The morning catch up: Murdoch steps down, Chalmers says budget steps up; BoE holds rates; ASX to dip

There was some big news to wake up to this morning.

The Bank of England (BoE) left its key interest rate unchanged for the first time late 2021. The rate currently sits at 5.25% and the lack of movement signals that inflation is cooling and the UK economy is teetering on the brink of contraction.

Rupert Murdoch lifted News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) shares after he announced he is stepping down as chairman of his companies at the age of 92.

Eldest son Lachlan, 52, will take over as the sole chair of News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS) and publisher of The Australian.

He will also continue as executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation.

“On behalf of the Fox and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” Lachlan said.

“We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers hailed the federal budget surplus.

“It demonstrates we have been able to get the budget in better nick at the same time as well as roll out the cost-of-living help (so) the budget surplus hasn’t come at the expense of helping people but it has built a stronger foundation in the budget,” Chalmers told the ABC.

“There hasn’t been a budget surplus for fifteen years now (and) by getting the budget back in the black we are in a stronger position.”

Despite all this news, the ASX will track Wall Street’s overnight losses.

ASX 200 futures are trading 97 points lower, down -1.38% as of 8:20 am AEST.

What happened overnight?

Here’s what we saw (source Commsec):

The S&P 500 finished lower, marking its worst session since March and trading close to a three-month low. In fact, according to Bespoke, it hit its most oversold level of the year at more than two standard deviations below its 50-day moving average.

All sectors are oversold, with Industrials, Materials and Consumer Discretionary the worst hit.

• The S&P 500 dipped 1.64%.
• The Dow Jones lost 1.08%.
• The NASDAQ Comp fell 1.82%
• The Russell 2000 lost 1.56%.

Silver was 0.47% higher, but uranium lost 1.86%, Copper miners were down 2.41%, steel lost 2.49%, Gold miners dipped 2.69%, Lithium and battery tech fell 2.91% and Strategic Metals crashed by 3.06%.

Looking at the commodities:

• Gold lost 1.38%.
• Iron ore was flat.
• Copper dipped 2.25%
• WTI Oil was down 0.09%.

What about small caps?

The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO) dropped 0.91% to 2,727.10.

It has been a slow morning on the news front, but you can read about the following and more throughout the day.

Sipa Resources Ltd (ASX:SRI) has finished the diamond drill program at its Paterson North project. Assays are due in four to six weeks.

Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX:YRL) has appointed Chris Oorschot to the Board as a Technical Director effective immediately.

Mako Gold Ltd (ASX:MKG) has received assay results from the circa 800m RC drill program on the Company’s 90% owned flagship Napié Project and gave an exploration update on the company’s 100% owned Korhogo Project in Côte d’Ivoire.

Poseidon Nickel Ltd (ASX:POS, OTC:PSDNF) updated the market on corporate changes together with a revised care and maintenance operating model at Black Swan which will result in significant cost savings across the company.

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