MARKET AT 7
Good evening. It's a holding-pattern kind of Friday: the real action doesn't land until Fed chair Kevin Warsh steps up at Jackson Hole later tonight our time, so today's ASX gains are still running on yesterday's Nvidia numbers.
A European miner made its biggest move yet into South American zinc; a search-software stock had its best day inyears;, and Papua New Guinea posted a genuinely good growth story out of the Pacific. Here's what moved markets today:
In tonight's newsletter:
ASX 200 climbs 0.6% as Nvidia rallies and gold miners lift shares
Markets brace for Warsh's first Jackson Hole speech
Oil extends weekly slide as Middle East diplomacy eases fears
Gold ticks higher; bitcoin holds near $79,000 before Fed speech
Papua New Guinea's economy enters stronger second half of 2026
ASX 200 climbs 0.6% as Nvidia rallies and gold miners lift shares
The S&P/ASX 200 gained 54.10 points, or 0.60%, to close at 9,092.30 on Friday, ABC News and Market Index report, as tech and resources stocks rode Wall Street's overnight rally into the local session.
Nvidia jumped 8.7% in US trade on Thursday after smashing earnings expectations, its biggest one-day gain since April 2025, and the enthusiasm carried through to Asian markets Friday.
Gold miners Evolution Mining and Newmont also had a strong finish to the week as the gold price ticked higher, capping a month in which Newmont shares alone have gained more than 21%. Source: ABC News, 28 Aug 2026 → · Source: The Motley Fool, 27 Aug 2026 →
OUR TAKE:
Two unrelated stories pushed the same index higher today, a US chip company's earnings and a gold rally on the other side of the world. That's a market taking gains wherever it can find them, not one with a single conviction.
Markets brace for Warsh's first Jackson Hole speech
Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh delivers his first major address as chair at the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming later today US time, three weeks ahead of the Fed's next rate decision on 15-16 September, CNBC and NPR report.
Warsh has repeatedly promised to kerb persistent inflation but declined to spell out how, and investors are watching this speech closely for any hint of his actual approach.
S&P 500 futures were little changed, and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped slightly ahead of the address, CNBC reports, as early enthusiasm from Nvidia's results gave way to caution. The speech had not been delivered as this newsletter went to print — expect the outcome in tomorrow's issue. Source: CNBC, 27 Aug 2026 → · Source: NPR, 27 Aug 2026 →
OUR TAKE:
A Fed chair who keeps declining to show his hand isn't being cautious by accident. Markets tend to dislike that kind of silence more than they'd dislike bad news, and tonight is when that silence gets tested.
Boliden buys Votorantim's Nexa stake in $1.3 billion zinc deal
Swedish miner Boliden agreed to buy Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim's 64.68% controlling stake in Nexa Resources for $1.3 billion in stock, Mining.com and Yahoo Finance report, giving Boliden a major zinc and silver platform across Brazil and Peru.
Boliden will issue 0.25 of one of its own shares per Nexa share, implying $15.29 a share, a 14% premium to Nexa's 20-day average price before talks were first reported. The deal values Nexa at roughly $2 billion in equity, or $3.7 billion including debt, and Boliden plans a $2 billion bridge facility to cover a follow-up tender offer for the remaining shares. Source: Mining.com, 28 Aug 2026 → · Source: Yahoo Finance, 27 Aug 2026 →
OUR TAKE:
A 14% premium is modest by mining-deal standards. Boliden isn't paying up for control; it's paying a fair price for scale, and that's usually the safer kind of deal to be on the buying end of.
Elastic shares jump 20% after earnings smash forecasts
Search-software company Elastic reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.70 a share on revenue of $478 million, both well above the $0.58 and $469.7 million analysts expected, StockStory and Investing.com reported.
The stock jumped as much as 23% in after-hours trade, rising above $100 and clearing its previous 52-week high. Elastic also lifted its full-year guidance, now forecasting revenue of $2.00 billion to $2.01 billion for fiscal 2027, ahead of the $1.99 billion consensus. Source: StockStory, 27 Aug 2026 → · Source: Investing.com, 27 Aug 2026 →
OUR TAKE:
A 20%-plus jump on an earnings beat this size isn't an overreaction; it's a stock that was underpriced for what the company was actually delivering.
Papua New Guinea's economy enters stronger second half of 2026
Westpac's latest PNG Quarterly Economic Update forecasts the economy will grow 4.6% in 2026, well above the World Bank's 2.5% global growth projection, supported by elevated commodity prices, rising domestic demand and ongoing IMF-backed reforms, Westpac IQ and PNG Business News report.
Prime Minister James Marape welcomed the report as evidence the country has weathered global pressure while improving foreign exchange conditions and export earnings. Westpac cautioned that continued reform, not just commodity prices, will determine whether the momentum holds into 2027. Source: Westpac IQ, Aug 2026 → · Source: PNG Business News, Aug 2026 →
OUR TAKE:
A 4.6% growth forecast sounds great until you remember it's riding on commodity prices PNG doesn't control. The reform half of this story matters more than the headline number.
QUICK HITS
NextDC beats guidance with 16% FY2026 revenue growth. The data centre operator reported FY2026 revenue up 16% to $405 million and underlying EBITDA up 15% to $248.8 million, both ahead of its guidance range, driven by contracted utilisation more than doubling to 740.1MW. Our take: this is what a genuine AI infrastructure boom looks like on a balance sheet, not just a share price chart. Source: The Motley Fool Australia, 28 Aug 2026 →
Sigma Healthcare posts double-digit growth in first year post-merger. The Chemist Warehouse owner's first full financial year since the merger delivered revenue up 15.5% to $10.8 billion and normalised net profit up 22.3% to $732.3 million, prompting Bell Potter to upgrade the stock to buy with a $3.00 target. Our take: one clean year doesn't prove a merger worked. It's a solid start, though. Source: Kalkine Media, 28 Aug 2026 →
Oil, gold and bitcoin are all treading water before Warsh speaks. Brent crude sits at $88.22 a barrel, gold is flat near US $4,657 an ounce, and bitcoin is holding $79,000 to $79,500, the same Middle East and Jackson Hole drivers as this week's earlier moves; nothing new today. Our take: three different assets, one shared explanation. Nobody wants to make a call before tonight's speech. Source: Trading Economics, 28 Aug 2026 → · Source: CNBC, 28 Aug 2026 → · Source: Robinhood, 28 Aug 2026 →
Those are your 5 minutes for tonight; see you at the same time tomorrow. - Miko Santos