AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; BHP Drops Over 3% After Third Bid Rejected

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday as the latest Fed minutes suggested 'no-rush' to rate cuts this year, while $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ gave a bullish sales forecast after the market closed.

The tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ fell 0.18%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ closed 0.51% lower, and the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ was down 0.27%.

Australian shares have dropped at the open of trading, following the US benchmark S&P 500. $BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$ is also weighing on the benchmark, with its shares down 3% to $45.00 following a similar drop in its US-listed shares after $ANGLO AMERICAN (AAUKF.US)$ rejected the miner's latest offer, yet gave it a week to come up with an improved fourth bid.

The $AUD/USD (AUDUSD.FX)$ is trading at US66.69¢, an increase of 0.05%.

As of latest data, $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ is priced at $69,340, down 1.16% in the past 24 hours, while $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$ is priced at $3,751, down 1.11% in the past 24 hours.

$Origin Energy Ltd (ORG.AU)$ has delayed the closure of its Eraring power station in New South Wales after reaching a new agreement with the state government.

Agricultural tech business $Nufarm Ltd (NUF.AU)$ has reported a drop in profits and revenue in its latest half-year report, citing challenging conditions as the cause.

$Xero Ltd (XRO.AU)$, a New Zealand-based software company, has reported a 22% increase in revenue to $NZ1.7 billion ($1.6 billion) in FY24, compared with the previous year.