.
And online used cars retailer Carma is listing today. The latest ASX debutant is looking to raise $100 million; will start at $2.70/share.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys 65.3 U.S. cents.
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,
Iron Ore has dropped -1.3%, to sell at around $104.75 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is still quite flat, at $64.85/bbl,
Gold is still creeping around $4K, and is at $4,008 an ounce today, and,
US natgas futures have run +2.9% higher, to $4.24 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.
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