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Welcome to the first Market Open under our new brand, The Market Online.
After a strong rally on the ASX200 last week, it’s looking to be a tougher start to trade this week, with futures suggesting a 0.7 per cent drop.
That’s despite US markets closing last week at new highs with the Nasdaq up 1.7 per cent, the S&P 500 by more than a per cent and the Dow Jones by about a third of a per cent.
Since then of course we’ve seen US and British retaliation air strikes on Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq targets in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. So while oil prices have dropped a little, it’ll be interesting to watch for a spike in the wake of that.
In some of the strongest performances at the end of last week, Facebook parent company Meta surged 20 per cent on reporting profits driven by digital advertising. Amazon also gained nearly eight per cent after adding more than US$200 billion to its market cap.
Back home and we’ve been promised significant changes to what we hear from the Reserve Bank of Australia, which is set to deliver its February interest rates decision tomorrow.
While it’ll hold fewer Board meetings, there’ll soon be press conferences after each one and we can expect earlier release of economic forecasts.
Stocks to watch today on The Market Online and HotCopper include:
Home broadband provider Chorus (ASX:CNU) which has announced it plans to invest $40 million to extend its fibre broadband to 10,000 additional premises on the fringes of its existing network.
And Fletcher Building (ASX:FBU) has reported it’s facing increased costs on the New Zealand International Convention Centre project, to the tune of NZ$165 million. While subcontractor resourcing is blamed, the company reports not all will be recoverable through insurance. It’s also making a $15 million provision for the Wellington International Airport Carpark project due to quality issues. Fletcher Building will report on the first half year mid-next week.
The Aussie dollar has slipped to 65 US cents.
Iron ore is sitting steady at US$133.50, crude oil is down more than two per cent to below US$73, gold is back under $2040, and natural gas up two per cent to $2.09.
