ASX Market Open: Xmas rally looks like long shot with this November slump; RBA mins out today | Nov 18

ASX today – Monday’s dip is looking like the start of a longer dump, rather than a blip on the radar, with Australian shares now heading for a 50-point loss when ASX trade gets started this Tuesday morning.

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It’s not so great news for anyone who had been banking on some Chrissy cheer; most late-year rallies would have already started by now, with November marking the start of a charge through to the end of December.

But, while unwelcome for some, it’s not surprising, especially after Fed Reserve vice chairman Philip Jefferson shared a neutral stance yesterday.

In a similar vein Down Under, we’ll get our hands on the Reserve Bank’s policy meeting minutes a little later today. That should help traders form a clearer picture of how November should eventually close.

There’s zero chance December will see a ‘cut’ call, but investors can still use the meeting minutes to figure out when the next one might arise.

Before that’s all out (at 11.30am), let’s look at some company news.

ASX stocks to watch

Westpac (ASX:WBC) has called a halt to its regional closures until 2030, and will instead invest $65 million to upgrade 50 existing regional branches.

Elsewhere, ASX Ltd (ASX:ASX) is under the microscope again after a former tech executive from the bourse operator has alleged he was ordered to “mislead” ASIC while it was investigating 2020’s market outage.

And, Magmatic Resources (ASX:MAG) has started drilling at its Myall FJVA Project, where it will be hunting for “Northparkes-style” gold-copper deposits.

More results are on the docket today, too, including from Technology One (ASX:TNE), ALS Ltd (ASX:ALQ), and Catapult Sports (ASX:CAT).

And, BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) has an AGM that’ll be worth watching.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys 64.9 U.S. cents.

Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,

Iron Ore has popped +1.6%, to $104.25 a tonne in Singapore,

Brent Crude dropped -0.6%, to $64/bbl,

Gold has kept on its slide back to $4K; today it’s at $4,044 an ounce, and,

US natgas futures have dumped -5%, to $4.33 per gigajoule.

That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck, happy trading.

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