Live: ASX set to rebound after Wall Street’s big bounce

Bit of corporate news in the EFTPOS world this morning, with NZ-based operator Smartpay receiving two separate takeover offers, including one from the ASX-listed Tyro.

In a statement to the ASX this morning, Smartpay said Tyro’s unsolicited offer was to acquire 100% of its shares at $NZ1.00 a share (approximately 90 Australian cents).

Smartpay last traded on the ASX at 63 cents.

Smartpay didn’t name the other interested party, but said both proposals were preliminary and highly conditional.

The EFTPOS world is currently struggling, with the RBA reviewing whether it would restrict fees the providers get for processing debit-card transactions.

Wall Street’s tumbling market finally fell enough to inspire some bargain hunters to get out their wallets.

The big three indices — the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq gained 2.1%, 1.7% and 2.6% respectively.

On the back of that ASX futures have priced in a 1.1% rise this morning.

But before any champagne is popped — something that may done very judiciously in the future if the Trump administration goes ahead with a 200% tariff on European luxury items — a bit of perspective is needed.

The S&P 500 fell another 2.4% last week and is down more than 10% from its recent peak.

The ASX lost 2% last week, while Japan gained 0.4% and China picked up 1.6%.

So, did anything much change in terms of fundamentals? No, not really.

Uncertainty and tumbling sentiment still seem to be the dominant emotions in the market.

“I don’t see a catalyst that would spark this huge upside we’re seeing in markets,” Baird investment analyst Ross Mayfield, told Reuters after the market closed.

“We’re obviously down 10% from all-time highs and pretty oversold, which sets good conditions for a rally even if the fundamental problems are not solved.”

European markets also made solid gains — Germany’s Dax gained almost 2% — and have been far more resilient recently, having shed less than 1% last week; cue much gnashing of teeth in the White House.

Gold briefly popped above $US3,000 for the first time, before easing back as profit takers found some willing buyers at that level from beaten up investors fleeing equities.

Despite and International Energy Agency report forecasting oil supply would exceed demand by around 600,000 barrels/day this year, crudes prices still rose as traders bet that there wouldn’t be a quick resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

The US dollar was stronger against a number of currencies, but not the Euro, nor the Aussie dollar which battled back above 63 US cents.

 Good morning and welcome to another week on the ABC markets and finance blog.

Stephen Letts from ABC business team limbering up for a blow-by-blow coverage of the day’s events, where every post is hopefully a winner, but none should be construed as financial advice.

In short, it looks like a promising start to the week — ASX futures point to a 1.1% rise on opening after Wall Street rebounded sharply on Friday night.

The focus of the day will be the Chinese economy with the big monthly data drop — retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment data (a proxy for infrastructure investment) all to be released around lunchtime.

But of more interest will be a joint Chinese central bank (PBoC) and finance ministry media conference later today about measures being introduced to boost consumption.

As always, the game’s afoot, so let’s get blogging.

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