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

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Wednesday, August 27, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

At 7am AEST, ASX futures were pointing up 0.3%, enough to suggest the market might shuffle higher at Wednesday’s open.

Here’s what went down overnight while you were snoring….

Wall Street steady, France wobbly

Overnight, Wall Street pulled a modest rally: Dow up 0.3%, S&P rose 0.41%, and Nasdaq climbed 0.44%.

But under the surface, things are getting twitchy. US consumer confidence dipped again, the eighth straight wobble.

An “expectations index” under 80 usually screams recession ahead, and right now it’s sitting at 74.8.

US stocks, meanwhile, were a mixed bag.

Nvidia sneaked higher ahead of tomorrow’s earnings blockbuster. Apple crept up after giving a September 9 date for the next iPhone.

Interactive Brokers is muscling Walgreens out of the S&P 500, while GoPro tumbled after Monday’s 36% meme-stock joyride.

And Meta said it will be spending US$50 billion on a massive AI-driven data centre in rural Louisiana.

Elsewhere in Paris, stocks had a bad day.

The CAC fell as much as 2.2% before clawing back to minus 1.7% after Prime Minister François Bayrou called for a confidence vote over budget cuts.

Trump vs Lisa Cook

Trump is going full Trump on the Fed.

He’s booting out Governor Lisa Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud, while Cook’s digging in for a fight.

The Fed, awkwardly stuck in the middle, says it will “abide by any court decision.”

“We think asset markets are not properly priced for what increasingly seems likely to be a rupture in Fed independence and the policy reaction function in 2026,” said a note from Evercore ISI.

Trump reckons he’s got “very good people” to replace her, dropping names like Stephen Miran and David Malpass.

If he gets his way, he will hold a majority on the board, and the odds of a September rate cut, which is now already at 90%, could go even higher.

Bitcoin trips, Ethereum struts

Bitcoin slid back toward US$110,000 (now at US$111k) after last week’s sugar high, while Ethereum kept strutting, rising over 1% to sit above US$4,500.

Year to date, ETH is up twice as much as BTC.

Traders call it “rotation.”

To the rest of us, it looks like punters swapping tables at the casino because the dealer smiled at them.

Gold’s glowing

Gold’s camped out near US$3,400 an ounce, just shy of record highs.

Every time Trump takes a swing at the Fed, investors rush for the shiny metal.

September, though, could be a test.

If inflation cools and the US dollar claws back higher, the metal might lose some sheen.

But let’s be real: Betting against gold long-term is like betting against sunrise.

And finally…

Locally, earnings are rolling in thick and fast. Nine, Woolies, and WiseTech are on deck today.

At 11:30am AEST, we get July CPI and construction work data.

Overseas, all eyes are glued to Nvidia’s results, due tomorrow AM.

This release is likely to set the tone for every portfolio with even a whiff of AI in it.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

What got you talking

Also in the news…

Health Check: Medical probe steriliser Nanosonics flags tariff price rises after squeaky clean results.

Dr Boreham’s Crucible: Homegrown imaging hero Pro Medicus eyes a big slice of the American pie.

Break it Down: Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) gets go-ahead for Forrestania Greenstone gold drilling.

Trading halts

archTIS (ASX:AR9) – acquisition & cap raise
Cyprium Metals (ASX:CYM) – cap raise
Gladiator Resources (ASX:GLA) – cap raise
Godolphin Resources (ASX:GRL) – cap raise
Hartshead Resources (ASX:HHR) – well-carry deal
Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ) – cap raise
Lachlan Star (ASX:LSA) – cap raise
PolarX (ASX:PXX) – earn-in transaction
Terra Metals (ASX:TM1) – cap raise
Vulcan Steel (ASX:VSL) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Zenith Minerals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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