The ASX dipped into the red today following a choppy session in New York overnight.
The benchmark ASX 200 slid 0.3% to 7,124 points at midday, while the All Ords dropped 0.4% to 7,325 points.
Wall Street’s major indices also traded down, cooling off after Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller warned that softer inflation pressures wouldn’t immediately halt interest rate hikes.
That announcement saw stocks temper their Monday windfall — only healthcare stocks finished in the green with a very slight gain.
Checking in with commodities now, oil is back in the red after OPEC revised down global oil demand and curbed production forecasts in its November report.
Meanwhile, gold recorded slight gains, up 0.3%, and iron ore futures jumped 1.2% to US$92.65 a tonne.
And the Aussie dollar held its ground overnight — it’s currently buying 67 US cents and 57 British pence.
Looking at today’s top stories, tech billionaire Mike Cannon Brookes has emerged victorious from the lively AGL Energy (ASX:AGK) AGM after investors voted his director nominees into the boardroom.
Cannon-Brookes’ private companies own just under 12% of AGL, and he’s challenged the electricity magnate to up the ante by curbing carbon emissions and accelerating clean energy initiatives.
In other news, Commonwealth Bank grew its cash profit by 2.5% to $2.5 billion and reported softening bad debts this morning — a trend seen across the major financial players despite rising interest rates.
And on the small cap front, Accelerate Resources is tapping investors for $3 million to fast-track its battery metals strategy.
Blackstone Minerals is also in the news — it’s validated an all-important workstream at its Ta Khoa Refinery, paving the way for battery-grade nickel and cobalt production.