Market Open: Oz has too many hometown problems popping up to follow Wall Street into new highs

At The Bell – Australian shares will be a little softer today, dropping under five points as the country figures out whether it will have to go into fuel rationing mandates and traders decide whether they want to chase the Wall Street highs that have been popping up throughout Week 16 already.

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.

For the time being, it looks like most Australian investors would rather wait until the weekend and see if anything else dramatic happens before they funnel cash into the trading casino Down Under all over again.

Can’t blame them: We’ve had a fire at one of our only two oil refineries, a near-inexplicable U.S. bull rush despite the Iran war still raging, and limited progress in the peace talks between Washington and Tehran, by all reports.

On Wall Street quickly — the S&P 500 is ticking towards more all-time highs, and the Nasdaq led the way in the U.S. with a +0.4% hike at last close.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has today ruled out imposing rationing in direct response to the inferno at the Geelong refinery (which supplies 10% of Australia’s fuel), but crisis meetings are ongoing. Prime Minister Albanese also pushed back against calls to update Australia’s National Fuel Security Plan.

All in all, “not good timing,” as Bowen said, but something that the Labor government seems to be managing quite decently, for the time being.

ASX stocks to watch

Now, around the traps. Viva boss Scott Wyatt has come out and said he’s not expecting to see costs increase because of the Geelong fire. He also flagged the refinery “undertook a significant maintenance program last year” and knocked back suggestions a lack of maintenance was the reason for the fire.

Santos (ASX:STO) remains in the headlines as well – it’s floated around top-billing every since the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran first started – this time because chief Kevin Gallagher has flagged he’ll likely exit after CY28. Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) helmsman Brett Woods and Amplitude Energy (ASX:AEL) boss Jane Norman have both been floated by analysts as possible successors for Gallagher.

Elsewhere, ANZ Group (ASX:ANZ) is trying to stop customers (and their mortgages) walking out the door by offering borrowers $2,000 in retention payments. ANZ has seen a wave of loan refinancing after this year’s double rate rises.

Now, let’s hit the floats corner quickly. Yesterday, Bison Resources (ASX:BSR) joined the local bourse @ 20c and immediately rocketed, ending its debut few trading hours up more than double. It opens today at $0.65/share.

We have a second in Week 16, too, with investment company Solaris Wealth listing under “SET” for $2 a pop at 11AM. Solaris is raising $330 million.

Our index, ASX Limited (ASX:ASX), copped an S&P downgrade today, too.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys US 71.6c.

In commodities, all in the greenback,

Brent Crude, the hot topic this week and the last few months, has been up +3.4%, rallying back to $98.17Bbl, and then,

Iron Ore is up around +2%, at $106.25 a tonne in Singapore,

Gold steady at $4,809/ounce, and,

US natgas futures are $2.66 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.