AU Morning Wrap: ASX Drops, Endeavour Rises as New Chairman Named

Tumbling technology stocks cast a pall over a trading day in which the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ ended at a new all-time high, showing how much sway a few giant technology firms have over the broader market.

The tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ declined 1.6per cent, dragged down by the same big names, including Apple and Nvidia, that propelled it 43 per cent higher last year.

A good day for energy, healthcare, utilities and consumer-staples stocks couldn't offset the pull from technology and telecom shares in the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$, which shed 0.6 per cent.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ retreated 0.8 per cent, or 65.8 points, to 7564.40 and the All Ords was also down 0.8 per cent.

$Endeavour Group Ltd (EDV.AU)$: Shares in Endeavour Group rose 0.5 per cent afterThe Australian Financial Review reported that chairman Peter Hearl was set to resign following a board meeting earlier in the session. He will be replaced by senior alcohol executive Ari Mervis.

$Infratil Ltd (IFT.AU)$: Infratil was steady at $9.28 after flagging a $133 million improvement in its investment valuation in CDC Data Centres in the October to December period, taking the total valuation to a mid-point of $4 billion, up from $3.8 billion three months ago. CDC affirmed its FY 2024 earnings guidance of $260 million to $270 million.

$Strike Energy Ltd (STX.AU)$: Strike Energy slumped 1 per cent despite announcing it had delivered 33 terajules of gas from the Walyering gas field in WA in December following a period of slower deliveries due to maintenance.

$Novagold Resources (NG.US)$: Gold Resources fell 6 per cent after its 2023 annual production came at the lower end of guidance, partly due to labour shortages.