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Wall St closed mixed on Wednesday following the release of US GDP data for Q1 that indicated economic contraction of 0.3% QoQ which is well below the 2.4% expansion reported in Q4 and below economists’ expectations of a 0.5% rise in GDP for the latest reading. The slide in GDP enhanced investor fears of a US recession which impacted equities on Wednesday. The Dow Jones rose 0.35%, and the S&P500 gained 0.15% but the Nasdaq ended the day down 0.09%. Consumer confidence, JOLTs Job Openings and the personal spending index all in the US were also released for the latest period overnight with each coming in poorer than economists’ were expecting.
European markets closed higher on Wednesday as investors reacted to worse-than-expected economic data out of the US. The STOXX 600 rose 0.46%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.32%, the French CAC added 0.32% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.37%
Asia Markets closed mixed on Wednesday as investors digested an array of key economic data out in the region and ahead of the Bank of Japan’s rate meeting kicking off. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.57%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.51%, and China’s CSI index fell 0.12% after China’s manufacturing activity dropped more than expected in April to enter contraction territory.
Locally on Wednesday, the ASX extended its rally into the midweek session with a gain of 0.7% taking lead from Wall Street’s strength on Tuesday. Real estate stocks led the gains on Wednesday while other rate sensitive sectors like Tech and consumer discretionary stocks posted notable gains.
Australia’s latest inflation reading for the March Quarter was released yesterday with monthly inflation rising 0.9% while the annual rate remained at 2.4%. Trimmed mean inflation fell to 2.8% in the quarter which is now back within the RBA’s target 2-3% range. Markets are expecting a 62% chance of a rate cut to be announced at the next RBA meeting in May prior to the CPI reading release yesterday.
Gold producer Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) extended its sell-off yesterday after the gold giant lowered its output guidance for FY25, while Ora Banda (ASX:OBM) also tumbled over 6% after also lowering full-year production guidance.
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