The ASX200 is set to trade slightly higher today, with futures almost flat – up just 0.08% -near 8.30am AEST.
Stocks in the US experienced a volatile session on Thursday as investors await news of a crucial jobs report for August.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones dropped 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, while the Nasdaq100 made slight gains after initially moving up more than 1%.
In the ASX, debt-laden Synlait Milk Ltd (ASX:SM1) was told that a Takeovers Panel would take no action over the company’s recapitalisation plan after founder John Penno had complained about the deal, which would see Bright Dairy acquire a 65% stake in Synlait (up from its current 39.01% investment.
The deal is to be approved at a shareholder’s meeting on September 18.
Axel REE Ltd (ASX:AXL) is about to kick off an exploration program looking for niobium at its Itiquira Project in Brazil.
And telecommunications service provider Vonex Ltd (ASX:VN8) has responded to a takeover offer from Swoop Holdings Ltd (ASX:SWP), with the board advising investors to take no action, considering that a previous Scheme of Arrangement offer from MaxoTel is the superior option.
In commodities where prices are in USD, iron Ore is fetching $92.93 per tonne in Singapore, a barrel of Brent Crude is currently worth just over $72.79, gold is at $2,516 per ounce, and US natgas futures are fetching $2.26 per gigajoule.
In forex, the Aussie continues to buy 67 US cents.