The ASX is poised to start the week in the green following a mixed session on Wall Street.
Benchmark futures imply the ASX 200 will open 0.3% higher at the morning bell, extending last week’s wins.
What’s new on Wall Street
Major US indices seesawed from an early-hours selloff into flat territory on Friday, reacting to a strong non-farm jobs report and an acceleration in wage growth.
The Dow and the Russell recorded slight gains — up 0.1% and 0.59% — but the Nasdaq and the S&P finished down 0.18% and 0.12%.
While that’s not much to write home about, the final stats are a marked improvement on the session’s lows: the S&P moved from a 1.23% loss and the Nasdaq bounced back from a 1.56% drop.
Just five of 11 sectors clinched a green finish, led by the materials sector with a 1.10% advance. Energy brought up the rear with a 0.6% loss.
Still, slightly more than half of US stocks advanced, and 40% are trading below their 200-day moving average.
Commodities and currency
OPEC Plus — a global coalition of oil exporters — has doubled down on its production forecast ahead of a European Union ban on Russian oil.
In a press release recapping the 34th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting, the organisation endorsed its production cut, stating it was “necessary and the right course of action” towards stabilising global oil markets.
In response, oil shed its gains and moved into red territory — the price of crude dipped 1.08% to fetch US$80.34 a barrel.
Gold performed in line with US indices, spending the session playing catchup as it worked to reverse early falls. The precious metal finished down 0.3% to US$1,811 an ounce.
The Aussie dollar continues to benefit from a fall in US paper, fetching nearly 68 US cents.
On the crypto front, Bitcoin jumped 0.36% to fetch US$17,127 but analysts are unsure if the digital currency can move back above the US$20,000 mark before the new year.
FX Street analyst Akash Girimath said Bitcoin breached its inverse head-and-shoulders pattern in late November. Since then, however, it had been in a tight consolidation that was likely to result in a bearish move.
“A quick pullback to retest the $16,526 level should provide sidelined buyers incentive to push the big crypto at a discount,” Girimath explained.
“In such a case, a spike in buying pressure could trigger a reversal for Bitcoin price.”
On the ASX
The three-way tussle for Warrego Energy continues, but for now, Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has come out on top.
Warrego’s board said this morning that Hancock’s bid — which came in during an investor webinar and was later upsized to 28 cents per share — is currently the superior proposal.
Rival suitor Beach Energy (ASX:BPT), which previously had the most attractive proposal, now has five days to match the offer. The company upgraded its upfront cash bid to 25 cents on Friday in an effort to outbid the WA mining magnate.
As the race heats up, there’ll be more to follow on this story — watch this space.
In other news, consumer conglomerate Metcash — the brand behind retailers like IGA, Foodland and Mitre 10 — has boosted its dividend thanks to better-than-expected half-year earnings.
Underlying earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) jumped 10.3% to $255.1 million, leading to the 11.5 cents-per-share final dividend.
Group CEO Doug Jones chalked the win up to a growing preference for local retailers.
“Feedback from our retailers is that many shoppers have now changed their shopping habits to include local grocery, liquor and hardware stores,” he said in this morning’s earnings report.