by Peter Milios
All but one sector finished lower today, as the ASX reacted to the overnight news that the Fed has increased rates by 75 basis points.
Materials, Consumer Discretionary, and Utilities were hit the hardest, falling by 2.83 per cent, 2.41 per cent and 2.08 per cent respectively.
In other news, ASX-listed The a2 Milk Company has been FDA approved to import, sell and distribute infant milk formula products from New Zealand into the US. The company lodged an application with the FDA six months ago, following a nationwide infant formula shortage.
Overall, at the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 1.84 per cent or 128.80 points lower at 6857.90.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 65 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 8.50 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 36.50 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 138 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector was Communication Services, up 0.14 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Materials, down 2.96 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Perpetual (ASX:PPT), closing 7.14 per cent higher at $28.82. It was followed by shares in New Hope Corporation (ASX:NHC) and Downer EDI (ASX:DOW).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Domino Pizza Enterprises (ASX:DMP), closing 11.71 per cent lower at $52.98. It was followed by shares in Pendal Group (ASX:PDL) and Lendlease Group (ASX:LLC).
Asian news
Asian equities are trading mostly lower today.
The Hang Seng is underperforming, down 2.93 per cent. Mainland equities are accumulating losses after trading flat earlier.
Japan’s Nikkei is closed for Culture Day, whilst China’s Shanghai Composite is down 0.67 per cent.
Company news
Immutep (ASX:IMM; NASDAQ:IMMP) today announced a late-breaking abstract relating to its phase II TACTI-002 trial has been accepted for an oral presentation at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Annual Meeting 2022. The oral presentation will include new clinical data for eftilagimod alpha, its first-in-class soluble LAG-3 protein, in combination with pembrolizumab in 1st line non-small cell lung cancer patients. The 37th Annual SITC meeting will be held in Boston, MA and virtually from 8 to 12 November 2022. Shares closed 8.47 per cent higher at 32 cents.
Rhythm Biosciences (ASX:RHY) confirmed this morning the expansion of its international regulatory footprint, having successfully registered ColoSTAT with the New Zealand national database of Medical Devices, which allows the lifesaving cancer detection technology to be marketed and sold in the country. Rhythm CEO and Managing Director, Glenn Gilbert commented: “Rhythm is pleased to expand its international regulatory approval footprint into New Zealand which enables the Company to commence marketing and sales activities for ColoSTAT. Bowel cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand and a growing issue with 1 in 10 now diagnosed under the age of 50. ColoSTAT is a simple blood test which has the potential to make a material impact on health outcomes through mass screening for higher participation to achieve early diagnosis.” Shares closed 10.96 per cent higher at $1.27.
The a2 Milk Company (ASX:A2M) advised today that the United States Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, has approved a2MC to import, sell and distribute infant milk formula product from New Zealand into the US. The a2 Milk Company’s Managing Director and CEO, David Bortolussi, said: “We are pleased to be able to assist parents and caregivers in the US by providing access to significant volumes of high quality, a2 Platinum infant and toddler milk formula manufactured in New Zealand during this challenging period. a2MC is well positioned to support this initiative being one of the leading premium international infant milk formula brands with annual sales exceeding 30 million cans. We have scalable production capacity in New Zealand with Synlait plus existing a2MC US sales, marketing and supply chain capability that can be leveraged.” Shares closed 4.17 per cent higher at $5.49.
Norfolk Metals (ASX:NFL) provided an update on the company’s maiden drilling program today at the Roger River Project, located in the north-western region of Tasmania. In the program, copper and sulphide mineralisation were intersected in the maiden drill test of coincident gravity and magnetic anomalies at their project. The assay results are expected to come in December of 2022. Commenting on the results, executive chairman Ben Phillips said: “NFL’s prospectus stated that the Roger River Fault copper occurrences are poorly understood and would require work; we look forward to exploring this virgin fault via our defined targets.”
Shares closed 125.93 per cent higher at 31 cents.
Carbonxt Group (ASX:CG1) reported that it has enjoyed strong shareholder support for the Share Purchase Plan (SPP) announced on 30 September 2022. Due to this support, the Company decided to increase the SPP offer to $1.58m so that investors will receive all of their subscriptions under the offer. The initial target was $1.0m. Shareholders were invited to subscribe for up to $30,000 of shares on the same terms as the recent Placement with institutional investors at $0.10 per share. A total of 15,803,000 shares will be issued on Thursday 3 November 2022 and are expected to trade on Friday 4 November 2022. Carbonxt Managing Director Warren Murphy said: “We thank all shareholders for their strong support and look forward to the development of our new joint venture in Kentucky which will add materially to production volumes and strengthen our position as a trusted and dependable Cleantech company in the large United States market. We anticipate reporting a steady stream of updates on the progress of Kentucky once our second tranche institutional placement is approved by shareholders later this month.” Shares closed flat at 11 cents.
After market, Novonix (ASX:NVX) announced additional information regarding the US Department of Energy funding. As stated in the announcement on 20 October 2022, the company has been selected to enter negotiations with the US Department of Energy to receive the proposed US$150m of grant funding. These negotiations are expected to last several months and will cover final project details, including anticipated total project costs, operational milestones, and timing of access to grant funds. The company will update the market when negotiations are completed. Beyond the potential for additional government funding, if the company requires further financial support for its planned expansion, it will continue to explore opportunities such as customer support, commercial debt, strategic investment, and capital from the private and public markets. Shares closed 5.58 per cent lower at $2.54.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1638.10 an ounce.
Iron ore is 3.6 per cent higher at US$83.05 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.43 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.54 lower at US$89.46 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 63.69 US cents.
