The ASX fell sharply today, shedding 1.36% or 98.30 points to 7,111.00 and setting a new 20-day low as traders bumped up to 67% the likelihood of another RBA interest rate rise by August.
Hotter than expected monthly Consumer Price Index data was the core reason for the shift in sentiment, coming in at 6.8% year-on-year compared to the expected 6.4%.
More on that later.
The sectors were largely – understandably – down, although Utilities (+0.21%) escaped mostly unscathed.
The sectors taking the biggest hits today were Energy, down 2.39% and Consumer Discretionary and Materials, down 1.76% and 1.65% respectively.
Commodities were mostly flat, with some outliers in West Texas crude (-4.57%) and palladium (-2.71%) which fell sharply, and tin (+2.03%) which made solid gains.
The worst-performing stocks on the ASX200 today were Bank of Queensland Ltd and Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) Ltd, shedding 5.36% and 5.95%.
In the news
Monthly CPI hotter than expected
IG Group market analyst Tony Sycamore discusses the latest economic movements and indicates high CPI numbers make another interest rate hike likely.
“AU Monthly CPI for April comes in at 6.8% vs 6.4% expected,” Sycamore said.
“The most significant price rises were Housing (+8.9%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (+7.9%) and Transport (+7.1%).
“This is an ugly number, and despite a run of softer data earlier this month across wages, employment and retail sales, the probability that the RBA raises rates by 25bp to 4.10% at its meeting next week has increased to ~25%.
“Heading into the number, the market was pricing a 10% chance of an RBA rate hike next week.
“The AUD/USD has fallen from .6515/17 to a low of .6492.
“Last week's low was .6490 – the AUD/USD is just holding on.
“The ASX200 has fallen from 7,150, where it was pre the number, to a low of 7,128.
“The ASX200 needs to hold support 7,100 (coming from the 200-day moving average and uptrend support from the October 6,411 low, to avoid a deeper pullback towards 6,900 (Year to Date lows).”
Nvidia continues blistering rise
eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert explains Nvidia’s meteoric rise and why tech stocks like it present a lucrative opportunity.
"Nvidia continues to blow minds and steals the show as the undisputed star of 2023, skyrocketing with an astonishing growth of over 180% since the year began,” Gilbert said.
“It leaves Meta in the dust, claiming the second spot among the S&P 500 stocks with a whopping 119% surge, followed by AMD in third place with an impressive +93%.
“While the overall S&P 500 index barely managed a modest gain of less than 10%, these industry leaders have created a significant distance from the market average.
“But that's not all.
“Nvidia has now crossed the trillion-dollar market capitalisation milestone, joining an elite club of only nine members ever, becoming the first-ever semiconductor company to achieve such a feat.
“Despite the prohibitive valuations, Nvidia continues to surprise and attract investors' attention.
“It has exceeded expectations and shocked analysts with an upward revision for the fiscal year, and has recently unveiled new products at Computex 2023, as well as engaging in the construction of super PCs.
“Despite the high stock price, the enthusiasm surrounding Nvidia shows no signs of diminishing, highlighting the ongoing interest of investors.
“As AI becomes more widespread and computing power continues to surge, the possibilities for businesses and society as a whole are simply mind-blowing.
“But this promises a future of unprecedented innovation, efficiency, and possibilities, but caution is needed not to fly too close to the sun and get burned."
The Five at Five
Solis Minerals soars on deal to acquire high-grade hard rock lithium project in Brazil
Solis Minerals Ltd (ASX:SLM, TSX-V:SLMN, OTCQB:SLMFF) has skyrocketed on signing a binding agreement to acquire the Jaguar Lithium Project in Bahia state, Brazil which has confirmed spodumene grades of up to 4.95% Li2O (lithium oxide) from rock chip samples.
Read more
Azure Minerals intensifies lithium drilling efforts at Andover
Azure Minerals Ltd (ASX:AZS, OTC:AZRMF) has kicked off reverse circulation (RC) drilling as part of a 40,000-metre drilling campaign at the Andover Lithium Project in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Read more
Alto Metals gears up for deeper gold hunt at Indomitable; has eyes on lithium targets too
Alto Metals Ltd (ASX:AME) is preparing to hunt for gold at deeper depths at the Indomitable Gold Camp within its 100%-owned Sandstone Project in WA to follow up on recent high-grade shallow hits from a reverse circulation campaign.
Read more
Terra Uranium turns first diamond drill at Parker Lake targeting 30-kilometre conductor
Terra Uranium Ltd (ASX:T92) has leveraged extensive geophysical and geochemical programs to define targets for the maiden diamond drilling campaign at Parker Lake Uranium Project in Canada's Athabasca Basin, investigating a large 30-kilometre conductive plate believed to be prospective for uranium.
Read more
Anteris Technologies hails "excellent" DurAVR™ THV results in new patient cohort
Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR, OTC:AMEUF) continues to receive "exceptional" patient outcomes for the first-in-human study of its novel DurAVR™ transcatheter heart valve (THV).
Read more
The one to watch
Australian Gold and Copper talks ‘huge’ new Gundagai target
Australian Gold and Copper Ltd (ASX:AGC) MD Glen Diemar discusses with Proactive a 5-kilometre gold, silver and base metal trend at its Gundagai Project in New South Wales.
Watch more
On your six
Proactive launches “After Market” podcast
Each month, After Market will take a closer look at the issues shaping and shifting the markets - from cost of living to climate, geopolitics to geology, macroeconomics to medtech and big data to battery metals.
Listen here