The ASX ended 0.37%, or 30.6 points, higher today at 8,252.1 points ahead of the ABS release of inflation data tomorrow that could influence the RBA's interest rate decisions.
The big four banks predict the consumer price index will land at an annual rate of 2.9% for the September quarter. That would be the lowest outcome since the March quarter of 2021 and well down on its 7.8% peak at the end of 2022.
However, RBA governor Michele Bullock has flagged the central bank is focused on underlying inflation, a gauge that excludes volatile price movers.
The Consumer Discretionary sector led the gains today.
News that Myer is acquiring Premier Investment’s apparel brands including Just Jeans, Portmans and Dotti, was celebrated by PMV investors who sent the company’s share price surging by 9.75% to $33.89 per share.
However, Myer shareholders didn’t share the excitement with the news sending Myer down by more than 2% to $0.95 per share.
The Materials sector was also strong while Utilities and Energy were weak.
Steelmaker BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) cut its first-half profit forecast, citing economic headwinds such as record Chinese steel exports, inflationary pressures and political uncertainty in the United States ahead of the presidential election.
BSL now anticipates underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of between $270 million and $310 million for the six months to December, down from its previous forecast of $350 million to $420 million.
The company notes that the challenging market conditions are impacting the company and the broader steel industry.
Small cap movers
Among the movers in the small cap sector today were Dynamic Metals Ltd (ASX:DYM), which was 15.38% higher to $0.225, Piedmont Lithium (ASX:NASDAQ:PLL, OTC:PLLTL) was up to 13.89% higher to $0.205, FireFly Metals Ltd (ASX:FFM) increased as much as 11.85% to $1.18 after a resource update for the Green Bay Copper-Gold Project and Sprintex Ltd was up as much as 11.57% to $0.066.
Other movers were Polymetals Ltd, which hit a new record of $0.625, an increase of 11.61% on yesterday's close, Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX:GAL, OTC:GLMGF) was up 10.71% to $0.155 and Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25, OTCQX:ELMTF) was as much as 6.8% higher to $0.31 on the back of an updated manganese resource.
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