Stocks fell Wednesday as Wall Street awaited fresh inflation data coming later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 191.13 points, or 0.54 per cent, to finish at 35,123.36. The S&P 500 shed 0.7 per cent to 4,467.71. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.17 per cent to 13,722.02
Penn Entertainment jumped 9.1 per cent a day after the casino company said it’s launching an online sportsbook with ESPN, called ESPN Bet, this fall. Roblox tumbled close to 22 per cent after missing Wall Street expectations for its second quarter.
Those moves precede a much-anticipated US inflation report, with July’s reading of the consumer price index slated for release Thursday.
Investors have kept an eye on the index in recent months for potential insights into how the Federal Reserve will move interest rates going forward. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the inflation gauge rose 3.3 per cent in July.
Wednesday’s moves follow a losing day on Wall Street, after a Moody’s downgrade of several regional banks dampened investor sentiment. Some market participants were concerned the signal could spell more trouble for markets ahead, but others said the pullback is expected given the extraordinary rally in equities this year.
After the bell, entertainment giant Disney and casino operator Wynn Resorts reported results.
Disney's after-hours trading rose by about 5 per cent with earnings beating expectations at $1.03 per share, revenue slightly lower at $22.33 billion, around 7 per cent decrease in Disney+ subscribers, and plans to raise streaming prices.
Wynn Resorts’ second-quarter results that topped expectations on the top and bottom lines. Wynn Resorts reported adjusted earnings of 91 cents per share on revenues of $1.60 billion. That came in ahead of the 59 cents and $1.54 billion expected by analysts, per Refinitiv.
More than 90 per cent of S&P 500 stocks have reported earnings as of Wednesday, and about four-fifths of those who have posted results have exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, according to FactSet.
In commodity-related news, European natural gas prices surged by nearly 40 per cent on Wednesday. The cause behind this sharp increase was the potential disruption in global liquefied natural gas supply from Australia due to impending strike action by workers at important LNG plants. This news spooked traders who had previously bet on prices decreasing. As a result, prices on the European benchmark, the Title Transfer Facility, climbed to over €43 per megawatt hour from around €30 the previous day, marking the highest point since mid-June.
Energy prices are trending higher again today. Oil prices up over 20 per cent since mid-June. In a recent note, Goldman Sachs said record high demand and Saudi supply cuts have brought back deficits, while market has scrapped its growth concerns.
Peru's copper production surged by 22 per cent in June compared to the previous year, along with increased output of zinc, lead, and iron. Despite earlier protests affecting copper output, Peru is striving to expand production as the Democratic Republic of Congo threatens to become the second-largest copper producer, potentially overtaking Peru.
Overall, US sectors closed mostly lower overnight. Energy was the best performer, whilst Tech was the worst.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a flat start.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7:20 AM was buying 65.28 US cents.
Commodities
Gold lost 0.47 per cent. Silver fell 0.33 per cent. Copper added 0.45 per cent. Oil gained 1.78 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE added 0.80 per cent, Frankfurt gained 0.49 per cent, and Paris closed 0.72 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.53 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.32 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.49 per cent lower.
The Australian sharemarket closed 0.37 per cent higher at 7338.
Ex-dividends
Djerriwarrh (ASX:DJW) is paying 7.75 cents fully franked
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) is paying 260.89 cents fully franked
Dividends payable
Embark Early Education (ASX:EVO)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
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