Australian shares edge higher, gold price weakens
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended higher despite US inflation figures printing higher than expected, while investors pulled back on gold.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 finished up 0.22% to 7,729.4, with seven out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
Consumer discretionary was the highest performing sector up 1.3%, followed by AREITs (1.04%) and financials (0.85%). Large consumer discretionary companies enjoyed gains including Wesfarmers (1.16%), Aristocrat Leisure (1.72%), and JB Hi-Fi (1.34%).
On the financial side, buy now pay later company Zip Co was up 1.17% while Citi upgraded its rating on the stock to ‘buy’ due to accelerating US growth and the launch of Zip Plus in Australia.
The top performing stock was Liontown Resources, up 5.7%, after the lithium explorer announced a $550 million debt facility to fund its Kathleen Valley project through to its first production.
However, the bottom performing sector was materials, down 0.75%, followed by industrials (-0.41%) and energy (-0.35%).
Gold miners and producers were some of the worst performing stocks including Capricorn Metals (-4.51%), Newmont Corporation (-2.99%), Evolution Mining (-2.45%), and Bellevue Gold (-1.87%). Investors pulled out of gold after the latest US consumer price index figures for February were higher than expected, dampening investor hopes of interest rate cuts in the coming months.
Investors continued to sell out of BHP (-1.27%) and Fortescue (-1.09%) as the price of iron ore continued to decline on Wednesday.
Shares in Appen ended 10.19% down after a volatile day as investors responded to its announcement that it had received a takeover offer from US-based Innodata.
The context: Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers will speak at CEDA tomorrow for a pre-Budget address to provide an overview of the government's fiscal strategy and economic roadmap.
Meanwhile the latest US producer price index figures is set to be released on Thursday, less than a week before the US Federal Reserve meets to make its next monetary policy decision.
