PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN STOCKS NEWS: BlueScope Steel raises H1 FY27 underlying EBIT guidance, Rio Tinto (RIO AT) received non-binding indicative offers from Apollo and Singapore's GIC for AUD 7bln worth of energy infrastratructure assets put up for sale

APA Group (APA AT) - Co. is investing AUD 700mln in a new gas pipeline to increase southbound gas capacity, although developers have warned Labor's gas reservation scheme could undermine production incentives. (The Australian)

BlueScope Steel (BSL AT) - Co. upgraded H1 FY27 underlying EBIT guidance to approaching AUD 1.1bln, underpinned by stronger US steel spreads, now seen at around USD 810/ton; North American earnings are expected to be around two-thirds higher than H2 FY26, Buildings and Coated Products North America earnings 50% higher, and Australian Steel Products earnings nearly double, while other businesses remain broadly in line with earlier estimates. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Cochlear (COH AT) - Co. reaffirmed FY27 underlying net profit guidance of AUD 330-350mln. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

CSL (CSL AT) - Co. announced Chairman Brian McNamee will retire effective March 31, with Gordon Naylor named as his successor and Carolyn Hewson appointed Senior Independent Director effective the same date. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Eagers Automotive (APE AT) - Co. will acquire the remaining 20% of its BYD retail joint venture to take full control of EV Dealer Group, with completion expected by end-October and the transaction seen boosting underlying pretax operating profit by 5.0-5.5% on a pro forma basis. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Fortescue (FMG AT) - Co. terminated a senior executive's contract with immediate effect after an external investigation substantiated the majority of sexual harassment complaints. (The Australian)

Greatland Resources (GGP AT) - Co. Q1 FY27 gold production 70,131oz, copper production 2,927 tons, AISC AUD 2,925/oz, operating cash flow AUD 289mln and cash balance AUD 1.31bln as at September 30; reaffirmed FY27 production and AISC guidance. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Ingenia Communities (INA AT) - Warburg Pincus has reportedly held talks with potential buyers of the Co.'s holiday parks business ahead of a possible acquisition of Ingenia. (The Australian)

NextDC (NXT AT) - Co. CEO Craig Scroggie will forgo FY27 short-term and long-term incentives following investor disappointment over its guidance cut; nonexecutive director fees have been reduced by 10%, the proposed remuneration cap increase withdrawn, and the Co. is seeking replacements for Chairman Douglas Flynn and Director Stuart Davis alongside a new independent nonexecutive director. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Ramelius Resources (RMS AT) - Co. Q1 FY27 gold production 48,839oz, AISC AUD 2,656/oz and operating cash flow AUD 186mln; reaffirmed FY27 production and AISC guidance. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Rio Tinto (RIO AT) - Co. has reportedly received non-binding indicative offers from Apollo Global Management and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC for AUD 7bln worth of energy infrastructure assets put up for sale. (AFR Street Talk)

• Zip (ZIP AT) price target cut 3% to AUD 3.50/shr by Macquarie.

This is the standard pre-market Australian digest format, where the market-moving content concentrates in one or two items and the rest is housekeeping; here the two that matter are BlueScope's guidance raise and the Rio Tinto infrastructure process. Guidance upgrades framed on a specific spread driver, in this case US steel spreads, have historically been the more durable kind of beat because they transmit through the peer set rather than standing alone, and the usual sequence is a gap in the stock, a read-across to regional steel names, and then a check of whether broker models re-rate the spread assumption or treat it as cyclical peak earnings. Non-binding indicative bids on a large infrastructure package are early-stage process news: at this stage the signal is about buyer depth and appetite, and what has tended to matter in comparable processes is whether the shortlist includes both financial sponsors and sovereign or pension capital, which supports price tension, versus a single bidder, which does not. The governance cluster is also telling in aggregate: executive termination for cause, a chairman succession, and management forgoing incentives after a guidance cut are the kind of items that individually are noise but collectively mark how boards respond to shareholder pressure and reputational risk in this market. The developer warnings on the gas reservation scheme sit in a familiar policy pattern where intervention aimed at domestic supply has historically been flagged by producers as a disincentive to investment, and the follow-on is whether the policy setting changes rather than the warning itself. The remaining items, reaffirmed guidance and routine quarterly production prints from gold miners, are the baseline noise of the format.