Market Open: Sustained US-Iran peace deal hopes keep Aussie shares drifting higher

At The Bell — Australian shares are heading for a 20-point gain at open Tuesday as the prospect of a deal to end the war in Iran becomes clearer. We’ve heard it before, yes, but everything coming out from the U.S.-Iran talks is starting to sound more and more dovish in Week 22, and investors are getting hopeful.

Hear from all the ASX-listed companies that were at the RIU Resources Round-Up in Sydney, right here on HotCopper.com. Over a dozen video interviews.

That peace deal hope has led ASX 200 futures to a +0.2% advance as we head towards first trading bell in Sydney — we’ll see if it holds up to then.

Also back home, Labor is pressing ahead with its controversial capital gains (CGT) tax changes, despite massive backlash. The federal government will be introducing the actual legislation on Thursday in the House of Reps.

The things being discussed include a $250 tax offset for workers, as well as a standard $1,000 tax deduction, and all the CGT and negative gearing changes, replacing the 50% CGT discount with one indexed to inflation.

And remember, we’re waiting for key inflation stats – out tomorrow.

ASX stocks to watch

Now, onto stocks. Qantas (ASX:QAN) has hit another delay for Project Sunrise, with the special A350 aircraft needed for the 22-hour trip unlikely to arrive in Oz by year’s end. They are needed to start the ambitious project, and without them, everything will get pushed back in CY27 or maybe even later.

Elsewhere, WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) chief executive Zubin Appoo has asked staff being made redundant by the Oz tech leader not to “threaten him with violence.” WiseTech made some 2,000 workers redundant on Monday.

And, American T&A (ASX:AT4) is up +2% in indicative pricing after lining up a system-scale tungsten soil anomaly across Tennessee Mountain in Nevada.

Li-FT Power is floating CDIs today; the Canada-focused lithium explorer is staging a backdoor arrival after merging with Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1). Previous Winsome shareholders will get 0.107 of each new LFT share.

And, Fisher & Paykel (ASX:FYP) lifted operating revenue by 14%, to $NZ2.3B.

Buck and ore

In forex, the Oz dollar buys US 71.57c.

And to commodities, all in the greenback,

Brent Crude is down again, losing as much as -6.5% as the peace deal with Washington and Tehran comes closer. $96.77 today,

Iron Ore is +0.6% stronger; $106.75 a tonne in Singapore,

Gold is up, $4,585/ounce, and,

US natgas futures at ~$2.90 per gigajoule.

That’s HotCopper‘s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – happy trading today.

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