ASX 200 hits three-month low; Block plunges in tech rout; investors nod Tabcorp demerger

ASX ends lower as tech stocks plummet. Block dives below $100, Tabcorp demerger nod, CBA $2.4bn cash profit, AUD hits 22-month low and Altium rises on earnings.

US inflation data has kept the prospects for much higher interest rates on the table. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, May 12. The Australian share market drops to a fresh three-month low with all sectors in the red. Tech stocks hardest hit, plunging nearly 9 per cent with Block the market laggard.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended down by 1.8 per cent or 123.68 points to 6941.0.

US stocks fell after data showed inflation held near a four-decade high in April, at 8.3 per cent, failing to ease investor concerns about higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1 per cent after the report, the S&P 500 fell 1.7 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq sank another 3.2 per cent.

Among commodities, global oil prices jumped after Covid-19 infections in both Shanghai and Beijing fell, boosting the outlook for demand from China, the world's largest oil importer. US Nymex crude oil was trading 5.3 per cent higher to $US105.03 a barrel and Brent crude price rose 4.9 per cent to US$107.51 a barrel.

Base metal prices climbed in London while iron ore rose 3 per cent to $US134.2 a tonne overnight.