Bears favoured to lead the way after ASX and Wall Street both close lower

Market Open: The bears are again expected to be in charge on the ASX 200 with Wall Street sliding slightly.

Hello, and welcome to HotCopper‘s Market Open for Thursday.

I’m Colin Sandell-Hay

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The Australian share market is expected to be weaker today, with the ASX tipped to open lower with the ASX 200 futures sliding down 17 points or 0.2% to 8693.

That follows the S&P/ASX 200 closing lower last night, dropping 55.80 points or 0.64% to 8,722.90 and crossing below its 50-day moving average.

The index has lost 0.97% for the last five days but is virtually unchanged year to date.

On Wall Street trading was mixed overnight with the Dow Jones Industrial Average declining by 0.03%.

On the local front the federal government has welcomed Alcoa’s announcement it has entered into an agreement to purchase operations from South32 including Worsley Alumina in Western Australia.

Federal resources minister, Madeleine King, said yesterday’s landmark agreement was an “unequivocal vote of confidence” in the Australian economy and manufacturing capabilities, and an indication of Australia position as the world’s leading investment destination.

“This is a significant moment for our resources sector and shows yet again the how the world is choosing Australia as a growth destination,” Minister King said.

Local Alcoa shareholders weren’t impressed and the company’s stock dropped by 7.21% by the end of the day.

Globally, S&P Global is suggesting soaring temperatures across Europe are poised to reshape gas, power and carbon markets in the third quarter, with meteorologists warning that the 2026 El Niño phenomenon is set to be considerably more intense than in previous years.

“Any backtracking on the current peace agreement, or further technical delays to plant restoration, would likely have a significant impact on late-summer and early-winter price dynamics,” said Dominic Simmons, senior principal gas analyst for S&P Global Energy CERA.

On the metals from the World Gold Council said overnight that after surging to record highs above US$5,500/oz and retreating sharply, gold remains one of the top performing assets over the past 12 months.

At current levels, gold’s price is broadly in line with macro consensus expectations. But the stage is set for a possible breakout.

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys $0.68962919 US.

In commodities, all in the greenback, at the time of going to press

Brent Crude was down 2.03%  to $68.090

Iron Ore was down 1.09% to $97.90

Gold was up 0.59% to $4031

Natgas futures were down 1.95% to $3.2110

ASX stocks to watch

On the ASX market front

Metal Hawk (ASX:MHK) has secured key tenure near Leonora

 Black Horse Mining (ASX:BHL) has kicked off drilling at the Mt Egerton gold project

Great Western Exploration (ASX: GTE) is spinning the bit at the highly prospective Juggernaut copper project

Galilee Energy (ASX:GLL) has spudded the high-impact Zydeco-1 well in the US.

That’s HotCopper‘s Market Open, I’m Colin Sandell-Hay – good luck today.

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