AU Morning Wrap: ASX Flat Ahead of CPI Data

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• Wall Street closes lower
• ASX flat ahead of CPI data
• Stocks to watch: APM Human Services, Platinum Asset Management

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Flat Ahead of CPI Data

Wall Street Summary

Freshly listed stocks traded higher Tuesday, but the entire market seemed to pull back in the final hour of trading. Indexes swung from a 0.20% climb to a fall of the same amount.

With preliminary closing figures, $标普500指数 (.SPX.US)$ fell 0.28%, the $道琼斯指数 (.DJI.US)$ fell 0.08%, and the $纳斯达克综合指数 (.IXIC.US)$ fell 0.42%.

AU Market Watch

At the start of trade, Australian shares declined following the modest losses seen on all three US benchmarks. The benchmark $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ Index dropped 0.1% or 5.3 points to 7774.9, driven down by losses in the materials sector.

The mining stocks on the ASX, following a slump in Singapore iron ore futures yesterday, continued to experience volatile trading amid growing concerns over Chinese demand. Additionally, base metals also experienced a decline. Local investors are anticipating the release of monthly CPI data at 11.30am AEDT.

Stocks to Watch

$APM Human Services International Pty (APM.AU)$ has paused trading after receiving a letter from CVC Capital Markets, a private equity firm, indicating that it cannot complete the transaction on terms consistent with the non-binding offer disclosed to the ASX on February 28th.

$Platinum Asset Management Ltd (PTM.AU)$'s shares dropped by 21% following the announcement last night that the struggling investment firm had lost $1.4 billion in mandated funds from an undisclosed client.

Trading Ex-div: $Myer Holdings Ltd (MYR.AU)$, $Waypoint REIT Ltd (WPR.AU)$, $IPD Group Ltd (IPG.AU)$, $Garda Property Group (GDF.AU)$