AU Morning Wrap: ASX Slides; Gold and Oil Slip

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Mar 21 18:36

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• Wall Street reset record high
• ASX slides; Gold, oil slip
• Stocks to watch: Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Slides; Gold and Oil Slip

Wall Street Summary

Markets climbed after investors watched Fed President Jerome Powell unveil the median target Federal Funds rate of 4.6% by year-end. A day later, stocks were still hitting all-time highs: if the market loves anything, it's predictability.

The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ climbed past a record by 0.32% to its 20th record close this year. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ climbed 0.67% to a record close, and the $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ climbed 0.20%, toward an all-time high.

AU Market Watch

Despite all three major benchmarks resetting record highs in New York, Australian shares opened lower. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 0.1%, or 8.5 points, to 7773.5 at the beginning of the trading session. The decline was mainly due to energy and consumer discretionary stocks.

Energy stocks were weighed down by a drop in crude oil prices, which decreased by 0.6%. The fall in oil prices was attributed to a stronger US dollar, which outweighed optimism that the Federal Reserve would continue to cut interest rates this year.

Stocks to Watch

$Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd(FPH.AU)$ has updated its earnings guidance for financial year 2024 to be in the range of approximately $NZ260 million ($239.1 million) to $NZ265 million. The forecast is up from the company's previous net profit after tax projection of a range of $NZ250 million to $NZ260 million.

Trading Ex-div: $Vita Life Sciences Ltd(VLS.AU)$