At The Bell – The ASX is tipped to open lower today after the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 20.90 points or 0.23% to 9,188.50 yesterday.
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Elsewhere, Wall Street had a positive session overnight with the S&P 500 setting another record high with further positive inflation news and strong profit performances.
The broad-based index rose roughly 0.6 per cent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) moved up 0.8 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), meanwhile, gained 0.1 per cent.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that he spoke with American President Donald Trump overnight regarding the potential removal of the recently instated 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian exports to the US.
Elsewhere, S&P Global has reported that Russia could seize EU-linked ships in retaliation for the bloc’s sanctions enforcements against the country’s oil trades.
President Vladimir Putin has hit back at EU member states which have agreed to package of sanctions against Russia that grants each of them the legal right to confiscate Russian oil on sanctioned ships and sell the cargo.
“This amounts to nothing less than piracy and banditry,” Mr Putin said according to S&P.
Crude oil prices fell as the market considered the limited progress of talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz with signs of oil flows rising.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, the Oz dollar is buying US$0.705
Looking at commodities, all in the greenback
Iron Ore was down 0.04% to $95.05 per tonne
Brent Crude was down 2.47% to $81.210 USD/Bbl
Gold is selling at $4349.55 per ounce
US natgas futures were down 2.52% to $2.7332 per USD/MMBtu
On the ASX reporting front:
The QBE Insurance Group has reported a better than expected half year result, with a return on equity (ROE) of 17.7% comfortably above a medium-term outlook of 15%+. Adjusted net profit after tax increased to $1,033 million from $997 million in the prior period
The company’s insurance operating result was $691 million, which represented an increase of eight per cent on the prior period, supported by premium growth and a stable combined operating ratio of 92.8 per cent compared with 92.8 per cent in the prior period.
In resources news
Antares Metals (ASX:AM5) has reported that maiden drilling has confirmed copper mineralisation at depth at Conglomerate Creek in Queensland;
Cosmo Metals (ASX:CMO) has further identified a broad mineralised zone at the Kanowna Gold Project in WA;
Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) has made the strategic acquisition of the Piastri project in WA; and
Osmond Resources (ASX:OSM) is on target to complete a maiden MRE for the Orion project in Spain.
That’s HotCopper’s Market Open, I’m Colin Sandell-Hay – happy trading.
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