ASX edges lower as Premier Investments sinks on $100m buyback; NextDC climbs on OpenAI deal
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More news: Australian shares opened marginally lower as data centre operator NextDC soared on news of its partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, while Solomon Lew's Premier Investments tanked after announcing a $100 million share buyback this morning.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 5.5 points, or 0.06%, to 8,612.9 at 10:30am AEDT. Six of the 11 sectoral indices were in the red.
Consumer discretionary (-0.6%) was the worst performing sector as Peter Alexander and Smiggle owner Premier Investments plunged 11.4%. JB Hi-Fi (-1.2%) and Breville Group (-1.6%) also fell.
Elsewhere, mining giant Rio Tinto (-1.6%) was lower after announcing plans to raise up to $15 billion in asset sales, and focus on its core iron ore and copper sites.
Technology (+1.3%) led sectoral gains, with NextDC surging 8.8% after confirming a partnership OpenAI on a new “hyperscale AI campus and large-scale GPU supercluster” in Sydney.
Australian shares to edge higher as Wall Street trading ends steady
The news: Australian shares are set to rise at the open after US stocks ended barely changed as traders looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 10 points, or 0.11%, to 8,625
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.20%, S&P 500 down 0.06% and Nasdaq flat
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.43%, DAX up 0.79% and FTSE 100 up 0.19%
- Spot gold: up 0.10% to USD4,207 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.93% to USD63.27/bbl and US WTI up 1.20% to USD59.66/bbl
- AUD: up 0.20% at 66.15 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 1.38% to USD92,152.
The context: Wall Street's main indices hardly moved overnight as investors responded to a slate of new economic data, including a sharp drop in weekly jobless claims.
Traders are also awaiting Friday’s PCE report, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, before the central bank's final decision of the year.
Markets are currently pricing in an 87% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points next week, up from around 68.6% a month ago, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.
The source: Reuters
