ASX set to slip as oil prices drive markets lower; Musk eyes trillionaire status after SpaceX sets IPO price

Oil prices rose following the latest flare-up in fighting to threaten the US-Iran ceasefire, and US stocks retreated from their records.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent from its all-time high for its first drop in 10 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 620 points, or 1.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.9 per cent.

The Australian sharemarket is set to decline, with futures at 4.57am AEST pointing to a fall of 57 points, or 0.6 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.7 per cent on Wednesday, after a report showed the nation’s economy grew less than expected last quarter, boosting optimism for an interest rate reprieve from the Reserve Bank. RBA governor Michele Bullock and assistant governors Christopher Kent and Sarah Hunter will appear before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee this afternoon as part of budget estimates.

Weighing on Wall Street was a climb of 1.9 per cent for the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, which brought it back to $US97.81. It rose after both the United States and Iran said they launched retaliations for earlier attacks or attempted ones.

Palo Alto Networks helped drag the market lower, and it fell 5.6 per cent even though it reported profit for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. Investors may have been looking for even more after its stock came into the day with a surge of 61.3 per cent for the year so far, more than quintuple the S&P 500’s already big 11.2 per cent rise.

Meanwhile, SpaceX publicly set a $US135 price for shares in its initial public offering, upending the longstanding Wall Street price-discovery apparatus and underscoring Elon Musk’s determination to raise record sums his way.

The company’s decision to publish a price a week ahead of its landmark offering has few if any precedents among major US IPOs, and reflects Musk’s standing in the financial world as an adventurer with a golden touch. SpaceX’s amended IPO filing confirms a Reuters report on the $US135 price from earlier this week. The company is aiming to raise $US75 billion, the most ever for an IPO, in a deal that would value it at $US1.75 trillion, immediately placing it among the top 10 most valuable US-listed firms. That would put Elon Musk’s net worth at $US988 billion, according to calculations by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, putting him in touching distance of becoming the world’s first trillionaire.

The company will kick off an investor roadshow on Thursday, with pricing expected on June 11; trading in shares will begin on the Nasdaq the next day.

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