Greetings and welcome to HotCopper’s The ASX Today for Thursday, Week 13, I’m Isaac McIntyre. Today hasn’t quite been the near +2% rocketship we saw through Wednesday, but most of the gains the ASX 200 has ticked up this week are sticking around for now as Iran-U.S. peace talks stay in the headlines.
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Plenty is floating around regarding a de-escalation of the Middle East war, which has helped steady what had just last week been a fast-plunging ship.
But – things are far from over. Yesterday I asked if they were, and unfortunately, we’re no closer to a proper answer, but it does seem like Trump is pushing hard for a ceasefire. (Even if Tehran keeps denying there have been talks.)
As long as The White House keeps insiting there’s been peace talks happening between Washington representatives and Tehran officials, soft optimism should rein. Still, the U.S. is actively ordering thousands of troops into the region; an actual ground invasion could put paid to any brewing dovish sentiments.
That’s probably one of the reasons that Energy has been so much stronger today, +1.27% as the best performing sector by some metres. With the situation in Iran far from over, Oz traders must be seeing value there.
There were some wholly Aussie stats today, too: Total household wealth rose by 2.5% ($453.7B) in the December quarter, according to new ABS figures.
And gold has largely steadied after a two-day recovery, with investors seemingly happy to wait and see what exactly happens with U.S. and Iran negotiations. Bullion was last near $US4,525 an ounce, into close.
Around the traps, Fenix Resources (ASX:FEX) has become the first West Australian iron ore miner to point to the Iranian war as an operational issue. The miner has has decided to hold onto its diesel to deal with the looming arrival of Tropical Cyclone Narelle, which has already forced the Port of Geraldton to close.
Closures forced by Narelle’s impending impacts across Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory are expected to hit a whole pile of Aussie mineral and energy producers, from Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) to MinRes (ASX:MIN) and Santos (ASX:STO). New York-listed Chevron (CVX) to be effected, too.
Elsewhere, Aussie traders seem to be gambling on the Iranian war continuing, with conflict-exposed stocks like DroneShield (ASX:DRO) and shipbuilder Austal (ASX:ASB) among the bourse’s strongest gainers for the day.
And finally, Nickel Industries (ASX:NIC) has suspended mining at Hengjaya in Indonesia after a contractor fatality. An investigate will start on March 27, helmed by the Australian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
That’s The ASX Today for Thursday. I’m Isaac McIntyre, see you in the morning.
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