ASX Market Open: ASX futures +0.55% as US & EU markets close higher | 18 June 2024


Happy Tuesday! The ASX200 is set to rise today with futures up +0.55% near 8.30am AEST.

A green night on Wall Street was enough to turn sentiment around, with all major markets ending green – including the Russell 2000 smallcap index.

The NASDAQ ended +0.95% higher and the S&P 500 ended up +0.77%.

European equities also ended higher after much noise being made about French elections, with the French CAC 40 modestly higher.

In Australia, it’s an RBA interest rate decision today, with that data coming out at 2.30pm AEST.

Morgan Stanley join Citigroup and UBS in predicting another pause coming from the central bank today, leaving rates at 4.35%.

Looking at companies on the ASX,

New Talisman Gold Mines (ASX:NTL) has secured a new processing plant for downstream operations at its self-named mine.

However, the company will need to conduct a capital raise to finalise the sale of the 100-tons-per-day facility.

Meanwhile, Tamboran Resources (ASX:TBN) has officially launched its IPO process to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

The gas player is the latest ASX company to turn towards American markets at a time where activity on the local bourse is comparatively quieter.

Finally, Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) is sure to catch eyes after releasing an announcement boasting gold grade hits up to concentrations over 6,000 grams per tonne.

That drill section was only 1.5 metres in length and pulled from 240 metres underground.

In forex, the AUD continues to sit rangebound, buying 66 US cents.

Looking at commodities, gold is down -0.5% to US$2,320 an ounce. Brent crude surged overnight by 2.12% to US$84.30 a barrel. Iron ore prices returned to US$105 a tonne in Singapore after weak Chinese data on Monday caused a dent.

Finally, US natural gas futures are down -3.43% to US$2.78 a gigajoule. The price had been pushed upwards by recent hot weather across the Northern hemisphere, triggering power demand for ACs.

That’s Market Open for now – we’ll be with you later in the trading day.


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