ASX drops after inflation shock; Banks decline, Woolworths gains

But “there appear to be some (very early) green shoots,” Jarden analyst Ben Gilbert wrote in a note to clients, pointing out that the supermarket’s October food sales were up 3.2 percent. If the September quarter proves to be the “bottom” and the trends through October continue, the stock should perform well.

Pressure is mounting on Woolworths’ chief executive, who is due to face shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, as arch rival Coles announces quarterly sales. Coles is gaining market share on Woolworths. Shares in Coles fell 0.6 percent.

Oil and gas giants Woodside and Santos fell for a second session as oil fell further amid signs of a growing oversupply that dampened a strong rally triggered by US sanctions on major Russian producers last week. West Texas Intermediate fell 1.9 percent, falling back to near $60 a barrel, the steepest daily drop in more than two weeks. Woodside lost 1.2 percent in early trading, while Santos lost 0.8 percent.

CSL also continued its decline with a loss of 5 percent. The country’s largest healthcare company lost 15.9 percent of its value on Tuesday after vaccine skepticism sparked concerns. turning to flu vaccines The situation in the United States, a key market, is forcing it to issue a profit warning for its Seqirus vaccine business and delaying the division of the unit into a separate company.

Construction products maker James Hardie lost 1 percent after US construction company DR Horton reported weaker-than-expected profits in the Northern Hemisphere summer as consumer sentiment remained cautious. James Hardie makes about three-quarters of its sales in the United States.

Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto rose 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, while gold miners gained some relief from their recent losses. While Northern Star gained 2.7 percent, Evolution Mining 2.9 percent and Newmont 1.8 percent, gold stabilized after a three-day route around $ 3950 per ounce.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent. The Dow Jones rose 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8 percent. All three indexes hit all-time highs for the third day in a row.

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Movements in the bond market were also relatively mild as investors awaited a few events that could shake things up. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce its latest move on interest rates and some of the US stock market’s most influential companies will reveal how much profit they made over the summer. On Thursday, President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in hopes of easing tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Tech giants Apple (up 0.1%) and Microsoft (up 2%) are on the rise; Both companies reached a $4 trillion valuation during the session, joining artificial intelligence giant Nvidia as the only publicly traded companies worth that figure. Microsoft achieved this goal at the beginning of the year.

“Given the relentless demand for AI technology and infrastructure, we expect another strong round of megacap tech earnings reports,” said Clark Bellin of Bellwether Wealth. “While the profitability of AI remains unknown, investors are prepared to overlook it for now as the AI ​​arms race heats up.”

Amazon, meanwhile, rose 1 percent after it said it would cut nearly 14,000 corporate jobs, or about 4 percent of its corporate workforce, as it ramps up spending on AI while cutting costs elsewhere.

Until then, the main driver of Tuesday’s action was overnight and morning snow reports.

United Parcel Service rose 8 percent after posting stronger profits and revenue than analysts expected in the latest quarter. UPS also gave a revenue forecast slightly above analysts’ expectations for the all-important holiday shipping season.

PayPal gained 3.9 percent in the summer after announcing it made more profits than analysts expected. It also announced plans to pay dividends to shareholders every three months and a deal where internet users can pay for their purchases through OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

On the loser side of Wall Street was Royal Caribbean, which lost 8.5 percent despite reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. Its revenue in the last quarter fell below expectations. The cruise operator also said it saw a “minimal” hit to its business in the quarter due to bad weather as well as the temporary closure of one of its exclusive destinations in Haiti.

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The slowing job market is one of the main reasons Wall Street expects the Fed to announce another rate cut on Wednesday. This is the second time this year the federal funds rate has been cut in hopes of helping the job market.

The widespread expectation is that the Fed will cut interest rates for the third time at its last meeting of the year. A lot depends on this, in part because US stock prices have already reached records in this direction. That means the most important part of Wednesday’s announcement for Wall Street will be whether Fed Chairman Jerome Powell offers any hints about upcoming moves.

Fed officials have said they will likely continue to lower interest rates next year but may have to change course if inflation rises above the still-high level. Because low interest rates can make inflation worse.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell from 4.01 percent to 3.97 percent at the end of Monday. A report showing U.S. consumer confidence was slightly better than economists expected had little impact on the market.

AP via Bloomberg

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