Australian shares are tipped to advance a hair over +0.17% early in Friday trade. The (slightly) dovish end to Week 24 comes as Wall Street shone green on fresh U.S. inflation data that “didn’t look quite as bad as expected.”
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There were concerns Trump’s ever-present tariffs had kick-started a whole lot more inflation in America, but things stayed relatively “soft” through May.
The data turned U.S. traders hopeful: The S&P 500 added +0.4%; the Dow gained +0.2%.
Back home, the New South Wales government is rushing to save the Tomago aluminium smelter, jointly owned by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), CSR Limited (ASX:CSR), and the unlisted Hydro-Electric Corp. Main fears revolve around the smelter’s inability to pay ever-rising power prices after its 2028 deal wraps up.
Eyes will be on energy leaders like Woodside (ASX:WDS) today: After yesterday’s spike, the sector may swing again on news a gas plant hitch has seen Victoria already use as much as 81% of the gas it had teed up for the whole year.
So too public aviation stocks like Qantas (ASX:QAN) and Air New Zealand (ASX:AQZ) after the Air India tragedy that left more than 240 dead and the world reeling.
And, BusinessNZ is sharing its manufacturing purchasing index for May today.
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Looking at forex, the Aussie dollar is buying 65.3 US cents.
To commodities, which are in the greenback,
Gold shapes as a top gainer today after a soft inflation report in the U.S. many believe points to more Fed Reserve cuts. The safe haven metal last sold at $3,385.
Iron Ore has sagged -0.7% this morning to sell at $94.45 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is trading another +0.5% higher at $70.04,
US natgas futures have held at $3.52/gigajoule to close out the week.
That’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre, stick with us for HotCopper’s Market Update.
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