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ASX down 0.76% at noon following Wall Street's poor performance

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2023-10-23

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At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.76 per cent lower at 6,848.40. This drop was in line with Wall Street's performance, driven by concerns about potential interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and worries about the escalation of the Middle East conflict.

Traders are eagerly anticipating the release of the September-quarter consumer price index (CPI) on Wednesday, as it could provide support for the argument in favor of more monetary tightening. Currently, bond futures are suggesting only a 33% probability of an interest rate hike to 4.35% on November 7th. However, they are fully priced for an increase by May. In essence, there is uncertainty about a near-term rate hike, but the market anticipates it happening in the coming months.

The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 49 points.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Health Care, up 0.83 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 2.12 per cent.

The best-performing large cap is Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation (ASX:FPH), trading 2.32 per cent higher at $19.38. It is followed by shares in ResMed (ASX:RMD) and Pro Medicus (ASX:PME).

The worst-performing large cap is New Hope Corporation (ASX:NHC), trading 8.81 per cent lower at $5.90. It is followed by shares in Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS).

Asian news

Asia-Pacific markets were all lower Friday, extending losses from Thursday’s broad sell-off.

This comes as U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said inflation was still too high and would likely require lower economic growth. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield also crossed 5% for the first time in 16 years Thursday evening.

While he noted that recent data showed progress toward slowing prices, Powell also added that monetary policy was not yet too tight.

Asia investors will also assess Japan’s September inflation data, which came in at 3%, the 18th straight month above the BOJ’s 2% target, as well as China’s one-year and five-year loan prime rates.

Company news

Immutep (ASX:IMM; NASDAQ:IMMP) announced that their Efti, a soluble LAG-3 protein, in Combination with KEYTRUDA®, generates excellent overall survival benefit in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. In response, Marc Voigt, Immutep CEO stated, “the strength of the data positions us well as we continue to plan and prepare for our Phase III trial that we expect to launch next year.” Shares are trading 13.45 per cent higher at 31.2 cents.

Chimeric Therapeutics (ASX:CHM) announced positive preliminary phase 1A data for CLTX CAR T in the recurrent brain cancer clinical trial. In response, Jennifer Chow, CEO and Managing Director, stated, “Most exciting to us though, is that despite the advanced nature of the patients studied, CLTX CAR T demonstrated median survival of ~10 months for those that achieved disease control , with two patients demonstrating survival beyond 14 months.” Shares are trading 57.14 per cent higher at 4.4 cents.

Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA; OTCQB:SYAXF) announced that their latest drilling results include the identification of high-grade lithium mineralisation outside the Mineral Resources estimate (MRE) pit shell model, indicating the potential to expand the existing resource. In response, Sayona’s Interim CEO, James Brown commented: “Moblan is an exciting project and the latest drilling results have only further highlighted its potential to become a major asset for Sayona.” Shares are trading 1.2 per cent lower at 8.2 cents.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1982.50 an ounce.

Iron ore is 3.4 per cent lower at US$115.25 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.9 per cent fall.

One Australian dollar is buying 63.11 US cents.

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