Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: +0.1% to 8,442 points
- Australian dollar: +0.4% to 62.97 US cents
- S&P 500: Flat at 6,068 points
- Nasdaq: -0.4% to 19,643 points
- FTSE: +0.1% to 8,777 points
- EuroStoxx: +0.5% to 549 points
- Spot gold: -0.3% to $US2,897/ounce
- Brent crude: +1.4% to $US76.93/barrel
- Iron ore: -1.7% to $US105.00/tonne
- Bitcoin: -2.3% to $US95,198
Price current around 7:50am AEDT
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Commonwealth Bank profit rises to $5.1 billion
The Commonwealth Bank has reported a 6 per cent increase in half-year net profit to $5.1 billion.
It’s cash profit was up 2 per cent to a similar amount.
The bank has lifted its interim dividend by 5 per cent compared to a year ago, to $2.25 per share, fully franked.
More detail to come.
US Fed in no rush to cut rates
Wall Street’s main indexes were mixed on Tuesday as gains in Coca-Cola and Apple offset losses in Tesla, while investors parsed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s latest comments.
The US central bank is no rush to cut its short-term interest rate again given the economy is “strong overall”, with low unemployment and inflation still above the Fed’s 2% target, Powell said in opening remarks at a Senate Banking Committee hearing.
Investors are also on the lookout for any new tariff comments from US President Donald Trump, a day after he substantially raised levies on imports of steel and aluminum and said there would be announcements over the next two days about reciprocal tariffs on all countries that impose duties on US goods.
“Valuations are elevated, company guidance is measured, inflation is persistent, government policy is uncertain, tariff talk is ongoing and global tensions are elevated. So in aggregate, the level of uncertainty is high, which implies increased volatility,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at US Bank Wealth Management.
Coca-Cola advanced 3.7% as the beverage maker beat fourth-quarter revenue estimates, helped by higher prices and resilient demand for its sodas and juices.
Tesla fell nearly 5% a day after a consortium led by CEO Elon Musk offered $US97 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls artificial intelligence startup OpenAI.
Powell’s Senate testimony is the first of two days of hearings on Capitol Hill. He is set to speak to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.
Traders expect at least one 25-basis-point rate cut from the Fed this year, and a 44% chance of another reduction of the same magnitude, according to LSEG data.
ASX to fall
Good morning and welcome to Wednesday’s markets live blog, where we’ll bring you the latest price action and news on the ASX and beyond.
A tumble on Wall Street overnight sets the tone for local market action today.
The Dow Jones index gained 0.3 per cent, the S&P 500 up 0.1 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.2 per cent.
ASX futures were down 6 points or 0.1 per cent to 8,430 at 7:36am AEDT.
At the same time, the Australian dollar was up 0.3 per cent to 62.95 US cents.
Brent crude oil was up 1.5 per cent, trading at $US77.00 a barrel.
Spot gold dropped 0.4 per cent to $US2,894.50.
Iron ore was down 1.1 per cent to $US105.95 a tonne.
