The US consumer price index rose just 0.2% in July, matching analyst expectations and soothing investor fears – the annual inflation growth rate also fell from 3% to 2.9%, beating surveys, and annual core inflation eased from 3.3% to 3.2%, again within expectations and marking the slowest rate of core inflation since April 2021.
The reassuring inflation numbers boosted investor confidence of a potential interest rate cut next month, driving all three major US markets higher.
ASX Futures responded with an early uptick, rising 0.4% or 28 points at first, but was then pared back to essentially flat as of 9am AEST.
US and European markets
The Magnificent 7 tech stocks weren’t sure which direction to jump today, notching a mixed session of wins and losses.
AI-focused chip and data centre stocks Nvidia and Microsoft gained 1.7% and 0.7% respectively.
Word from the US Department of Justice that it was considering several anti-trust options against Google including breaking up the software giant’s search engine lopped 2.3% off parent company Alphabet’s stock.
Tesla (-3.10%) and Meta (-0.34%) didn’t fare any better, collectively weighing the Nasdaq down until it gained just 0.03%.
In more positive news, the Financials sector lifted 1.3%, led by Progressive up 5.4% and Charles Schwab with a 4.6% gain.
Pringles and Cheez-it manufacturer Kellanova (NYSE:K) also soared 7.8% after Mars proposed acquiring the stock for US36 billion.
The Dow Jones rose 243 points or 0.6% and the S&P500 lifted for a fifth straight day, adding 0.4%.
In Europe, markets also advanced. All major regional markets gained, with travel and leisure notching a record one-day gain of 3%, pushed higher by online betting firm Flutter’s 10.5% stock gain.
UBS jumped 5.3% after forecasting a quarterly profit, while the resource stocks dropped 1.1% on weak commodity prices.
The FTSE300 lifted 0.5% and the FTSE100 0.6%.
Commodities and currencies
The Aussie dollar showed weakness against the US greenback overnight, falling from US66.41 cents to US65.95 cents.
The Euro rose from US$1.0987 to near US$1.1010 and the Japanese Yen appreciated from 147.55 yen per US dollar to close near JPY147.30.
An unexpected rise in US crude inventories drove oil lower by 1%, the first increase in stocks after six weeks of drawdowns.
Brent fell by US93 cents, or 1.2%, to US$79.76 per barrel and US Nymex by US$1.37, or 1.7%, to US$76.98 per barrel.
Copper slipped 0.3% and aluminium stayed flat. Iron ore fell to its lowest since May last year, slipping US$1.24, or 1.2%, to US$99.20 per tonne as the world’s largest steel producer, China Baowu Steel Group, warned of an industry-wide crisis.
Renewed hope of interest rate cuts pushed gold down US$28.10, or 1.1%, to US$2,479.70 per ounce, with spot gold trading near US$2,447 per ounce at the US close.
On the small cap front
The ASX small ordinaries lifted 0.55% or 16.3 points overnight, beating the ASX200’s 0.29% gain.
You can read about the following and more throughout the day on our website.
- Latin Resources Ltd (ASX:LRS, OTC:LRSRF) has entered a binding scheme implementation agreement to be acquired by major ASX mining company Pilbara Minerals.
- Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU, TSX:PRU, OTC:PMNXF) has acquired a 13.82% interest in Predictive Discovery Ltd (ASX:PDI, OTC:PDIYF) as a strategic equity investment, gaining exposure to the Bankan Gold Project.
- Brookside Energy Ltd (ASX:BRK, OTC:RDFEF) has completed operations at the Flames Pad on budget and on schedule, targeting first sales by late in the current quarter or early the next.
- Poseidon Nickel Ltd (ASX:POS, OTC:PSDNF) has enhanced the gold prospectivity at the Black Swan and Lake Johnston projects, identifying geological settings favourable for gold at the former and a felsic intrusive copper-gold system at the latter.
- Genetic Technologies Limited (ASX:GTG, NASDAQ:GENE, OTC:GNTLF) has begun the global launch of its geneType™ Risk Assessment portfolio on the wholly-owned EasyDNA platform, now selling in 42 countries.