The Australian sharemarket is poised to edge lower, with ASX 200 futures down 16.2 points (-0.18%) at 9:30 am AEST. That follows a weaker Monday for the benchmark, while overnight trade saw European equities firm and precious metals surge to multi-year highs.
Wall Street and Europe
US markets were closed for the Labor Day holiday, leaving Europe to set the tone. The Stoxx 600 added 0.23%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.57% and the FTSE 100 rose 0.10%, supported by defence names after a record British warship order from Norway.
Gold and silver extended their rallies, with gold closing at US$3,477/oz (+0.8%) and silver breaking above US$40/oz for the first time since 2011. Oil also firmed, with WTI up 0.9% to US$64.6/bbl and Brent near US$68.1/bbl.
China’s private manufacturing PMI returned to expansion at 50.5 in August, while UK manufacturing slipped to 47, underscoring diverging global trends.
ASX yesterday
The S&P/ASX 200 fell 45.4 points, down 0.51% to 8,927.7. IT (-2.7%), consumer discretionary (-1.2%) and financials (-0.8%) weighed on the index, while staples (+0.35%), communication services (+0.31%) and utilities (+0.30%) provided support.
Gold stocks dominated, with the ASX Gold sub-index surging 5.8% as bullion and silver prices rallied. The Small Ordinaries rose 0.6%, while the Emerging Companies index added 1.5%.
Commodities and currencies
In addition to gold extended its run and silver surging 2.5%, oil prices also edged higher, with WTI up 0.9% to US$64.6 a barrel and Brent closing near US$68.1.
- Copper: US$8,804/t (-0.2%)
- Iron ore: US$101.8/t (+0.1%)
- AUD/USD: 0.655 (+0.2%)
- Bitcoin: US$108,500 (+0.2%)
ASX today
Gold and silver producers will remain in focus after breaking key technical levels overnight. Energy names may also find support from firmer crude.
On the corporate side, Collins Foods will hold its AGM after reporting 6.7% sales growth in the first 18 weeks of FY26 and reaffirming NPAT guidance. Platinum Asset Management advised a client plans to redeem around $580 million from several of its trust funds, while reports suggest ANZ is preparing up to 5,000 job cuts in its retail division as part of a restructure.
Ex-dividends today include Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Codan, Northern Star, Ramsay Health Care, Santos, Wesfarmers, Whitehaven Coal, Woolworths and Worley.
At 11:30 am AEST, balance of payments and government finance statistics are due, ahead of tomorrow’s GDP. Offshore, Eurozone CPI and US ISM Manufacturing are released tonight.