ASX opens lower as Guzman y Gomez tanks; Zip Co rockets
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More news: Australian shares lowered at the open, tracking broad declines on Wall Street overnight, as this morning's round of earnings results saw fast food chain Guzman y Gomez tank, while buy now, pay later lender Zip soared.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 27.4 points, or 0.3%, to 8,991.7 at 10:30am AEST. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in negative territory.
Guzman y Gomez (-15.5%) led losses on the ASX 200 after its full-year result missed market estimates. Poultry producer Inghams Group (-15.4%) also fell after posting an 11.5% drop in full-year profit.
Zip surged 24% after topping estimates for the year. Embattled building products group James Hardie (4.4%) rebounded after its first-quarter result on Wednesday triggered a sharp two-day selloff.
Australian shares to fall; US stocks end lower ahead of Powell speech
The news: Australian shares are set to open marginally lower after Wall Street's main indices fell overnight, a day before the Federal Reserve's much-anticipated Economic Policy Symposium kicks off.
The numbers: Updated at 7:30am AEST:
- ASX futures: down 12 points, or 0.1%, to 8,971 points
- Wall Street: Dow Jones down 0.34%, S&P 500 down 0.40% and Nasdaq down 0.34%
- Europe: CAC 40 down 0.44%, DAX up 0.07% and FTSE 100 up 0.23%
- Spot gold: down 0.29% to USD3,339 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent up 0.10% to USD67.60/bbl and US WTI up 0.43% to USD63.48/bbl
- AUD: down 0.18% to 64.24 US cents
- Bitcoin: down 1.63% to USD112,361.
The context: US stocks retreated as investors braced for Fed chair Jerome Powell's speech, scheduled for midnight AEST. Traders will be monitoring his remarks for any clues on future interest rates, having cut bets on a 25-basis-point cut next month from 99.9% to 79% last week, according to LSEG data.
Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed lower, with consumer staples (-1.2%) leading declines as retail giant Walmart shed 4.5% after its second-quarter adjusted earnings missed market estimates for the first time in more than three years.
In the local market, Inghams Group, Zip Co, Helia Group and GQG Partners are among the companies due to report financial results this morning.
