The sharemarket trimmed earlier losses after an unexpected slowdown in headline April inflation data all but ensured the Reserve Bank of Australia will be sidelined on interest rates at its next board meeting in June.<\/p>\n
The S&P\/ASX 200 Index was up 15.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 8673.50 at 2.04pm (AEST), after earlier trading down to 8625.8. Nine of the 11 benchmark sectors were higher.<\/p>\n
The monthly consumer price index showed inflation slowed to 4.2 per cent in April, below the 4.4 per cent consensus, driven by a temporary reduction in the fuel excise. The RBA\u2019s preferred gauge \u2013 the trimmed mean \u2013 rose to 3.4 per cent. The Australian dollar slid 0.1 per cent to US71.62\u00a2.<\/p>\n
Money markets have priced in just a 6 per cent chance that the RBA will increase interest rates for a fourth time next month, down from 12 per cent before the data landed.<\/p>\n
\u201cCombined with last week\u2019s softer labour force report, it should give the RBA enough cover to keep rates on hold next month,\u201d said IG market strategist Tony Sycamore. \u201cHow the situation in the Middle East and the data evolves will determine whether the RBA hikes rates one more time before year-end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis should be enough to release some of the downside pressure that has been weighing on the ASX 200,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Rate sensitive tech stocks were the strongest performers on the ASX as Megaport climbed 10.7 per cent, NextDC 4 per cent and WiseTech Global 0.7 per cent. Real estate was mixed, with Goodman Group adding 0.5 per cent while Charter Hall fell 3.1 per cent.<\/p>\n
Heavyweight materials, meanwhile, climbed as aluminium hit a four-year high and copper prices remained elevated. BHP advanced 1.1 per cent, South32 3.7 per cent and Rio Tinto 0.5 per cent.<\/p>\n
Banks offset the rally as inflation data suggested that businesses were facing rising price pressures. Commonwealth Bank eased 0.6 per cent, ANZ lost 1 per cent, and National Australia Bank lost 1.4 per cent.<\/p>\n
Westpac dropped 1.5 per cent after it was ordered to pay $26 million in civil penalties for failing to respond to customers who were facing financial hardship, following legal action launched by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.<\/p>\n
The sharemarket operator, ASX Ltd, plunged to 7.4 per cent to a 10-year low, extending Tuesday\u2019s record 13.3 per cent sell-off. Analysts have downgraded the shares after it flagged a sharp increase in its cost base for the coming financial year.<\/p>\n
The energy was mixed with Brent crude falling 1.6 per cent to $US98.04 after an overnight rally with traders awaiting further developments on a peace deal between the US and Iran. Woodside Energy eased 0.2 per cent and Santos gained 0.3 per cent.<\/p>\n
Stocks in focus<\/p>\n
In company news, Endeavour Group slid 4.7 per cent after it flagged a major restructure of its wine operations, slashed the dividend payout and targeted $300 million of cost savings to improve profitability.<\/p>\n
Web Travel gained 2.9 per cent after it posted a stronger-than-expected 2026 fiscal year result, with Citi analyst Samuel Seow saying EBITDA came in about 3 per cent ahead of adjusted forecasts despite geopolitical disruption.<\/p>\n
Southern Cross Media advanced 8.6 per cent after Australia\u2019s richest person, Gina Rinehart, emerged as a major shareholder in Southern Cross Media, after lending tens of millions of dollars to Bruce McWilliam to finance his 9 per cent stake in the company.<\/p>\n
KMD Brands climbed 15.4 per cent after it launched a business review of its capital structure, portfolio configuration, and other value-creation opportunities, following strong sales growth at Kathmandu.<\/p>\n
Nufarm rallied 13.3 per cent after a 35 per cent jump in first-half underlying profit, driven by higher margins, cost cuts and stronger seed technology earnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sharemarket trimmed earlier losses after an unexpected slowdown in headline April inflation data all but ensured the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-447191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}