ASX News LIVE | ASX to Fall; Gold Hits Fresh High; Boral Accepts Seven’s Latest Bid

The ASX 200 closed down -0.33% at 7,788.1 recovering slightly from early morning losses as markets grew uneasy about higher than expected CPI data out yesterday evening in the US.

Now, investors are pushing back their expectations of rate cuts until 2025, according to the RBA rate tracker.

PPI data last, which was below expectations, has calmed some nerves, but markets remain on edge for further signs of inflation, reducing the chance of cuts coming this year.

On the Australian benchmark, Gold miners had a good day as the spot price of Gold touched a fresh all-time high in today’s session. The spot price is currently at US$2,394.9.

The Utilities (+1.23%) sector also outperformed today as oil prices eased slightly as waves of concern and rumours of Iranian attacks on Israel continue proliferate, temporarily sending prices up, then pushing them back down.Origin Energy closed up +2.41% and Meridian Energy closed up +2.10%.

In individual performances, Restaurant Brands New Zealand was today’s top performer, rising 14.5%, while Hutchison Telecom fell -13.5%

Coming next week, we have:

Retail Sales data from the US is due Monday night AEST

UK unemployment rate Tuesday

Inflation data for Australia Wednesday

GDP Data for the US Thursday

Until then, have a great weekend!

Dominoes Pizza Enterprises [ASX:DMP] failed to wow investors today for its big strategy day presentation, where investors and analysts had the opportunity to hear directly from CEO Don Meij and other key executives as they unveiled grand plans to regain shareholder favour.

The company has been struggling since it revealed that its Asian divisions have been particularly struggling, such as its Japanese stores.

Domino’s says it has an ambitious growth vision for Japan, aiming to expand its footprint from the current 1,015 stores to 2,000 locations.

However, Japan has proven to be a challenging market for the pizza chain, prompting Domino’s to outline a short-term plan to address this issue.

As part of this strategy, the company aims to increase the average weekly order count per store in Japan from 500 to 600.

Domino’s ambitions extend beyond Japan, as the company has set its sights on expanding its presence across Asia.

By 2033, Domino’s aims to double its current store count in the region, reaching a total of 3,000 locations.

Despite these bold claims, investors were unmoved, with shares falling -5.07%, trading at $41.23 per share.

It feels like the market has been transported back to more uncertain days in 2023 when Inflation was still considered untamed and bond yields looked on a clear path to 5% (which they essentially reached in October 2023 at 4.98% for the US 10-year)

With US10-year bonds currently at 4.57% and Australian 10-year treasuries at 4.29%, equities markers are closely watching to see what moves next.

I read that some analysts think we should brace for a 5% Yield on 10-year treasuries if the Federal Reserve decides to stay on hold until the end of the year.

I have a different opinion. If the #FOMC decides to stay on hold until year-end and makes this statement public, the… pic.twitter.com/L0Jwpofiio

— The Quant Guy (@Andrea_Texas_82) April 11, 2024

The ASX 200 is down by -0.29% to 7,790.9 as Utilities (+0.52%) and Tech (+0.33%) hold the benchmark from heavier losses.

Origin is up +0.52%, while Meridian Energy gained +1.34%. In tech, Wisetech Global gained +1.08%, while Megaport is up +2.44%.

Gold miners are also having a reasonable day as gold hits a fresh record high, with modest gains seen across the mid and small-cap players.

Standout gainers around midday for the mid-caps are Genesis Minerals up +4.18%, Regis Resources up +5.80% and Red5 up +5.56%.

In the wider ASX Restaurant Brands New Zealand is up +14.48%, while 3P Learning is this morning’s biggest faller, down -19.60%.

Embattled casino operator The Star Entertainment Group [ASX:SGR] saw its shares plunge this morning as the company gave a grim update to trading performance for the third quarter.

The gambling operator has seen its shares struggle as it swings from one controversy to the next as it struggles to regain its gambling license in NSW 18 months since it was fined $100 million after being found ‘unsuitable to run a casino’.

Since then, its CEO and CFO have left in the past month, and the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) has launched a second inquiry after criticism that it was ‘not taking its responsibilities seriously’.

Today, the company released an update that showed ‘All Star properties continued to experience lower revenue from their Premium Gaming Rooms (PGR) in the quarter.’

The PGR revenues were dorn between 19–28% across its Australian casinos, while the company said its main gaming floor revenue continued to ‘perform strongly’.

Reading the old inquiry, it might be apparent to some that the reason many of these Premium rooms’ performance is down is due to the public scrutiny and reduction of prolific money laundering that was occurring by organised criminals through those facilities, but that is speculation on my part.

Regardless, shares are down by -6.88% around midday, trading at 50.8 cents per share.

Good morning. Charlie here,

The ASX 200 opened down -0.53% to 7,772.3 as yesterday’s hot monthly CPI print sent fear through markets that cuts would come later than many hoped.

Some concern was alleviated last night as US producer price index (PPI) came in softer-than-expected.

It’s a good reminder, which I will repeat again, that one can look too deep into the monthly figures; for now, it’s a wait-and-see mood.

For US major benchmarks Nasdaq and S&P 500 the softer PPI data was enough to see money flow back into the big tech names as the apparent ‘flight to quality’ this cycle has seen capital flow heavily into big tech and gold.

Gold is at a fresh all-time high of US$2,376.23 at the moment after strong moves overnight has put it up +1.71%.

For Australia, the AUD recovered some of its losses after heavy falls yesterday to sit at +0.51% at US 65.36 cents.

Wall Street: S&P 500 +0.74%, Dow flat, Nasdaq +1.68%.

Overseas: FTSE -0.47%, STOXX -0.68%, Nikkei +0.52%, SSE +0.23%.

The Aussie dollar rose +0.51% to US 65.36 cents.

US 10-year bond yields +3bps to 4.57%.

Australian 10-year bond yields +17bps to 4.28%.

Gold jumped +1.76% to US$2,375.7, while Silver rose +1.79% to US$28.41.

Bitcoin fell -0.26% to US$70,182, while Ethereum fell -0.55%% to US$3,510.

Oil Brent rose +0.51% to US$90.20, while WTI Crude rose +0.55% to US$85.49.

Iron ore rose +1.3% to US$107.50 a tonne.