Live updates: ASX set to follow Wall Street higher, oil jumps on Iran tensions, results due from Telstra, Wesfarmers and Rio Tinto

More on one of the specific examples of pet food pricing and discounts that’s landed Coles in court with the ACCC.

One of them is a 1.2kg can of wet dog food by Nature’s Gift. Here’s what happened to its prices with promotions back in 2023, and is now under scrutiny.

As you can see here, the product was priced at $4 for long periods, briefly increased to $6.50 for 7 days, and then lowered back down to $4.50 using a “Down Down” promo.

The ACCC actually used this example in its opening address.

The heart of this case will be the ACCC trying to prove that this pricing, in tandem with the promo tags, was “misleading”. Coles is defending the case.

What are you making of this case so far? We’re loving your comments and emails. You can send me your thoughts to terzon.emilia@abc.net.au

The ASX has bounded out of the blocks, supported by another solid batch of pre-opening results being released.

At 10:25am AEDT, the ASX 200 was 0.9% higher at 9,083 points, not far below the record close of 9,095 points hit in October last year.

Emilia Terzon here reporting from the Federal Court in Melbourne, on day four of the ACCC’s blockbuster case against the supermarket giant Coles over “illusory” discounts.

We’ve just kicked off with a witness from Coles, Paul Carroll, who we’ve just heard was responsible for setting pricing for pet food products for the supermarket back during the period under scrutiny.

We already know there are not one but two pet food items under specific scrutiny in this case. There’s a 1.2kg can of wet dog food by Nature’s Gift, and a “loaf” by Pedigree for canines, too.

The ACCC is accusing Coles of putting fake discounts on both items, using its famed and long-running “Down Down” promo.

Coles is defending the case. We’ll keep you updated.

Haven’t had time to ask the team, but after this morning, I’ll certainly be asking for more.

Thanks Graeme, I upwardly referred your inquiry and yes, it appears we can report copper and silver prices.

Here’s a more detailed list for you.

• Copper (LME): -1.5% to $US12,663.5/tonne
• Aluminium (LME): -0.4% to $US 3,039/tonne
• Zinc (LME): flat at $US3,290/tonne
• Nickel (LME): -1.7% to $US16,830/tonne
• Silver:  +0.1% to $77.24/ounce
• Platinum $US2,078/ounce

We’re still waiting for prices to settle in the rhenium, tantalum and rhodium markets.

The ASX top 20 property trust and data centre builder Goodman Group has reported a 3% increase in statutory half yearly net profit to $824 million.

On the company’s preferred metric its operating profit of $1.2 billion was marginally lower.

Goodman raised its interim dividend by 7% to 306.7 cents per security.

J.P. Morgan analyst Richard Jones said the result beat his expectations with the key positives being a solid increase in the company’s data centre power bank and an increase in development profitability.

Need the money. My Bitcoin position just got liquidated, but thanks for asking Natty

We might just take a quick breather from the deluge of results and check back in on Wall Street.

As mentioned earlier, all the key indices finished higher, but they did lose momentum later in the day.

NAB’s senior market strategist Gavin Friend says the shift in sentiment was driven by the FOMC (Federal Open Markets Committee) Minutes from the late January meeting revealing a more hawkish tone, which ate into equity gains.

The S&P 500 had been up as much as 1% but those gains were pared back to 0.6%.

“FOMC Minutes for the 27-28 January meeting noted that several policymakers indicated they would have supported a two-sided description of the FOMC’s future rate decisions, reflecting the possibility that upward adjustments to the target range could be appropriate if inflation remains above target levels,” Mr Friend wrote in a morning note.

“The USD taking a further small leg higher on this. We would note Fed chair Powell made clear in his last press conference that no one had rate hikes as their base case.

“Shares in Europe also had a good day, rising 1.35%, with the UK’s FTSE posting similar gains after inflation eased and added to conviction the BoE will cut rates again in March.

“Still, Apple, which is increasingly seen as an AI-alternative on account of its lack of participation in AI … rose 1.65%.”

Giant WA-based conglomerate Wesfarmers has announced a 9.3% lift in net profit to $1.6 billion, slightly ahead of analyst expectations.

Sales across its business rose 3% to $24.2 billion.

Wesfarmers lifted it interim dividend by 7% to $1.02 cents per share.

Whitehaven Coal has reported a 31% lower statutory net profit of $69 million dollars.

The profit propped up the selldown of its stake in the Blackwater mine to joint venture partner Nippon Steel.

However, its underlying result, that strips out one-off earnings factors, paints a darker picture — a $19 million loss, down from an underlying first half profit last year of $350 million.

Sales revenue fell 28% from $3.4 billion to $2.4 billion.

The company said the lower earnings were due to price weakness in both metallurgical and thermal coal as a result of uncertainties surrounding US tariffs and a surplus of Chinese steel in global markets.

Whitehaven more halved its interim dividend from 9cps to 4cps.

Wall Street has just closed and on preliminary figures, all key indices have made gains.

• S&P 500: +0.6%
• Dow: +0.3%
• Nasdaq: +0.8%

ASX 200 futures has picked a bit of momentum since we last checked in and now point to a 0.5% rise on opening.

It is becoming a familiar refrain this morning — another big company has reported a solid jump in half yearly profits and showered its shareholders with a higher dividend.

This time it’s global logistic player Brambles which has unveiled at 14% rise in interim profit to $US507 million ($720 million), slightly below analyst expectations.

Brambles raised its interim dividend from 19 US cents to 23 US cents.

Bega Cheese has reported a 45% jump in first half net profit to $52.1 million.

The result was built on 5% increase in sales to $1.9 billion.

The company also raised its full year, pre-tax earnings guidance to between $222 million and $227 million.

Bega also bumped up its interim dividend by 17% to 7cps, payable on April 2.

As expected, Transurban’s interim profit is back in the black, with the toll road operator reporting a $298 million first half profit.

This time last year, Transurban posted a $15 million loss after a rather costly and unsuccessful legal battle.

Toll revenue rose 6.4% to $2 billion.

Dividends have been increased marginally from 33 cps to 34 cps, payable on February 24.

Australia’s biggest private health insurer Medibank has reported a marginal slide in net profit, down 0.3% to $298 million.

However, the company managed to lift its interim dividend by 6.4% to 8.3 cents per share.

Telstra has reported an 8% rise in first half profit to $1.2 billion.

The interim dividend has risen from 9.5 cents per share to 10.5 cps, payable on March 27.

Major results expected:

• Rio Tinto (NPAT estimate) — Full year $US10.2 bn. Watch for dividends and project updates. Due out after 4:30pm AEDT
• Wesfarmers (NPAT estimate) — H1 $1.5 bn. Bunnings going well, but what about Kmart?
• Telstra (NPAT est) — H1 $1.2bn. Subscriber growth a key metric, outlook comments and any impact from Triple Zero Inquiry
• Goodman (NPAT est) — H1 $970m. Market is expecting a small earnings upgrade
• Brambles (NPAT est) — H1 $517m. New business wins expected to support jump in profits and dividends
• Medibank Private (NPAT est) — H1$318m. Look for claims inflation, policy holder growth.
• Transurban (NPAT est) — H1 $288m. Profit expected to bounce back after an expensive legal battle caused a $15m loss this time last year.

Other companies expected to report this morning:

Aukland International Airports, APA, Articore, Bega Cheese, HUB24, Charter Hall, Insignia Financial, IPH, Lifestyle Communities, Lovisa, NRW Holdings, PLS, Regis Resources, SkyCity, Sandfire Resources, Sonic Healthcare, Telix Pharmaceuticals, Ventia Services (FY), Whitehaven Coal.

We’re unlikely to be able to cover all of them, but rest assured we’ll give it a red-hot go.

Wall Street’s key indices have all made gains but are losing momentum as the market heads towards its close.

At 7:30am AEDT:

• S&P 500: +0.3%
• Dow: flat
• Nasdaq: +0.5%

Earlier in the session, the S&P 500 was up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq had gained more than 1%.

That loss of momentum has seen ASX futures slip. They are now pointing to a 0.3% gain on opening.

The slip coincides with rising tensions in the Middle East, with reports that the US is withdrawing all its troops from Syria ahead of a potential strike on Iran.

In turn, oil has jumped more than 4% with the global benchmark Brent crude back above $US70/barrel

Safe-haven gold is also in demand, up 2% to be trading just under $US 5,000/ounce.

A rebound in the tech sector has largely driven Wall Street’s rally.

NVIDIA has gained about 2% on news that it will sell “millions” more chips to Meta in a multi-year deal.

Storage technology businesses such as Sandisk, Western Digital and Seagate Technology have also made strong gains.

The sentiment was also supported by positive US economic data and the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting.

Fed officials were in nearly unanimous agreement to keep interest rates on hold at their meeting last month, but remained split over what might happen next, according to minutes of their January 27-28 meeting released on Wednesday.

Traders are pricing in a roughly 50% chance of a rate cut of at least 25 basis points by the Fed’s June meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

Data released earlier in the session showed solid business spending and US economic growth in the fourth quarter.

Europe enjoyed a strong session with the broad Stoxx 600 index hitting a record high, gaining 1.2%, while the UK’s FTSE index also hit a new high, also up 1.2%.

In currency markets, the Australian dollar slipped to about 70.40 US cents amid a generally stronger US dollar and higher US Treasury yields.

• ASX futures: +0.5% to 9,006 points
• ASX 200 (Wednesday close): +0.5% to 9,007 points
• Australian dollar: -0.6% to 70.41 US cents
• Wall Street: Dow Jones +0.6%, S&P 500 +0.3%, Nasdaq +1.0%
• Europe: DAX +1.1%, FTSE +1.2%, Stoxx 50 +1.4%
• Gold: +2.1% to $US4,980/ounce
• Oil (Brent crude): +4.6% to $US70.56/barrel
• Iron ore: -0.3% to $US96.00/tonne
• Bitcoin: -2.4% at $US66,012

 Prices current at around 7:10am AEDT