ASX loses 0.5% as investors await key inflation data
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The news: Australian sharemarket finished lower after a flat start on Monday, ahead of consumer price index (CPI) data for Australia, Japan, China and the US later this week. The benchmark ASX 200 dropped 0.5% to 7,451.50 as losses in materials and IT stocks weighed on the index.
The numbers: The Australian dollar is trading just below 67 US cents, but its downward trend is intact with a lower-low and lower-high since Friday's session.
Oil prices have fallen sharply following sudden price cuts from top producer Saudi Arabia and higher output from OPEC. Brent crude futures are trading at USD77.78 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude is down to USD72.84 a barrel.
ASX-listed miners were a mixed bag, with iron ore heavyweights BHP, Fortescue and Rio losing 1%-1.5% as the commodity's price weakened. Core Lithium continued its downward spiral, losing more than 17% after mothballing a mine last week amid weak lithium prices. Uranium plays Boss Energy and Paladin gained 9% and 3.2%, as European and UK governments consider the role of nuclear in the global energy transition.
The context: The ASX performance was unsurprising after Wall Street's tepid Friday session, as December's equities rally faded and stronger than expected US employment data tempered bets on the timeliness and extent of potential US rate cuts. Traders are awaiting key inflation data this week, with Japan, Australia, China and the US printing CPI figures from tomorrow.
On Friday, investors will look to quarterly earnings from US behemoths JPMorgan, Blackrock, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and the Bank of America to gauge whether revenues and growth are justifying the current lofty valuations of the S&P500.
The source: ASX
