Market Open: US-Iran tensions drag down equities, hike oil and gold; Aussie reporting continues | Feb 20

ASX today − Week 8 is ending on a down note after mostly gaining days, with shares Down Under heading for a -0.33% drop as global equities soften and oil and gold tick up under growing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

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ASX futures are following Wall Street pretty closely (after divorcing most of the rest of the week), with the S&P 500 down -0.3%; Nasdaq the same.

 Trump most recently said he’ll have a better idea in “the next 10 days” on the U.S. reaching a deal with Iran on its nuclear capabilities. He also warned: “We have to make a meaningful deal… otherwise, bad things happen.” Those “bad things,” it seems, may well be an imminent U.S. attack, reports say.

Now, back home, reporting season continues at a fever pitch, with another 30-plus companies sharing first-half updates to close today. That follows a very similar pile coming out through Thursday, too.

Let’s take a closer look at all those reports now.

ASX stocks to watch

First up, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has told shareholders it’ll stick to a “stronger, sharper, simpler” strategy after abandoning Glencore talks in early February. This mainly means a bigger focus on iron ore, copper, and industrial metals.

Telstra (ASX:TLS), which delivered a 9.4% rise in net profits to $1.1 billion, used its first-half report to warn that overinvestment in AI could be “risky.”

Elsewhere, APA Group (ASX:APA) chief Adam Watson defends the company’s $480M East Coast pipeline commitments. Mr Watson said as long as “the government does what it’s meant to,” it won’t constrain anything.

Just outside reports for a tick − The ACCC has alleged Coles (ASX:COL) threatened to pull pet food brand Nature’s Gift items should they not kowtow to “Down, Down” discounts. The Fed Court battle continues today.

And then among today’s many reporters, we’ll see MinRes (ASX:MIN), ANZ (ASX:ANZ), DigiCo (ASX:DGT), Inghams (ASX:ING), and more. HotCopper users will also closely watch Newmont (ASX:NEM) and PLS Group (ASX:PLS).

Plus, QBE (ASX:QBE) has already reported a 20% profit hike.

Buck and ore

Now – in forex, the Oz dollar is buying US 70.5c.

Looking at commodities, all in the greenback,

Iron Ore has slipped -0.4%, to sell at $95.35 a tonne in Singapore today,

Then, I’ve touched on both already; Brent Crude is +1.5% stronger, at $71.29/Bbl,

Gold is selling up at $5,011/ounce,

US natgas futures lost -1.4%, to $2.96 per gigajoule.

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

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