Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…

At 7AM, the futures board was pointing down by 0.3%, hinting at a soft Tuesday for the ASX.

This is what went down while you were sleeping…

Wall Street rolls off the Fed buzz

The Dow shed close to 0.77%, the S&P slipped 0.43%, and the Nasdaq managed to edge down 0.22%.

It was enough to feel like the champagne fizz from Jerome Powell’s weekend comments had gone flat.

Nvidia, the bellwether for everything AI, managed a bounce of around 2% as punters piled in ahead of Wednesday’s results.

If Nvidia disappoints later this week, though, there’s a risk the whole AI love affair could go off the rails.

Washington, meanwhile, has officially snapped up just under 10% of Intel stock.

Former Treasury boss Larry Summers warned the deal was a sign of “deals-based capitalism rather than rules-based capitalism.

But Trump couldn’t resist claiming credit, telling reporters he’d happily “make deals like that all day long.”

Iron ore spikes

Back to the world of dirt and steel, iron ore prices jumped after Rio Tinto was forced to halt operations at its Simandou project in Guinea.

A fatal accident at the site stopped work cold and pushed futures to their highest levels in nearly two weeks.

The project is supposed to be one of the largest new sources of supply globally, so any delay gets priced in quickly.

Rio has now chalked up seven deaths across its operations in just two years.

Crypto’s hangover sets in

Bitcoin and Ethereum coughed up most of their Powell-induced gains.

Bitcoin sank more than 3%  and over US $4m in leveraged bets were liquidated in a matter of hours.

Fun on the way up, terrifying on the way down, and always capable of leaving punters queasy.

And finally..

Closer to home, G8 Education and Coles are on the reporting block today, with Woolies following tomorrow.

Reporting season itself is entering the final week, and if the last three are anything to go by, it’s going to be another roller-coaster of big surprises.

The RBA, meanwhile, will publish the minutes from its August meeting today, which will give everyone another chance to argue over how dovish the central bank really is.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

What got you talking

Also in the news…

A price floor could be just the thing to supercharge the rare earths sector.

Back to the Future: ASX juniors mine the past for future gold.

Barry FitzGerald: BHP warms to uranium in latest economic outlook report.

Health Check: In the wake of Trump’s tariffs, glove maker Ansell posts handy price rises.

Trading halts

Basin Energy (ASX:BSN) – project acquisition and cap raise
Blackstone Minerals (ASX:BSX) – strategic agreement for Ta Khoa project
Catalyst Metals (ASX:CYL) – Federal Court application re compliance issue
Nimy Resources (ASX:NIM) – cap raise
OMG Group (ASX:OMG) – cap raise
Provaris Energy (ASX:PV1) – cap raise
Pure Hydrogen (ASX:PH2) – cap raise
Savannah Goldfields (ASX:SGC) – cap raise
Victory Metals (ASX:VTM) – cap raise

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This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.