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ASX down 0.49% at noon as Tech falls

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2023-09-26

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The ASX opened lower by 0.4% on Tuesday, reflecting market adjustments in anticipation of prolonged higher interest rates.

At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.49 per cent lower at 7,042.10, primarily driven by losses in property and tech sectors.

Qantas (ASX:QAN) saw a notable decline of 3%, while local equity investors await Wednesday's consumer price index report for potential signs of rising inflation, following a lackluster session on Wall Street.

The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 51 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Health Care, up 0.55 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Information Technology, down 1.68 per cent.

The best-performing large cap is Pro Medicus (ASX:PME), trading 9.46 per cent higher at $77.925. It is followed by shares in Incitec Pivot (ASX:IPL) and IGO (ASX:IGO).

The worst-performing large cap is Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), trading 2.67 per cent lower at $2.92. It is followed by shares in NEXTDC (ASX:NXT) and Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN).

Asian news

Asia-Pacific markets are mixed as investors look toward inflation data from across the region this week.

Singapore and Australia are expected to report inflation figures for August this week, while Japan will release inflation data for the Tokyo region. The capital region’s inflation data is seen as a leading indicator of nationwide trends.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.85% and the Topix was up 0.39%, rebounding from losses last week and closing at 32,678.62 and 2,385.5 respectively.

South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.49%, closing at 2,495.76 and the Kosdaq tumbled 2.12%, finishing at 839.17 and marking a seven-day losing streak.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.65% in its final hour of trade, with mainland Chinese markets also in negative territory. The benchmark CSI 300 was down 0.65% and ended at 3,714.6.

Company news

Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) has announced a successful completion of the lithium carbonate test program, which is an important milestone towards the completion of DFS. In response,
Lake CEO David Dickson said, “most DLE lithium carbonate announcements are based on a few kilograms of carbonate produced on a lab bench scale unit; we’ve produced more lithium carbonate than most DLE projects under development. This gives us great confidence in our process.” Shares are trading 12.12 per cent higher at 18.5 cents.

Talon Energy (ASX:TPD) has announced that the Walyering gas field development, in which Talon owns 45 per cent, has commenced production. In response, Mr Colby Hauser, Talon’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer commented: “Transitioning from Explorer to Producer has been an important milestone for the business. We look forward to working with Strike and supplying firm gas into our gas sales agreement with Santos.” Shares are flat at 19.5 cents.

Actinogen Medical (ASX:ACW) announced enhancement of the design of the XanaMIA Phase 2b trial in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease to reduce the cost and time to initial results. The current FDA-approved three-arm trial was designed to confirm the safety, pro-cognitive and clinical benefits of Xanamem® and explore two dose levels, in what is called ‘dose-ranging.’ Shares are flat at 1.9 cents.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1933.90 an ounce.

Iron ore is 3.9 per cent lower at US$118.80 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.2 per cent fall.

One Australian dollar is buying 64.29 US cents.

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