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

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

At 7am AEDT Monday, ASX futures were up 0.3%, pointing to a pretty perky start to the week.

Here’s what went down last Friday…

Wall Street’s new highs

The Dow jumped more than 450 points, the S&P 500 added 0.79%, and the Nasdaq popped 1.15% – all closing at fresh record highs.

The trigger was the US CPI, which came in softer than expected (up 0.2% month-on-month, 3% year-on-year), which is apparently all it takes these days for traders to high-five each other.

The report was so benign that Goldman’s Lindsay Rosner said there was “little in the benign CPI data to spook the Fed.”

In trader speak, that means: the Fed’s cutting, and we’re buying everything not nailed down.

“Investors are grabbing the bull by the horns after this morning’s lighter-than-anticipated CPI bolstered the case for a series of rate cuts this year and next,” said Jose Torres at Interactive Brokers.

It didn’t hurt that US corporates were mostly on song.

Ford ripped 12% higher after a blowout quarter, and Intel reported Q3 revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, driven by improving data-centre sales.

The Fed’s rate-cut circus

The Fed Reserve meets next week, but the market’s already done the math.

A 25-basis-point cut is locked in, and interest-rate traders are screaming “done deal”. They’ve even priced in another one in December.

“There’s little indication inflation is surging, or that the labour market is falling off a cliff,” said Ellen Zentner at Morgan Stanley.

But the cynics, and there are plenty, note this isn’t a victory lap.

The Fed’s not cutting because everything’s fine; it’s cutting because it’s run out of excuses not to.

Some experts say the data blackout from Washington’s government shutdown has given Powell a convenient fog to hide behind.

Crypto joins the party

Bitcoin rose around 1% to US$111,000, Ether gained nearly 3%, and Coinbase shares ripped 10% higher after JPMorgan upgraded the stock.

Meanwhile, Crypto.com is now chasing a US bank charter.

The irony isn’t lost here.. nothing says “we’re decentralised rebels” more than begging the Fed Reserve for a licence.

The move is part of its plan to expand into custody services for digital-asset treasuries and ETFs – a kind of “if you can’t beat the banks, become one” strategy.

This week’s agenda…

Closer to home, the week kicks off with RBA Governor Michelle Bullock’s Monday speech -–her first major outing since inflation started behaving.

Commonwealth Bank economists expect the trimmed-mean CPI to rise 0.8% for the September quarter, keeping annual growth steady at 2.7%.

That’s right in the Goldilocks zone – not too hot, not too cold.

On the stock front, lithium names IGO, Liontown and MinRes will be reporting their quarterlies this week.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

What got you talking

Also in the news…

Monsters of Rock: PLS warns investment is key to keep Australia on top in lithium race.

Deals, data and diagnoses: healthcare stocks stay active despite a softer week.

Ten Bagger: IPOs are back in vogue – here’s where John Forwood is looking.

ASX Quarterly Health Wrap: Lumos lands US$317m deal as ReNerve and Vitrafy hit key milestones.

Tony’s Takeaway: Leaving the bull market’s horns.

Trading halts

Anteris Technologies (ASX:AVR) – pending announcement
Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) – material acquisition
Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD) – maiden gallium mineral resource estimate
Pantera Lithium (ASX:PFE) – material tenement agreements
Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML) – pending announcement

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Waratah 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.