Market Open: ‘Hormuz Hope’ rally trucks on with expectations Trump will start ‘winding things down’ in Iran

ASX today – Australian shares are now heading for a +0.5% advance on Thursday as investors hedge bets that the war in the Middle East is nearing its end and everything from equities and bonds to oil and gold normalise.

Listen to the HotCopper podcast for in-depth discussions and insights on all the biggest headlines from throughout the week. On Spotify, Apple, and more.

From where we’re sitting early Thursday morning, it seems like a good hedge: We’re all now awaiting an address from U.S. President Trump at midday (AUS time) that’s expected to see him declare things are “winding down” in Iran – and may even carry a Trumpian victory speech, whether that’s really earned or not.

At the very least, POLITICO is reporting Trump will say “all military objectives have been met” and that it’s NATO’s fault the Hormuz Strait is closed.

Considering we enjoyed a +2.2% leap into close yesterday on just a sniff of “Hormuz Hope,” as U.S. publications are now calling it, it will be very interesting to see where our arvo trading goes after Trump’s address.

Probably more impactful than Albo’s national address last night, at least, which mainly just stopped Australians from enjoying their 7PM programs. His three-minute speech basically amounted to “keep calm, and carry on.”

JD and I will cover that as our top headline on the HotCopper Wire this week – unless Trump does something mad. That POD ep will be out Friday.

ASX stocks to watch

Now, let’s look at company news. First up, Anthropic was in town yesterday, meeting with Albanese and Industry Minister Tim Ayres. The AI heavyweight’s chief, Dario Amodei, has pledged to support the Oz government’s framework on data centres and AI markers, which should bleed into Aussie tech growth.

Elsewhere, Duratec (ASX:DUR) is forking out $12 million to buy New South Wales-based welding and fabrication company Pacific Welding Australia.

On a similar note in mining, Ore Resources (ASX:OR3) has wrapped up the acquisition of three “highly prospective” exploration tenures across the WA Goldfields. The buy-up adds ~120km² to Ore’s exploration tenures.

Synlait Milk (ASX:SM1) has sold its North Island assets, including the Pokeno facility and several Auckland sites, to Abbott for NZ$307M.

And Northern Star (ASX:NST) will be buying back 22.6M on-market shares.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar is buying US 69.2c.

Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,

Iron Ore is -1% stronger, selling at $106.30 a tonne in Singapore today,

Brent Crude keep sliding, and is down ~$100.28/Bbl,

Gold is selling at $4,773/ounce,

US natgas futures are down -2.5%, to $2.81 per gigajoule.

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

Join the discussion. See what’s trending right now on Australia’s largest stock forum and be part of the conversations that move the markets.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.