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

Good morning! Here’s everything you need to know before the ASX flings open its doors and begins trading today.

Everything you need to know before the ASX opens. Pic: Getty Images.

Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Monday, July 28, 2025. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…

At 7am AEST, ASX futures were down 0.1%, pointing to a soft Monday open.

Here’s what went down on Friday last week....

Wall Street throws a party

Over in the US, Wall Street clocked out for the weekend on a high.

The S&P 500 notched its fifth straight record close, up 0.4%, the Nasdaq slipped into a new all-time high with a 0.24% gain, and the Dow tacked on 0.47%.

STOCK INDICES	Value	Change
ASX 200 (previous day)	8,667	-0.49%
S&P 500	6,389	0.40%
Dow Jones	44,902	0.47%
Nasdaq Comp	21,108	0.24%
Euro Stoxx 50	5,352	-0.06%
UK FTSE	9,120	-0.20%
German DAX	24,218	-0.32%
French CAC	7,835	0.21%

All three indices touched record highs because apparently, gravity doesn’t apply when Big Tech’s running the show.

Helping the vibes was a surprisingly chill Donald Trump, who resisted the urge to sack Fed Chair Jerome Powell after a slightly awkward $2.5 billion tour of the Fed’s renovation site.

For now, Powell’s job is safe and investors are counting down to this week’s Fed meeting and US jobs data.

On the corporate front, Intel beat expectations with 28c EPS and $12.9b revenue.

But its manufacturing roadmap is still a mess. The much-hyped 18A process, once pitched as a comeback, is now just for internal use.

The real MVP last week, though, was a five-cent stock called Healthcare Triangle Inc., which somehow made up 15% of all trades on US exchanges in a single day with 3 billion shares traded.

If this feels like 2021 meme frenzy all over again, that’s because it is, right down to the Reddit hype and penny-stock sugar rush.

Bitcoin breathes

After its latest sprint, crypto needed a rest.

Bitcoin dipped to hover above US$117,000, while Ethereum also cooled down.

One solo Bitcoin miner had a blinder over the weekend, mining a whole block worth $370k.

Meanwhile, Gemini’s Tyler Winklevoss had a crack at JPMorgan, claiming the bank froze his crypto exchange’s onboarding because he tweeted mean things about their data fees.

“My tweet from last week struck a nerve,” he posted.

Crude prices

In oil land, Brent slid just above US$68 a barrel after the US gave Chevron the green light to start pumping in Venezuela again.

A cheeky little U-turn from the Trump administration, part of a prisoner swap deal, and conveniently, an extra splash of supply ahead of election season.

Petrol down, politics up.

What to expect this week

Back home, Monday kicks off with the CommSec State of the States, Australia’s quarterly leaderboard of economic bragging rights.

But all eyes are on Wednesday, when we get the trimmed mean CPI for Q2, aka the RBA’s favourite inflation stat.

CBA’s tipping a 0.7% rise for the quarter, and if annual growth drops from 2.9% to 2.8% as expected, it could push the RBA to finally cut rates in August.

In the US, the FOMC also meets on Wednesday (US time), and is likely to hold rates steady as it watches how all this tariff tension flows into consumer prices.

Then the big hitters. Microsoft and Meta (Wednesday), Amazon and Apple (Thursday) will drop their earnings.

And don’t forget Trump’s August 1 deadline: trade deal or tariff.

Commodity/forex/crypto market prices

Price (US)	Move
Gold:	$3,336.98	-0.93%
Silver:	$38.16	-2.29%
Iron ore:	$98.55	-0.03%
Nickel:	$15,265	-1.33%
Copper:	$11,568	-0.38%
Zinc:	$2,832	-0.39%
Lithium carbonate 99.5% Min China Spot:	$8,550	0.60%
Oil (WTI):	$65.07	-1.45%
Oil (Brent):	$68.36	-1.19%
AUD/USD:	$0.6565	0.29%
Bitcoin:	$117,979	0.02%

What got you talking

Also in the news…

Morgans' Scott Power says while innovation is important, a path to profitability is key to a successful emerging ASX healthcare company.

America is doubling down on anti-dumping duties for Chinese graphite, after accusing the country of exporting the mineral at unfairly low prices.

Argentina’s investment-friendly policies and underexplored lands have proven irresistible for mining companies.

Coal could have a far longer shelf-life then renewable advocates hope, as energy security and the AI race shake up the energy transition.

Forget Hulkamania, lithium is the craze lighting up commodity markets this week, with spodumene prices hitting three-month highs.

Trading Halts

Asara Resources (ASX:AS1) – cap raise
Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) – cap raise
Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) – pending government project approval
Norfolk Metals (ASX:NFL) – cap raise
Painchek (ASX:PCK) – cap raise

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Firetail Resources 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.

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