AU Morning Wrap: ASX Slips, Led by Miners; CPI Data Ahead

The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ climbed for a third consecutive day as shares of Nvidia, Amazon.com and Google parent Alphabet advanced.

The tech-heavy index added 0.1 per cent, leaving it down 1% in 2024 after starting the year with declines. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ slipped 0.1 per cent, while the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ lost 0.4 per cent, or about 158 points.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ has dipped 25.1 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7480. The All Ordinaries is also 0.3 per cent lower. Overnight, the Australian dollar slipped 0.5 per cent to US66.87¢.

Early in trade, miners are the worst hit of the ASX's 11 sectors, down 1.4 per cent, led by iron ore giants $BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$, $Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$ and $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$, which are all down more than 1.5 per cent.

$Alumina Ltd (AWC.AU)$: Shares in Alumina have continued to surge after the company revealed plans yesterday to halt alumina production this year at its Western Australia Kwinana plant. Shares are 6.6 per cent higher at $1.04.

$Mineral Resources Ltd (MIN.AU)$: Lithium giant Mineral Resources has bought up a 9.97 per cent stake in freshly listed lithium hopeful $Kali Metals Ltd (KM1.AU)$. On Monday, Kali Metals began trading on the ASX, soaring as much as 75 per cent. Shares in Kali Metals have jumped 22.8 per cent to 64.5c and Mineral Resources has eased 2.9 per cent to $65.15.

$Worley Ltd (WOR.AU)$: Worley shares remain in the trading halt placed on them yesterday, pending a further announcement amid reports of allegations of "illegality and bad faith" by an Ecuadorean tribunal.