The Match Out: Equities unchanged though Inflation continues to bite

• The ASX 200 finished down -2pts/ -0.04% to 6854
• Materials (+1.62%) was best on ground today, joined by Telcos (+0.78%) as the only other sector in the black.
• Real Estate (-1.99%) was the hardest hit, followed by Consumer Staples (-1.43%) as the only other notable detractor today.
• Inflation Data caused a quick ~0.5% sell-off at 11.30am today. We cover interest rate expectations below.
• Dexus (ASX: DXS) -3.32% quarterly update was a little soft in Office which saw occupancy fall from 95.3% to 94.1% while Industrial was flat at 99.7%. The headlines were more focused on CEO Darren Steinberg’s departure, stepping down after 11 years in 2024.
• Magellan (ASX: MFG) -2.91% CEO David George will also depart, this time more hastily with immediate effect. New Chairman Andrew Formica will take on the dual role while a replacement is found, getting his hands dirty just ~2 months after joining. The company will also spend $7.7m to reduce loan balances on Employee Share Purchase offerings as they try to patch over a clunky incentive plan.
• Corporate Travel (ASX: CTD) +3.22% will kick off a $100m share buyback program next month. The company said EBITDA in Q1 was up 157% and remains on track for FY24 guidance.
• Woolworths (ASX: WOW) -1.98% group sales were up 5.3% to $17.22b, led by a 6.4% jump in Food. They said consumer trends are resilient and in line with the prior quarter while some inflation, particularly fresh food and meat, has started to abate.
• Super Retail Group (ASX: SUL) +0.25% said Like-for-like group sales for the first 16 weeks were up 2% with strength in Supercheap and BCF offset by Macpac’s weakness. The consumer cliff is still yet to hit.
• Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) +4.63% strong quarterly update and a rebound in Materials stocks supported Min Res. Iron ore production was strong, though sales were held back by issues at port. A similar story for the Lithium side as production hit record levels of 45k dry metric tonnes but the port required maintenance which weighed on shipments.
• Iron Ore continued to move higher, adding +3.5% in Asia today
• Gold was little changed today, though gold equities were mostly lower. Ramelius (ASX: RMS) with a notable fall of -5.63%.
• Indices in the region were strong, the ASX was the black sheep today. China +0.5% was overshadowed by the Hang Seng +1.14% & Nikkei +1.05%
• US Futures are currently trading lower on the back of some softer results after their market closed this morning. S&P500 futures pointing down -0.3% and Nasdaq futures -0.5%.

ASX200 chart

Inflation Data

The chart below shows a the market now expects a hike in either the December or February meeting with a ~40% chance of a further hike in March while no cuts are seen on the horizon for 12 months.

• Cooper Energy (ASX: COE) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC
• Cettire (ASX: CTT) Rated New Sector Perform at RBC; PT A$2.75
• Lovisa (ASX: LOV) Rated New Sector Perform at RBC; PT A$20
• Accent Group (ASX: AX1) Rated New Outperform at RBC; PT A$2.20
• Universal Store (ASX: UNI) Rated New Underperform at RBC; PT A$3
• Whitehaven (ASX: WHC) Raised to Accumulate at Ord Minnett; PT A$8.20
• Qoria (ASX: QOR) Rated New Buy at Ord Minnett; PT 32 Australian cents
• SmartGroup (ASX: SIQ) Raised to Buy at Citi; PT A$9.70
• McMillan Shakespeare (ASX: MMS) Raised to Buy at Citi; PT A$20.70
• Regis Healthcare (ASX: REG) Raised to Buy at Jefferies; PT A$2.86