Investing.com - The opening of Wednesday's session saw a slight increase in Australian shares, following a late sell-off in New York. Nvidia's six-day winning streak came to an end. Local investors are eagerly awaiting the release of the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) data at 11.30 am.
Westpac anticipates a 0.6% rise in the CPI for February, which would result in an annual inflation rate of 3.8%.
A dozen ASX-listed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), along with IPD Group Ltd (ASX:IPG), Kelly Partners Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:KPG), Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX:MYR), and Reece Ltd (ASX:REH), are set to trade ex-dividend on Wednesday.
Market highlights include ASX futures down by 19 points or 0.2% to 7819 near 7am AEDT, a 0.1% dip in the Australian dollar to 65.31 US cents, and a 1.6% drop in Bitcoin to $US69,784 at 7.20am AEDT.
On Wall Street, BHP (ASX:BHP) Group Ltd ADR (NYSE:BHP) shares fell by 0.7%, Rio Tinto ADR (NYSE:RIO) by 2%, and Atlassian Corp Plc (NASDAQ:TEAM) by 0.7%. In contrast, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose by 2.9%, despite a 0.3% drop in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), a 0.7% decline in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), and a 2.5% decrease in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).
In commodities, spot gold rose by 0.3% to $US2177.78/oz, while Brent crude fell by 0.4% to $US86.40 a barrel. Iron ore also experienced a 4.2% drop to $US104.05 a tonne.
In the bond market, the 10-year yield in the US stood at 4.23%, Australia at 4.02%, and Germany at 2.35%.
Cocoa prices broke the $US10,000 record due to poor harvests in major West African producers, leading to a third consecutive annual supply deficit and the potential for more expensive chocolate.
On the agenda today, in addition to the local February CPI data, New Zealand's March business confidence figures will be released at 11am. The New Zealand government will also release the Budget Policy Statement, providing a glimpse into the priorities for the upcoming Budget 2024 and the potential risks to fiscal policy. China's industrial profits for February will be announced at 12.30pm, followed by the final consumer and economic confidence data for the Eurozone in March at 9pm.