The ASX is down today. The S&P/ASX200 dropped 88.00 points or 1.18% to 7,347.00 and crossed below its 200-day moving average.
The bottom-performing stocks in this index are Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) down 14.77% and Pro Medicus Ltd down 7.95%.
Over the last five days, the index has lost 1.69% and 4.57% over the last 52 weeks.
Tech has been the hardest hit sector today, following in Wall Street’s Friday footsteps.
The sector slumped a tick over 4% today, with accounting software company Xero Limited down more than 8% before rallying slightly to be 6.40% down. Codan (ASX:CDA) Limited was down 4.37% and Tyro Payments Limited finished 5.58% lower.
Real estate finished 3.56% lower as investors home in on the Reserve Bank's move on the cash rate tomorrow, with a rise broadly expected.
On the flipside, travel stocks enjoyed a day out, with Qantas announcing it will return to profitability in the second half. The shares rallied 2.9% on the news.
Helloworld Travel was also higher. The stock gained 1.9% on the back of a strong earnings report, with total transaction value up 60% in the March quarter.
Volatility hurts Future Fund
The volatility in the market has hurt The Future fund, which recorded its worst quarterly performance in two years.
Like many sectors, the fund has been affected by rising inflation and the prospect of higher interest rates.
The Future Fund is Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, with money invested to go toward future Australian projects.
The sovereign wealth fund lost 1.5% in the three months through March – the biggest decline since 2020.
The fund's assets have shrunk by $3 billion to $201 billion since the end of December.
"As we have been saying for some time, investors should expect lower returns than in the past over the long term," chair Peter Costello said.
"As central banks tighten monetary policy to rein in inflation and geopolitical tensions continue to create shocks in investment markets, we have been positioning for what will be a challenging and volatile future."
Total funds under management stand at $249 billion.
Interest rates won’t rise tomorrow
Former Reserve Bank of Australia economist Paul Bloxham has told the Australian Financial Review that the cash rate will not rise tomorrow.
Bloxham, who is currently HSBC’s chief economist, said, “They’ve given fairly clear guidance that they need to see the wages numbers before they move the cash rate.”
“I think there is a reasonable chance that when the RBA designed that game plan, they had in mind the election in May and the risk that there might be an upside surprise on inflation.”
Money markets have factored a rise of 0.15% to 0.25%.
Like Bloxham, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) economist Andrew Boak believes the RBA will hold.
Bloxham predicts a rise of 0.40% to take the cash rate 0.5% in June – after the Federal election.
“Phil Lowe has said in recent times that when the RBA does something significant, he will call a press conference,” Bloxham said.
“Calling a press conference during an election will throw up a lot of questions that will seem like they are in the political mix.
“The difference between May and June doesn’t matter in the scheme of things.”
On the small cap front
- Caspin Resources Ltd finished 16.00% higher.
- Alkane Resources Limited finished 2.94% higher.
- Antipa Minerals Ltd finished 9.30% higher.
- Delorean Corporation Ltd finished 3.03% higher.
- Evolution Energy Minerals Ltd finished 6.80% higher.
- Chalice Mining Ltd finished 2.30% higher.
- Yandal Resources Ltd finished 4.17% higher.