ASX traders appear to be biding their time this morning, waiting to see which way the market goes before placing their bets. ASX Futures aren’t quite flat, up 0.53% or 41 points as of 9:00 am AEST but Wall Street’s uncertainty may carry over.
Neither US or European markets were quite sure what to do with themselves and benchmark indices pulled in opposite directions.
US and European markets
US investors are waiting to gauge a smorgasbord of economic data over the next few days, which led to an interesting mix of gains and losses across the markets.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) shed 2.3% to push the Dow Jones lower, struggling against worsening consumer and market sentiment as the aerospace manufacturer faces tough questions about its quality assurance and safety procedures.
Chemical manufacturing company Abermarle suffered a 6.9% drop to touch its lowest point since 2020 as lithium prices continue to struggle.
On the other hand, the Nasdaq benefited from its ever-mobile tech stocks, with 'Magnificent 7' member Nvidia gaining 4.1% on expectations of strong results from the company’s data centre manufacturing segment.
Super Micro Computers also lifted 6.3% on announcing its participation at a slew of upcoming investor conferences, perhaps implying the chip manufacturer has some news to share.
US bank KeyCorp (NYSE:NYSE:KEY) jumped 9.1% as Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) snapped up a majority stake in the company, with a stock-only deal valued at US2.8 billion.
The Dow fell 140.5 points or 0.4% under Boeing’s weight, while the S&P500 ended almost dead flat, and the Nasdaq notched up 0.2% or 35 points.
European share markets told a similar story.
Mining and Energy stocks lifted 0.7% as oil and minerals prices rose but Real Estate suffered a 0.9% blow.
Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas shed 7.8% from its stock price on warnings of a second-quarter loss and less-than-stellar expectations for its full-year profit and revenue forecasts.
Bharti Enterprises’ purchase of a 24.5% stake in BT Group (LON:BT) drove the telecommunications stock up 8.4%.
Overall, the FTSE300 shed 0.1%, while the UK FTSE100 gained 0.5% on strong metals performances.
Currencies and commodities
The US dollar fell in overnight trading.
The Euro lifted from US$1.0915 to close near US$1.0930, the Aussie dollar rose from US65.79 cents to end near US65.85 cents and the Japanese Yen appreciated from 148.21 yen per US dollar to near JPY147.25 at US close.
Oil prices rose for the fifth consecutive session.
Brent crude rose by US$2.64 (3.3%) to US$82.30 per barrel, while US Nymex crude increased by US$3.22 (4.2%) to US$80.06 per barrel.
Oil prices are responding to simmering tensions in the Middle East which may soon worsen, as a full-scale war threatens to spark between Hezbollah and Israel.
Metals were also up bar iron ore.
Copper futures lifted 1.9% and aluminium 0.8%. Gold jumped 1.2% or US$30.60 to US$2,504 per ounce ahead of the latest release of US inflation data.
Iron ore fell US59 cents or 0.6% to US$100.67 per tonne as record shipments from Australia and Brazil threaten to overload the market.
On the small cap front
Great Boulder Resources Ltd (ASX:GBR) has extended the gold mineralisation zone at the Side Well Gold Project’s Mulga Bill prospect to 400 metres of strike, just 40 metres below the surface with strong potential for open-pit mining.
Leeuwin Metals Ltd (ASX:LM1) has been encouraged by strong iron ore rock chip results from the West Pilbara Iron Ore Project, which offered assays up to 55.27% iron over a 1.7-kilometre strike.
Mako Gold Ltd (ASX:MKG) has hit shallow, high-grade gold in drilling at the Tchaga North Prospect, striking 7 metres at 5.39 g/t gold from 87 metres with a particularly high-grade intersection of 1-metre at 31.15 g/t.
Buru Energy Ltd (ASX:BRU, OTC:BRNGF) has begun civil works including well pad construction for the Rafael Shallow 1 well location ahead of drilling the high potential oil target on the EP 428 licence in Western Australia’s onshore Canning Basin.
Torque Metals Ltd (ASX:TOR) has completed 1,106 metres of diamond drilling at the Paris Gold Project in Western Australia’s Goldfields, with results from the infill and extensional program expected in late August.