Aussie shares flat ahead of Fed rate cut decision, jobs report

The local sharemarket traded flat on Wednesday as investors moved cautiously before Thursday morning’s pivotal Fed rate cut decision and the release of key jobs data.

The local sharemarket traded flat on Wednesday as investors stepped cautiously ahead of Thursday morning’s highly anticipated US interest rate decision and the release of Australian jobs data.

The benchmark ASX200 dipped 1.2 points, or 0.02 per cent, to close at 8142.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 3.1 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 8364.3.

Tech stocks dipped 0.2 per cent to 3379.2.

Five out of 11 industry sectors ended in the red, led by materials with a 0.54 per cent decline.

The big miners slipped as Singapore iron ore futures fell 2.1 per cent to $90.25 a tonne on growth concerns in China.

BHP retreated 0.91 per cent to $39.19, Rio Tinto fell 0.91 per cent to $109.74 and Fortescue slipped 0.34 per cent to $17.43.

Wednesday’s drift matched a subdued session of Wall St overnight on Tuesday, as investors prepared for the pivotal reveal on interest rates in the world’s largest economy.

The Dow Jones edged down 15.9 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 41,606, while the S and P 500 index climbed 0.03 per cent to 5634 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.2 per cent to 17,628.

Betashares chief economist David Bassanese said the markets would concentrate on the size of the expected Federal Reserve cut but also the language from Fed chair Jerome Powell.

Investor eyes are locked onto US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Picture: Roberto Schmidt / AFP

“The only lingering uncertainty really is the size of the move and whether Powell signals how quickly they will be cutting rates this year,” he said.

“If he says something like, ‘proceed cautiously, or in a measured way’, words to that effect, it might mean they would cut rates, but not at every meeting, maybe every second meeting.

“Maybe signal, ‘don’t get too worked up about back-to-back rate cuts’.”

Thursday will also deliver August jobs numbers for the Australian economy, which should provide further guidance around the potential trajectory of interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia before next week’s Board meeting.

The big banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank gaining 0.2 per cent to $143.32, Westpac climbing 0.39 per cent to $33.16, NAB jumping 1.44 per cent to $39.42, but ANZ losing 0.19 per cent to $31.15.

Energy stocks lifted as crude oil climbed 1.5 per cent overnight to hit $71.19 a barrel.

Woodside Energy advanced 0.83 per cent to $24.33 and Santos gained 0.43 per cent to $7.05.

The ASX200 traded flat in a subdued session on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

In corporate news, Core Lithium rallied 5.26 per cent to 10c after reporting positive drill results at its Shoobridge gold and lithium project in the Northern Territory.

“Our exploration program will remain weighted towards lithium targets within trucking distance of our Finniss infrastructure,” Core CEO Paul Brown said.

“However, demonstrating the potential to find a high-grade gold deposit provides us with optionality in this strong gold price environment.”

BlueScope Steel lifted 0.8 per cent to $20.16 after announcing an agreement with Israel-based Helios Project to use Helios Green Iron in parts of its steelmaking operations.

The top gainer on the ASX200 was cinema and restaurant company EVT Limited, leaping 5 per cent to $11.06.

The largest laggard was Telix Pharmaceuticals, which tumbled 3.51 per cent to $17.85.

The Aussie dollar gained 0.13 per cent to buy US67.6c at the closing bell.

Originally published as Aussie shares flat ahead of Fed rate cut decision, jobs report