AU Morning Wrap: ASX falls; BWX flags data breach; Block rallies

Wall Street Summary
US stocks added to Wednesday's losses in the wake of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's assertion the top of this interest rate cycle may be higher than the bank's own projection. The yield on two-year treasury notes jumped to its highest in 15 years, pressuring corners of the market that depend on short-term borrowing to fund operations.

"The post-Fed hangover continues to keep pressure on U.S. stocks as the impact from the first round of hikes is finally being felt," Oanda's senior market analyst Ed Moya said. "Stocks aren't going to have a painful death here, but they will soften until markets price in a little more Fed hawkishness."

Block rallied 10.2 per cent to $96.37 after reporting gross profit for the third quarter that exceeded analysts' expectations.

CSR jumped 5.5 per cent to $4.78 after lifting its interim dividend on the back of a 27 per cent jump in profit for the half year ended September 30.

Pendal declined 2 per cent to $4.43 after reporting a 32 per cent drop in statutory profit in the 2022 financial year.

Flora & Fauna, part of the BWX Digital Segment, operates the Flora & Fauna digital e-commerce platform.

The company also announced it has reached agreement with its largest customer, Suncorp, regarding the pricing for services provided by Capital S.M.A.R.T to Suncorp for the period October 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

The company said retail leasing activity remained strong for the quarter ended September 30, with 95 lease deals completed.

Statutory net profit after tax was down 32 per cent to $112.8 million, impacted by mark-to-market movements on seed investments.

Magellan's funds under management increased to $51 billion for the month, from $50.9 billion at September 30.

Trading revenue of $1.3 billion was up 14 per cent, while earnings before interest and tax (EBIT before significant items) rose 29 per cent to $171 million.

Shares climbed more than 17 per cent in after-hours trading.

"Recently released data shows that daily crude output at large and medium-sized mills in China averaged 2.06 million tons during October 11 - 20. This is 2% less than was seen during the prior ten days but is up year-on-year by 10%. Overall, it remains encouraging that China's steel output has remained well above last year's level," - Breakwave Advisors.

• Oil prices slumped.

"Oil is battling both a weakening global economic outlook and a surging dollar. It seems these bearish drivers won't be easing up anytime soon and that could mean WTI crude could be vulnerable to last week's low.”- Oanda senior market analyst, Ed Moya.

• Gold is fast approaching recent lows after Fed Chair Powell signalled that rates will be going much higher, which is weigh on the non-interest bearing yellow metal.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR