ASX 200 futures are this morning pointing to a defiant 0.27% gain for Australian shares when Thursday trade opens, even as growing tensions in the Middle East and ongoing U.S.-China trade talks saw Wall Street dip by its evening close.
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U.S. traders got antsy midway through the week as security concerns continue to spike in the Middle East – and oil prices hit two-month highs at the same time.
In response, Wall Street holders shed equities, and the S&P 500, down -0.27%, and the Nasdaq composite, down -0.5%, both slipped into the red. The blue-chip Dow Jones did manage to dodge some of the drop, ending neutral.
Brent crude prices have already climbed as high as $70.36 a barrel after a +5.2% pop.
Oz traders seem less worried about the global news – or maybe are only catching up on everything now – with a slight green day on the Aussie agenda early.
In company news, Mirvac (ASX:MGR) is compiling an assault package to pry the $10 billion Australian Prime Property Funds empire away from Lendlease Group (ASX:LLC) in a bold move that could nip Lendlease’s long recovery in the bud.
Qantas (ASX:QAN) may also be a big mover through the rest of Week 24 after shedding its loss-making Jetstar Asia enterprise; it’s at $10.50/sh this morning.
And, the Swedish government has waved away several long-standing appeals against Talga Group (ASX:TLG) and its Nunasvaara South graphite mine – a victory that means the battery materials miner can get back to digging.
Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC) has today broken ground at its Igrejinha dig too.
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Looking at forex, the Aussie dollar is buying 65 US cents.
To commodities, which are in the greenback,
Iron Ore has gained +0.8% this morning to sell at $95.15 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is – as flagged earlier – trading +5% higher at $70.23,
Gold is trading at $3,366 per ounce, and,
US natgas futures are at $3.52 per gigajoule.
That’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre, stick with us for HotCopper’s Market Update.
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