Shares fall; Westgold plunges 11pc; energy stocks rally

Australian shares are poised to fall at the open, taking direction from New York where equities declined for a second session and bond yields climbed after more robust US data.

ASX futures were down 30 points, or 0.4 per cent, near 7am AEDT after better than estimated data on US job openings and factory goods orders added to doubt about the pace of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones closed down 1 per cent and the S&P 500 briefly fell below 5200 points, before paring losses. It finished the session 0.7 per cent lower to 5205.81.

With traders now forecasting just two US rate cuts in 2024, which is less than the Fed’s own projections, the yield on the 10-year US note climbed 5 basis points to 4.36 per cent at 4.10pm in New York.

Stephen Suttmeier, a technical market strategist at Bank of America, said the risk of a pause in the rally from October had also climbed. Historical data points to a flat April and modest decline in May, he said, ahead of a renewed rally in June to August.

Tesla retreats

“If the S&P 500 is to pause or correct on a near-term basis, it would likely take a break below tactical risk management support at 5200-5170,” he wrote. “A loss of this support would break the year-to-date uptrend line, the late March higher low and the prior highs from early to mid March.

Among US stocks on the move, UnitedHealththe largest US health insurer, fell 6.4 per cent after the Biden administration opted to hold the increase in payments to private Medicare plans at the same rate in 2025 as for 2024.

And Tesla shed 4.9 per cent after reporting a shock drop in deliveries even after analysts had slashed their expectations several times. Tesla has now produced more vehicles than it sold in seven of the past eight quarters, Bloomberg reported.

In commodities, oil briefly topped $US89 a barrel amid increasing tension in the Middle East after the killing of several top Iranian military officers in Damascus and the killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, including one Australian, by Israel.

As a result, investors sought the safety of gold which rose 1.2 per cent to $US2277.40 an ounce.

Stocks in focus

Westgold has revised its full year financial year 2024 production guidance to 220,000 to 230,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $2100 to $2300. The WA based gold miner produced 52,100 ounces of gold with an average sale price of $3137 an ounce, according to its latest quarterly production update.

The ailing craft beer company MightyCraft has sold two assets to help pay down heavy debt levels. The company has sold Mismatch Brewing and the 78 Degrees distillery business for a combined $7.2 million, and says about half of the proceeds will be paid to its bankers, with the rest to help keep the broader business running.

In corporate moves, WiseTech non-executive director Teresa Engelhard is set to vacate her position on the board. Engelhard, a former Origin board member, will retire from the ASX-listed technology company to focus on her personal business interests, effective April 8,

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