What Matters Today: Rumours abound that Glencore is now considering a tilt at Anglo American (AAL LN)

A surging copper price and the market belief that the industrial metal will be in short supply in the years ahead as we move towards a carbon-neutral world were the catalysts for BHP’s purchase of OZ Minerals (OZL) last year and bid for Anglo-American (AAL LN) last month. In our opinion, there’s plenty more corporate activity likely in the copper space over the coming years, with the industrial metal remaining a core bullish view for MM. As we’ve said from the start, we would find it highly unlikely that BHP would approach this transaction with a one and done mentality and a second or even third bid would be likely. The AFR is running with a story this morning that both Argo Investments and Wilson Asset Management have said they are satisfied that value would be created by combining BHP and Anglo American’s copper and coal assets, this sort of PR can often be used as a way of preparing or softening the market for when the higher bid does come, which we think is inevitable.

scroll

OPINION
ACTION

Latest Reports

Morning report 15/05/2025 09:40

What Matters Today: Evaluating three new entrants to the ASX200

The ASX 200 struggled early on Wednesday before rallying into the close to finish the session up just over 10 points, enjoying its sixth day of consecutive gains, and posting its highest close in 11 weeks. There might not have been too much buying into strength this week, but in comparable fashion, sellers weren’t keen to increase cash levels into weakness.

Afternoon report 14/05/2025 17:25

The Match Out: ASX consolidates recent gains, Aussie wages up more than tipped.

The market chopped around par for much of the session before pushing mildly higher into the close underpinned by strength in the Energy and IT sectors, while the influential banks and miners also player their part.

Morning report 14/05/2025 09:33

Portfolio Positioning: The US S&P 500 turns positive for 2025, led by AI

The ASX200 advanced +0.4% on Tuesday, posting a new 12-week high, but overall it was a disappointing performance after an early +1% move, especially compared to the 3.3% overnight surge by the US S&P 500 Index.

Afternoon report 13/05/2025 16:39

The Match Out: Stocks rally, though optimism fades as the day progressed

The ASX rallied today, keying off a good session in the U.S predicated on positive tariff developments, though the move was somewhat disappointing/unconvincing. Stocks saw the best of it early, with a clear rotation out of defensives into cyclicals, and while some held their gains for the full session, others experienced profit taking, pushing the index ~45pts off it’s highs.

Morning report 13/05/2025 10:14

What Matters Today: Four stocks MM would sell/switch as US-China slash tariffs

The ASX200 struggled on Monday, failing to embrace a strong opening by the US S&P 500 futures after the US and China reported “substantial progress” after two days of talks in Switzerland aimed at de-escalating the worrying trade war. The main board opened strongly up almost 50 points before drifting lower throughout the session to finish basically unchanged as optimism around trade succumbed to caution.

Afternoon report 12/05/2025 17:36

The Match Out: ASX flounders as investors await trade deal

Poised for a relatively uneventful session after a soft US market on Friday night, trade talks between the White House and China over the weekend set off US futures this morning, lighting a spark for the Australian market early.

Morning report 12/05/2025 09:34

Macro Monday: The US-China $US Trillion Dollar report “Substantial Progress”

Senior US and Chinese negotiators resumed the high-stakes talks on Sunday in an attempt to de-escalate their trade war/embargo. President Donald Trump called Saturday's discussions a “very good” meeting. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng were leading the negotiations expected to span two days in Switzerland, the first publicised, in-person talks since President Donald Trump imposed 145% levies on China and Beijing retaliated with 125% tariffs on many American goods and new export controls on rare earth minerals.

Weekend report 10/05/2025 08:24

Weekend Q&A: Stocks take a well-deserved rest as tariff news improves

The ASX 200 ended a relatively quiet week down just 0.1%, not a bad effort considering ANZ and Westpac (WBC) delivered slightly softer 1H25 results, and WBC traded ex-dividend. Positive tariff news from the UK and US, plus optimism that something positive will come from the pending early talks between the US and China, supported a fairly lacklustre market, which remained in a tight 1.3% range all week. With news flow from Trump 2.0 relatively slow, the market was primarily keying off stock-specific news from reporting and the Macquarie Conference, leading to a very mixed bag in the “Winners & Losers” enclosure:

Afternoon report 09/05/2025 17:29

The Match Out: Positive US-UK trade talks fuel ASX rise

Technology stocks led the way today as the market opened a soft +10pts higher but quickly gained momentum following a positive session in the US overnight where risk-on sentiment fueled small caps higher after framework around trade policy between the White House and the UK firmed – a 10% base, though potential rollback of certain tariffs remains in play.

Morning report 09/05/2025 09:29

What Matters Today: Are Real Estate stocks still a Buy?

The ASX200 embraced the rumours that Trump's much-awaited “good news” was a trade deal with the UK, which, on top of the previous day’s announcement that the US and China would sit down and talk this week in Switzerland, was enough to lift the local index up +0.16% after a soft opening.