AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls After Hot US CPI, Real Estate Stocks Lead Losses

Moomoo News AU joined discussion · Oct 12, 2023 18:30

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• S&P 500 lower + Yields spike as US inflation holds at 3.7%
• ASX drops after hot US CPI
• Stocks to watch: Pact Group, Perpetual, Harvey Norman
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls After Hot US CPI, Real Estate Stocks Lead Losses

Wall Street Summary

Major stock indexes fell Thursday, snapping a four-day winning streak, after fresh data showed inflation remains a concern.

Data Thursday showed recent progress in lowering inflation paused in September. The consumer-price index rose 3.7% from a year earlier, the same as in August. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, rose 4.1% from a year earlier, down from 4.3% in August.

Treasury yields rose after the consumer-price-index report and climbed further after a bond auction revealed weak demand.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ declined 0.6%, trimming the benchmark index's gain in 2023 to 13%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ dropped 0.5%, or about 174 points, while the tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ retreated 0.6%.

AU Market Watch

Australian shares have sunk at the open, in line with losses in New York, after the latest US inflation data renewed bets that the Federal Reserve is not yet done lifting interest rates.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ dropped 50 points, or 0.7 per cent at open, to 7040.6. The All Ordinaries was also down 0.7 per cent.

Rate sensitive sectors are among the worst with, with real estate the worst performing of the 11 sectors, down 1.5 per cent.

10 of the 11 sectors are tilting lower, with Utilities stocks the only to move higher in early trade to be up 0.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, the local currency plunged 1.6 per cent overnight below US64¢ and is trading at around US63.13¢.

Stocks to Watch

$Pact Group Holdings Ltd (PGH.AU)$: Billionaire businessman Raphael Geminder's plan to take his struggling packaging company Pact Group off the ASX hit a major speed bump this morning, with shareholders being urged to reject the deal following an independent review. Shares are down 1.4 per cent.

$Perpetual Ltd (PPT.AU)$: Perpetual is up 1.4 per cent after its assets under management held steady in the September quarter, in a sign flows may be stabilising for the struggling funds management firm.

$Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (HVN.AU)$: Harvey Norman shares, which trade ex-dividend as of today, are down 3.9 per cent.

$Fletcher Building Ltd (FBU.AU)$: Fletcher Building will brief investors and analysts later today to provide an update on its Western Australian plumbing issues. Shares remain in a trading halt and last traded at $4.45

Trading Ex-div: $Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (HVN.AU)$