ASX futures point to a 0.5% decline Friday as Brent crude tops $100/barrel on US-Iran escalation and Trump announces 10-12.5% tariffs on 60 countries. Origin Energy and Macquarie also in focus.
Alpha Score of 51 reflects moderate overall profile with moderate momentum, moderate value, moderate quality. Based on 3 of 4 signals – score is capped at 90 until remaining data ingests.
Australian shares are set to open lower Friday, with futures pointing to a 0.5% decline after a fresh escalation in US-Iran tensions pushed Brent crude back above $100 a barrel and Donald Trump slapped tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on about 60 countries.
The new tariffs take effect at 2:01pm AEST and are considered temporary while Trump seeks to push through his original "Liberation Day" tariffs from 2025, which the Supreme Court has blocked. Australia falls at the top of that range at 12.5%.
Brent crude hit $100.85 a barrel, its highest in months, after the latest Strait of Hormuz closure. Early expectations among Trump's advisors, according to the report, are that peace in the Middle East is no longer a viable option.
Elsewhere, Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) rose 1.1% this week after the hacker holding the electricity retailer hostage told The Australian they would not proceed with a threat to leak customer data. Origin has reportedly "settled everything" with the self-styled hacker.
Macquarie Group (ASX:MGQ) CEO Shemara Wikramanayake will step down in November. She will be replaced by banking and financial services chief Greg Ward.
Mount Hope (ASX:MHM) reported "excellent" hits from its maiden Phase 1 metallurgical testwork at the Mt Solitary prospect in the Cobar Basin. Early tests returned "coarse, visible free gold across all sizes."
Monvia, a SaaS-for-insurance company, is floating today under ticker MNV. The tech company is looking for $17.5 million and will arrive at midday. Ceretas (ASX:CTS) enjoyed a 132% boom on day one.
The Australian dollar bought US 69.6 cents. Iron Ore rose 1% to $98.10 a tonne in Singapore. US natural gas futures were down at $2.91 per gigajoule. S&P Global will share early June composite PMI later today.
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