The Wrap: ASX undaunted by 20-year high inflation figures

Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day and how the experts saw it.

The numbers: The Australian sharemarket set a new 20-day high on Wednesday, gaining 0.2 per cent or 15.9 points to 6823.2 by the close, in a session that saw headline inflation hit a two-decade high of 6.1 per cent.

The market was boosted by the banks. The financials sector improved 1.1 per cent. Westpac lifted 1.3 per cent to $21.41 after announcing it was considering the closure of 100 branches, which chief executive Peter King said would achieve a “major cost saving”.

Wall Street fell across the board.Credit: AP

Commonwealth Bank improved 2.2 per cent to $98.90, NAB rose 1.4 per cent to $30.13 and ANZ gained 0.4 per cent to $22.73. The healthcare sector gained 1.4 per cent, while materials fell 1.2 per cent as BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto retreated between 2 and 2.8 per cent.

Zip charged to $1.24 with a 21 per cent rally. The mystery of the market was Sezzle, which rocketed by 95 per cent before entering a trading halt at 3pm AEST. The reason for the surge isn’t obvious given the sharemarket hasn’t heard from the buy now, pay later company since its merger with Zip was abandoned.

The lifters: Zip 21%, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals 8%, Silver Lake Resources 6%

The laggards: Champion Iron -4.5%, Iluka Resources -4.3%, Bluescope Steel -3.8%

The lowdown: The sharemarket was undaunted by today’s consumer price index (CPI) figures. Inflation did fall slightly short of market expectations - hitting 6.1 rather than the predicted 6.3 per cent - but trimmed inflation is at its highest since 1991. The Commonwealth Bank is expecting headline inflation to peak at 6.75 per cent in December.

“All countries are dealing with the highest inflation rates in decades and Australia is no exception” said Commonwealth Bank chief economist Craig James. “Workers keep succumbing to Covid or influenza, restraining production of goods. At the same time, the war in Ukraine is lifting prices of a range of commodities, notably oil.”

Those inflationary pressures were exacerbated by flooding that made vegetables the most cost-affected products. But further dramatic price hikes were unlikely, said James.

“The flood impact won’t lead to ongoing price increases. Supply will lift over time to meet the level of demand. And if oil prices settle, there won’t be justification for second-round on ongoing increases in pump prices or transport costs.”

The materials sector was the leading laggard on Wednesday, dropping by 1.2 per cent, before Rio Tinto reported a 30 per cent fall in half-year profit and halved its interim dividend in an after-hours shareholder update.

Tweet of the day:

Quote of the day: “The aggressive selling we’ve seen in recent weeks has been indiscriminate. It has been pure panic selling which has thrown the baby out with the bathwater. But let’s face it, other than elevated inflation, the rest of the domestic economy is in pretty good shape - unemployment is at record lows and company earnings are strong ... Now is not the time to sit on the sidelines, or worse, to sell,” said chief investment officer at The Motley Fool, Scott Phillips.

You may have missed: Power giants Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia are calling on governments to ensure market reforms are focused on spurring new projects to back up renewable energy, as states clash over whether existing coal and gas generators should be paid to be on standby.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.