42m agoMon 27 Oct 2025 at 8:56pmMarket snapshot

ASX 200 futures: -0.4% to 9,041 points

Australian dollar: +0.6% to 65.54 US cents

Dow Jones: +0.7% to 47,544 points

S&P 500: +1.2% to 6,875 points

Nasdaq: +1.8% to 23,637 points

FTSE: +0.1% to 9,653 points

EuroStoxx: +0.2% to 577 points

Spot gold: -3.2% to $US3,980/ounce

Brent crude: flat at $US65.94/barrel

Iron ore: +0.1% to $US105.41/tonne

Bitcoin: +0.1% to $US114,673

Prices current around 7:45am AEDT.

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

8m agoMon 27 Oct 2025 at 9:31pm

‘Magnificent Seven’ about to open their books, as US lines up China trade deal

What’s pumping US stocks, sending indices to records?

Hope, greed, events – take your pick.

Reuters has a good summary as top Chinese and US economic officials have been hammering out the framework of a trade deal for US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to decide on at a meeting in South Korea scheduled for Thursday.

Trump said he thought a deal would be reached with China and announced a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals in Malaysia with four Southeast Asian nations during the first stop of a five-day Asia trip.

A trade deal would halt heavier US tariffs and Chinese rare earths export controls, helping allay some worries among investors that an agreement between the world’s two largest economies could be in jeopardy.

On Wall Street, US stocks showed strong gains, with each of the three major indexes hitting fresh intraday records, led in part by gains in technology stocks, including a surge of more than 12% in Qualcomm shares after it unveiled two artificial intelligence chips for data centers, with commercial availability from next year.

“Markets just want to be positive. Investors want a reason to buy and they see that reason in whether it’s lower rates, trade deals, decent earnings or the continued dominance of the AI trade,” said Melissa Brown, managing director of investment decision research at SimCorp.

Earnings are expected this week from “Magnificent Seven” heavyweights Microsoft, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Apple, Amazon and Facebook owner Meta Platforms  and investors will closely eye the results to see if they justify heightened valuations. 

18m agoMon 27 Oct 2025 at 9:20pm

Rio Tinto may shut aluminium smelter in 2028 on high power price concerns

Our other mega-miner, Rio Tinto, has announced it is contemplating ceasing operations at its New South Wales-based Tomago aluminium smelter at the end of its current electricity supply contract.

The Tomago aluminium smelter, which has been struggling with high power prices, has started a consultation process with employees on the potential future of its operations, but is yet to reach a decision.

The smelter’s existing electricity supply contract with AGL Energy expires in December 2028, with Tomago yet to identify a pathway that supports commercially sustainable operations beyond the period, “despite extensive engagement and market approaches”, according to the miner’s statement.

Here’s Tomago Aluminium CEO Jerome Dozol:

“Unfortunately, all market proposals received so far show future energy prices are not commercially viable, and there is significant uncertainty about when renewable projects will be available at the scale we need.”

Expect this to dominate politics today, because it combines two contested spheres of federal politics: energy and jobs.

23m agoMon 27 Oct 2025 at 9:15pm

Two dead in mine explosion

A man and a woman are dead after an explosion at an underground mine in western New South Wales.

Emergency service crews were called to the mine on Endeavor Mine Road at Cobar, about 450 kilometres east of Broken Hill, about 3:45am, after reports two people had been critically injured in a workplace incident.

The mine is operated by listed mining company Polymetals Resources and the site is a high-grade silver, zinc, and lead mine in the Cobar Basin.

We’re expecting an ASX announcement about the tragedy shortly and we’ll bring it to you.

38m agoMon 27 Oct 2025 at 9:00pm

Central bankers ‘flummoxed’ by markets: RBA boss

Reserve Bank governor Michelle Bullock told a group of economists her concerns about financial stability — ahead of today’s inflation data that will inform the direction of interest rates.

My colleague David Taylor has a read on it, here’s my favourite bit:

Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock conceded she, and her overseas peers, were perplexed by ever-rising asset markets in the face of so many economic risks, including inflation.

Ms Bullock told the Sydney gathering that her overseas counterparts were “flummoxed” by how “sanguine” or optimistic the financial markets had become.

“Could it all end up very badly?” she questioned, pondering whether the financial markets could turn negative.

“Some people are worried that might all end in tears,” she conceded.

The tears will be yours.

46m agoMon 27 Oct 2025 at 8:52pmLet’s get going!

Hello, I’m Daniel Ziffer from the ABC business team and I’ll be taking you through the morning on our business, finance and economics blog.

Overnight, Wall Street indices were rocking.

The blue-chip Dow Jones of 30 mega-companies like Boeing and Visa was +0.7% to 47,544 points.

The broader S&P 500 that covers 500 of the largest listed companies in the US +1.2% to 6,875 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was +1.8% to 23,637 points.

That’s a record close for all three.

Our market is set to fall, with the ASX 200 futures index tipping a slide of -0.4% of 39 points to 9,041 points.

There’s lots to get to, all of it news, analysis and information and none of it financial advice.

Let’s get started!

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