Futures suggest that Australian shares are poised to open flat on Monday, after the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index notched a record close at the end of last week. The relative quiet comes as traders await the RBA's decision on rates on Tuesday, with many expecting a 25 bps cut, and the end of the Trump administration's tariff pause later in the week. There was no signal in sentiment from U.S. markets, which were closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. In corporate news Monday, South32 said it is selling its Cerro Matoso nickel operation in northern Colombia to a unit of CoreX for up to US$100 million. ([email protected])

The latest Market Talks covering Equities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1904 ET - Intensifying regulatory scrutiny of ASX is keeping Citi at neutral on the Australian market operator. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission recently launched an inquiry into ASX after what it called repeated and serious failures that raise doubts over its ability to maintain critical trading infrastructure. "This is an unfortunate source of uncertainty," analyst Nigel Pittaway says. "It also brings with it the risk of further increased costs and capex." Citi says the ASX business is otherwise performing well with 14% growth in cash market volumes and 19% growth in futures volumes for the full year. Citi also sees some signs of life in the IPO market. It retains a A$71.60/share price target. ASX ended last week at A$69.63. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1856 ET - The prices that Metro Mining expects to achieve for its bauxite in 3Q fall short of Shaw & Partners's expectations. Still, the bank continues to rate the company among its top emerging company picks for 2025. Metro Mining said on Friday that prices for 3Q shipments will be down on the previous quarter but in line with what was achieved in 4Q of 2024. "That is about A$5/wet metric ton lower than we had previously modelled," analyst Andrew Hines says. Still, Metro Mining will generate approximately A$60 million of free cash flow in 3Q and move to a net cash position by the end of the current quarter. "That is not reflected in the current share price," Shaw says. It retains a A$0.17/share price target. Metro Mining ended last week at A$0.069. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1821 ET - Jefferies expects Telix Pharmaceuticals to beat FY 2025 revenue guidance, partly because it will benefit from sales of prostate cancer imaging investigational product Illuccix in some EU and Latin American countries. Analyst David Stanton says his annual revenue forecast is 4% above the top end of Telix's stated target. This is because Telix didn't include revenue from Illuccix in EU jurisdictions with no marketing authorization at that time. However, Norway, Luxembourg and Brazil issued marketing approval for Illuccix in 1Q of FY 2025. "Assuming a six-month process to receive reimbursement approval and the start of sales, we believe Telix will receive revenue from these areas in 4Q of FY 2025," Jefferies says. "We forecast this revenue contribution at A$24 million in FY 2025." ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

1813 ET - Tailwinds are strengthening for Cleanaway Waste Management. Jefferies says approval by Australia's competition regulator for the acquisition of Contract Resources happened earlier than it expected. Analyst Amit Kanwatia also thinks Cleanway is on track to achieve a goal of more than A$450 million of Ebit in FY 2026. He points to an improvement in housing approvals, with 6.1% growth in May. That provides a favorable volume environment for key landfill sites in Melbourne and Sydney, Jefferies says. "This coupled with the RBA's rate-cut cycle is expected to further support volume environment across operating businesses," Jefferies says. Its price target rises 2.2% to A$3.30/share. Cleanaway ended last week at A$2.77. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires