Stocks fell Wednesday as recession concerns weighed on Wall Street, even as traders assessed the release of cooler-than-expected inflation data.
Recession concerns continued to weigh on investors even as the March consumer price index came in cooler than expected, showing a rise of 0.1 per cent. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting CPI to rise by 0.2 per cent month over month.
Those moves come after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting showed officials feared the economy could tilt into a mild recession later this year in the wake of the US banking crisis.
Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a four-day win streak, shedding 0.11 per cent, to 33,646.50. Earlier in the day, the index was up by more than 200 points. The S&P 500 declined 0.41 per cent to 4,091.95. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.85 per cent to 11,929.34.
In M&A news, US industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric on Wednesday agreed to buy National Instruments Corp for $8.2 billion, capping a nearly yearlong pursuit of the measurement equipment maker. The $60-per-share cash offer represents a premium of nearly 50 per cent.
Brookfield Infrastructure Corp will buy freight container lessor Triton International Ltd for about $4.7 billion, to capitalise on a boom in demand from customers looking to cut transportation delays. The cash-and-stock offer of $85 per Triton common share represented a premium of nearly 35 per cent to the stock’s last close.
In Twitter news, there are now 1,500 Twitter staffers on payroll, down from “just under 8,000” when Musk took over, Musk defended the mass layoffs, saying the company was four months from going bankrupt and “drastic action” was needed. When asked why he bought Twitter: Musk admitted that he went ahead with the $44 billion acquisition because he believed he would lose his legal case to try and back out of it.
In EV news, the US The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed sweeping emissions cuts for new cars and trucks through 2032, a move it says could mean two out of every three new vehicles automakers sell will be electric within a decade.
Overnight, S&P500 sectors closed mostly lower. Industrials was the best performer, whilst consumer discretionary was the worst, down by more than 1.5 per cent.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.1 per cent fall.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7:10 AM is buying 66.93 US cents..
Commodities
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.3 per cent fall.
Gold added 0.52 per cent. Silver gained 1.74 per cent. Copper rose 1.22 per cent and oil gained 2.18 per cent.
Figures around the globe
Across the Atlantic, European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE gained 0.5 per cent, Frankfurt added 0.3 per cent while Paris closed 0.1 per cent higher.
In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.4 per cent higher.
Yesterday, the Australian sharemarket closed 0.5 per cent higher at 7344.
Ex-dividends
Best & Less (ASX:BST) is paying 8 cents fully franked
Duxton Water (ASX:D2O) is paying 3.4 cents fully franked
Horizon Oil (ASX:HZN) is paying 1.5 cents unfranked
SDI (ASX:SDI) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
Dividends payable
Brambles (ASX:BXB)
Brisbane Broncos (ASX:BBL)
Emeco Holdings (ASX:EHL)
IVE Group (ASX:IGL)
Pacific Current Group (ASX:PAC)
Peet (ASX:PPC)
Qube Holdings (ASX:QUB)
Solvar (ASX:SVR)
TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG)
Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
Disclaimer
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