ASX flat ahead of Fed meeting minutes
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished flat as investors awaited the release of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision meeting minutes and Nvidia’s earnings.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 ended 0.05% lower to 7,848.1, with six out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
The best performing sector was utilities, up 0.9%, followed by materials industrials (0.49%) and IT (0.3%). Large utility companies Origin Energy (1.9%), APA (0.4%) and Meridian Energy (1.24%) all gained.
The best performing stock across the ASX 200 was Webjet after it flagged a demerger of its WebBeds wholesale bookings business and a jump in full-year profit.
TechnologyOne also increased 7.16%, as it continued gains from Tuesday on the back of its half-year profit and dividend lift, leading analysts to upgrade the stock.
Elsewhere, DroneShield ended 0.56% higher after being awarded a repeat $5.7 million US government contract.
The worst performing sector was telecommunication services, down 2.54%, followed by consumer discretionary (-1.37%) and energy (-0.73%). Telstra continued losses, down 3.92%, from Tuesday’s job cut announcement. This led analysts to reduce their price target on the company. Seek also fell 2.56% after announcing an executive reshuffle and noting its focus on AI.
The worst performing company across the ASX 200 was Eagers Automotive that plunged 14.27% after it flagged a fall in earnings due to slower consumer spending and rising costs.
Genesis Energy finished 4.74% lower after it lowered its guidance on gas production which would result in a reduction to its full-year earnings.
Lendlease fell 1.14% after announcing its chair Michael Ullmer would retire at its annual general meeting in November.
The Australian dollar is lower buying 66.68 US cents.
The context: Tonight will see BHP announce whether it will make a further bid to acquire Anglo American.
Thursday will see the Fed release its meeting minutes while Nvidia, Xero and Nufarm will release earnings.
