The ASX had a day to forget yesterday, as the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished the day down 1.1%, to 7721.6 as six of the 11 industry groups fell.
However, it should rise today with ASX 200 futures up 23 points, or 0.29%, as of 8:25am AEST.
Several disappointing results including from Commonwealth Bank Group Ltd, Westpac, whose shares tumbled 5.6% to $26.32 after it went without the rights to a 90¢ per share interim dividend, and some of the country's largest retailers, pushed the Consumer Discretionary sector 2.5% lower at the close.
Selling in Australian shares accelerated yesterday as investors also worried about the impact of rising living costs on retail sales.
JB Hi-Fi Group Ltd was hit hard, tumbling 4.5% to $57.25 on flat sales for the March quarter. Super Retail Group Ltd dropped 5.5% on its March quarter sales update. Harvey Norman Ltd lost 3.8% to $4.26 and Nick Scali Ltd tumbled 4.5% to $14.71.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) retail sales fell for the fifth time in six quarters over the March quarter.
Westfield operator Scentre Group Ltd said it would bear the rising operating costs including increased security as a result of the Westfield Bondi attack. Shares finished down 1.9% to $3.16.
As for small caps, the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO) fell 1.10% to 3,028.50 yesterday. Over the last five days, it is up 1.75%.
There is very little on the small cap news front today, however Reward Minerals Ltd (ASX:RWD) has been granted exploration licence application E09/2763 by the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. The +200km2 tenement forms the Carnarvon Potash Project (CPP), is 100% owned by Holocene Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Reward) and is situated in an ideal infrastructure location around 30 kilometres (some 70 kilometres by road) north of the coastal town of Carnarvon in Western Australia
Piedmont Lithium (ASX:NASDAQ:PLL, OTC:PLLTL) Inc. today reported its first quarter 2024 financial results. North American Lithium (NAL), the largest producing spodumene operation in North America, achieved record quarterly production of 40,439 dry metric tons (dmt) of spodumene concentrate in Q1, 2024. NAL lithium recoveries of 69% in March 2024 exceeded plan and set a new monthly record.
What happened overnight (source Commsec)
US sharemarkets
Advanced on Thursday, drawing renewed upward momentum as weaker-than-expected weekly US jobless claims data offered investors fresh hope that a softening labour market could lead the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) led the Dow Jones index higher as the stocks gained over 2% each. Data centre real estate investment trust Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) climbed 11.5% after reporting an earnings beat. On the flip side, chip designer Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) dipped 2.3% as its full-year revenue forecast came in below expectations.
Bigger rival Nvidia, which is still to report this earnings season, slipped 1.8%. Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) slid 6.9% after weak guidance overshadowed a first quarter earnings beat.
- The Dow Jones index rose by 331 points or 0.9%, recording its seventh straight positive session.
- The S&P 500 index gained 0.5%.
- The Nasdaq index added 43.5 points or 0.3%.
European sharemarkets
Climbed to fresh record highs on Thursday. Basic resources stocks led gains, up 1%. Industrial shares like Siemens, ABB (ST:ABB) and Schneider Electric (EPA:SCHN) added over 1% each and were top boosts on the benchmark index. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to keep interest rates at a 16-year high of 5.25%. However, Governor Andrew Bailey said it was possible the central bank would need to cut rates by more than investors currently expect.
- The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.2%.
- In London, the UK FTSE 100 index gained 0.3%, hitting a record high for a fourth straight session.
Currencies
Were stronger against the US dollar in European and US trade.
- The Euro rose from US$1.0723 to session highs near US$1.0780 at the US close.
- The Aussie dollar lifted from US65.64 cents to session highs near US66.20 cents at the US close.
- The Japanese yen firmed from 155.94 yen per US dollar to JPY155.40 and was near JPY155.50 at the US close.
Commodities
Global oil prices rose on Thursday as data from China signalled demand in the world's second-biggest crude-consuming nation could climb. Crude oil imports rose 5.45% to 44.72 million metric tonnes on the previous year in April. Exports and imports returned to growth last month, signalling an improvement in demand.
- The Brent crude price rose 30 US cents or 0.4% to US$83.88 a barrel.
- The US Nymex crude price lifted 27 US cents or 0.3% to US$79.26 a barrel.
Base metal prices firmed on Thursday as the US dollar weakened after the release of softer US labour market data.
- Copper futures gained 1%.
- Aluminium futures rose 0.3%.
- The gold futures price jumped US$18.00 or 0.8% to US$2,340.30 an ounce on Thursday after soft US jobs data reinforced Fed interest rate cut bets.
- Spot gold was trading near US$2,346 an ounce at the US close.
- Iron ore futures rose US37 cents or 0.3% to US$116.96 a tonne on Thursday after China's Hangzhou scrapped all curbs on home purchases, sparking optimism that other local governments could follow suit.