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At The Bell – Australian shares are heading for a +0.4% advance at open today as we head into the end of a tumultuous Week 17, and again we’re travelling opposite to Wall Street trades: All major U.S. indices were down, but ASX shares have been strengthening on a chance there’ll be no rate cut in May.
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The latest from all the conflicts in the Middle East: U.S. President Trump says Israel’s ceasefire in Lebanon will be extended by three weeks.
For the U.S.-Iran war, Trump warned “the clock is ticking” for the Islamic Republic as his navy staged a third aircraft carrier. Israel’s defence minister also announced they’re preparing to escalate operations against Iran again.
Our (tentative) gains Friday morning are more related to the rate hike next month. Early assumptions had all but guaranteed the RBA would raise rates again in May, but more and more predictions are now putting it closer to a “line ball,” and that seems to have kept some Australian traders dovish recently.
Whether it holds under what has been a constant weight from the Middle Eastern conflicts remains to be seen, but for now, ~35 points higher at open.
ASX stocks to watch
Let’s talk stocks, where there are several energy companies in headlines early – and no, not just because that’s CY26’s hot topic. One is Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR), which hauled in a 24% increase in its resource at the Taroom Trough. The other is Vulcan (ASX:VUL); the company just broke ground at Lionheart.
In a similar vein, Viva Energy (ASX:VEA) boss Scott Wyatt has told the ABC he thinks Australia needs to prioritise building more modern refineries.
Elsewhere, the long-running lawsuit against current and former Nuix (ASX:NXL) directors has been thrown out of Federal Court. ASIC had alleged the directors failed in their duties by not stopping “misleading market statements” in CY21 and hadn’t enforced the company’s disclosure responsibilities.
Newmont Corp (ASX:NEM) and PLS Group (ASX:PLS) – once called “Pilbara Minerals” – are among Aussie companies reporting today, as well.
And, the L1 Gold Fund (LGF) is being added to the bourse today.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys US 71.3c.
In commodities, all in the greenback,
Brent Crude is coming into Friday even stronger again, this morning up another +4% to now sell at $105.92/Bbl. Then,
Iron Ore down -0.6%, to $106.65 a tonne in Singapore,
Gold has now dipped slightly again, to $4,709/ounce, and,
US natgas futures -5%, to $2.58 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper‘s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck today.
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