AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls on US Inflation; Property and Tech Drop

The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ fell more than 400 points Wednesday, while the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ and $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ sank nearly 1% after a stronger-than-expected March inflation report dampened hopes for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.

In the early hours of trading, the $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ index fell by 1%. The decline was caused by investors selling off interest rate-sensitive stocks in the technology, banking, and property sectors, following expectations that US interest rate cuts would be postponed until November.

$AVITA Medical Inc (AVH.AU)$, a medical technology company, has revised its sales guidance for the March quarter to be between $US11 million and $US11.3 million, compared to the previous estimate of $US14.8 million to $US15.6 million. The company attributed this decline to a delay in the adoption of a new product for burn victims, which has resulted in slower-than-expected sales.

$Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST.AU)$ has reported its gold sales for the first quarter of the year, with a total of 401,000 ounces sold. However, the company's performance was impacted by adverse weather conditions in the Northern Goldfields region of Australia. As a result, the company has revised its FY24 ASIC guidance to a higher range of AU$1,810 to AU$1,860 per ounce, compared to its previous guidance of AU$1,730 to AU$1,790 per ounce.

$Nextdc Ltd (NXT.AU)$, a data centre operator, has announced a trading halt while preparing a capital raising of $1.3 billion. The company's stock closed at $16.71 in its last trading session, having experienced a surge of 51.6% over the past year.

Trading Ex-div: $COSOL Ltd (COS.AU)$, $Duxton Water Ltd (D2O.AU)$

Dividends Paid: $Woolworths Group Ltd (WOW.AU)$, $Sunoco (SUN.US)$, $Brambles Ltd (BXB.AU)$