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Greetings and welcome to HotCopper’s The ASX Today for Wednesday, Week 13, I’m Isaac McIntyre, and I just can’t tear my eyes away from all these green arrows. Sure, Trump is still looking to stage boots-on-the-ground soldiers in Iran, and no one has said the conflict’s over yet, but the ASX doesn’t seem to mind.
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Through to close, Australian shares have added as much as +2% in overall value, some 150-plus points stronger than where they opened Wednesday. Still not enough to quite pare back recent losses, but it’s on its way.
Mainly helping matters has been the fact that February’s consumer price index came in a little softer than originally expected. That, in turn, suggests the two RBA rate hikes we’ve already had in CY26 may be the furthest the central bank has to go to wrangle our wobbling Aussie economy, for the time being.
Hope has also been rekindled by an Axios report that suggested the U.S. and its peace mediators are “discussing… holding high-level peace talks with Iran as soon as Thursday.” On that front, Tehran just has to pick up the phone.
Among the green, gold has scored a Week 13 comeback as well and is now fetching $4,587 an ounce to the U.S. dollar. That’s a +4% intraday recovery.
That leaves us with one big, big question: Is the worst nearly over?
Well, I reckon tomorrow shapes as crucial: Should the green rain keep showering down, we could be on the upswing. Otherwise, the bull trap may slam shut as eager buyers find themselves watching red arrows all over again.
Now, let’s take a look around all the stock news today. Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) is among the top billed again today – as it oft is, as mining king of the bourse – after the Queensland gov’t pledged to hand over $2 billion in taxpayer subsidies to secure the future of its bumper Boyne aluminium smelter. RIO up +2%.
Amplitude Energy (ASX:AEL) might be my pick of the main character of the day, after it popped up in my Market Open coverage, then my HotCopper Trends column, and now The ASX Today wrap. Talk about busy! This one’s not the best news for shareholders, though, with Amplitude flagging that it plans to plug and abandon its “non-commercial” Isabella gas discovery; that led to a 94.5c slide.
Some hurt for energy, too, with the sector -3% down. That’s led to further drops for Woodside (ASX:WDS) and Karoon (ASX:KAR), as well as Santos (ASX:STO), the last of which has also been forced to temporarily suspend shipments from its Darwin gas plant as it replaces some “essential” gear.
Heading the other way, HotCopper forum users have been celebrating a strong day for 4DMedical (ASX:4DX). The biotech player’s well-loved over on the forums, especially so after it deployed its CT:VQ ventilation and perfusion imaging tech at Mayo Clinic in the U.S. this week and earned a +32% price leap.
And just finally, casting an eye over the ADVFN.com top gainers Wednesday, we can see a defiant stand from NuEnergy Gas (ASX:NGY). Despite a wider sector drop, NuEnergy was +125% (before copping a speeding ticket).
The early morning hype there likely came from a Herald Sun article by Craig Dickson that suggested traders “pay attention” to the energy stock.
That’s The ASX Today for Wednesday. I’m Isaac McIntyre, see you in the morning.
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