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At The Bell – Australian shares are all set to extend their losses on Monday, after the U.S. and Iran returned to full-blown hostilities. Oil has been pushed higher as a result, and more inflation fears have again bubbled to the surface… just in time for Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ 26/27 Budget delivery Tuesday.
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We did see a green blip mid-Week 19, but we’re now heading for a -0.5% fall, which will only compound Friday’s sobering $50 billion collapse.
If you’re wondering why we have to watch Wall Street equities keep chugging through more and more records as we fall, it’s mostly because the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will hit us a little harder than those in the States.
Then, of course, it’s the red-hot tech stocks in the U.S. that are delivering most of the upward power; should that stop, expect far more red globally. London’s FTSE and Japan’s Nikkei are already heading that way.
Maybe Chalmers’ budget changes things for us Aussies — it’s being touted as “one of the biggest in decades” — with tax reform, savings and productivity, and investment the three pillars propping it up. Albo has said the objective is to make Oz “fairer.” We’ll see on Tuesday evening how true that is.
ASX stocks to watch
But, Monday first. Early on, Macquarie Group (ASX:MGQ) reported a 30% rise in full-year profit, to $4.85 billion. The bank’s Commodities and Global Markets division largely led the way, helped on by global volatility.
Elsewhere, Coles (ASX:COL) is targeting weight-loss drugs as its next big push, adding home-brand products that “appeal to GLP-1 users.”
Elevra Lithium (ASX:ELV) has agreed to sell its interest in the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana to China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co for ~US$71 million.
And HotCopper forum users are watching Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) early after the explorer picked up five new copper and gold targets at Aguila. Lodestar has been running IP and MT surveys on-site this month.
Macquarie set News Corp (ASX:NWS) to “Outperform” at a $46.25 target.
And, Lynas Corp (ASX:LYC) is reporting this morning.
Buck and ore
Now – in forex, the Oz dollar buys US 72.2c.
In commodities, all in the greenback,
Brent Crude is at $101.29/Bbl already, +1.2% higher as the climb begins again. Last week, it lost nearly -7% on possible peace,
Iron Ore is down half a percent; $110.20 a tonne in Singapore,
Gold is largely flat, $4,699/ounce, and,
US natgas futures are -0.4%, to $2.75 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper‘s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – good luck today.
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