Morning Wrap: ASX 200 set to open lower; ASIC eyes ANZ, Lifestyle Communities M&A rumours

ASX 200 futures trading up 6 points, or (+0.07%), to 8,203, as of 8:30AM

The ASX 200 looks set to open in the red after US markets fell overnight, with the Dow Jones on the brink of a rare nine-day losing streak. Traders are treading carefully ahead of tomorrow’s Federal Reserve rate decision, as mixed signals from the US—weak industrial production but solid retail sales—add to the uncertainty.It's going to be an interesting start to the trading day, with ASIC is reportedly looking at pursuing enforcement action against ANZ over issues with how it handled deceased estates.

Meanwhile, there’s chatter that Lifestyle Communities could be an M&A target, with Ingenia Communities and Mirvac tipped as potential bidders. Both reports are from The Australian. Finally, NAB holds its AGM today.

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S&P 500 SESSION CHART

A volatile day of trading featuring two big slumps sees the S&P 500 finish down (only) 0.4%. (Source: TradingView)

OVERNIGHT MARKETS

• US equities were lower in fairly quiet Tuesday trading. Stocks ended a bit off worst levels but reversed Monday's mostly higher finish.

• Breadth negative again as S&P 500 saw more decliners than gainers for 12th-straight session, which may be longest since 1978.

• Dow Jones also posted ninth consecutive drop, also longest streak since 1978.

• US Treasuries little changed.

• US Dollar index up 0.1%, though the greenback lagged the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar fell another 0.6% to close the US session at a 2024 low.

• Gold finished down 0.3%, off worst levels.

• Bitcoin futures up 0.2% after jumping more than 4% in prior session.

• WTI crude ended down 0.9%, back below $70/barrel.

STOCKS

• Honda and Nissan are reportedly discussing a merger amid stiff EV competition (Reuters)

• Union for Starbucks baristas votes to authorise strike ahead of final bargaining stage (Bloomberg)

• Chevron's Australian arm and Alcoa have signed a new long-term WA gas supply agreement (Press Release)

MARKETS

• Quantum computing stocks already on pace for best week on record (Sherwood News)

• Convertible bond issuance could test pandemic-era highs in 2025 as deals issued in 2020-21 need to be refinanced (Bloomberg)

• Dow on pace for ninth-straight decline, longest since 1978 (Bloomberg)

• BofA's latest Fund Manager survey shows record high allocation to US stocks (Investing.com)

ECONOMY

• Bloomberg survey shows economists raising inflation projections for next year due to tariffs (Bloomberg)

• UK businesses have shed almost 200,000 jobs this year, according to tax data (Bloomberg)

ENERGY

• Trump spokeswoman says president ready to issues orders to boost drilling on day one (Bloomberg)

• Kazakhstan still planning to raise oil output next year despite OPEC+ cut extension (Bloomberg)

Stocks trading ex-dividend: 

• Mon 30 Dec: Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF) (1.7%), Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) (1.61%), APA Group (ASX: APA) (3.7%), Transurban (ASX: TCL) (2.48%), Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) (0.42%)

Economic calendar (AEDT):

• 6pm: UK CPI

• Overnight: US building permits, crude oil inventories

• 6am: Federal Reserve interest rate decision + Press Conference