At The Bell — Australian shares are tipped to open just a handful of points up today, according to ASX futures, but I guarantee it gets worse after the bell rings at 10AM today, thanks to the U.S.-Iran ceasefire collapsing.
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Usually, I’d pick the “Turtle” theme for our HotCopper Open with points at a soft gain, but expectations are traders are going to get skittish, and quick.
All the action around the Middle East is pretty bog-standard these days: U.S. President Donald Trump has said he’ll “shower Iran in missiles” after the disagreement, while Tehran says it’s closing the Strait of Hormuz again.
At least one commercial vessel has already reportedly been hit in the Strait; expect oil to climb higher on all this news, and so likely Energy stocks as well. Everything else will likely slump, should everything get too scary for Oz investors — or if things just keep getting worse as we get into Week 29 proper.
It will definitely weigh on gold again, with the precious metal (and any companies involved in its trade) continuing to slump. Not good for Oz trading.
We have to wait until tomorrow for consumer confidence reports, too.
ASX stocks to watch
In stocks to start Monday, Telstra (ASX:TLS) still a top headline after new reports identified old SyncServerS300 gear as a likely culprit for the outage. SMH sources claim it’s a decade out of date and should have been replaced. Comms Minister Anika Wells has vowed to make sure the telco giant “faces the music.”
The NSW Independent Planning Commission is holding public hearings this week on an extension for the Hunter Valley Operations. Glencore and Yancoal (ASX:YAL) are seeking to extend the Hunter Valley mine until the mid CY40s.
Elsewhere, Oz shorters keep piling onto IperionX (ASX:IPX), after the critmins miner and manufacturer told shareholders it plans to raise $72M. Analysts have tipped the company to land “minuscule revenue” for FY26.
Coles (ASX:COL) is now on the verge of acquiring Petbarn operator Greencross from TPG Capital for $4B. That sum includes all debt for the company.
And, the oOh!media (ASX:OML) race is down to three: Pacific, I Squared, and Oaktree.
Buck and ore
In forex, the Oz dollar is buying US 69.3c today,
Then to commodities, all in the greenback,
Brent Crude back up +3%, over $78/barrel this morning,
Iron Ore is creeping back to triple-digits, selling at $99.25 a tonne in Singapore today,
Gold has hit a wall again, dropping back down to $4,084/ounce, and,
US natgas futures down, $2.92 per gigajoule.
That’s HotCopper‘s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre – happy trading today.
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