Market Open: US interest rates on hold, trade tipped to lie flat

It’s expected to be a pretty flat start to trade on the ASX200 this morning, after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates on hold. There was a brief surge of confidence on those markets after chair Jerome Powell declared an extra rate rise was ‘unlikely’ to be the next move.

At the end of the session though, the S&P500 and Nasdaq settled to a 0.3% loss, while the Dow Jones gained nearly a quarter of a per cent.

Interestingly, the chip sector took a hit. Nvidia lost nearly 4%, after Advanced Micro Devices – known as AMD – dropped nearly 9% on AI chip sales forecasts. Super Micro Computer also fell nearly 15% as its March quarter results were below what was hoped.

Back home, there’s a range of data due out from the ABS later this morning:

• Building approvals
• International goods trade, and,
• Labour force numbers for March.

In stocks to watch, National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) will repeat its 84-cent dividend, after cash earnings dropped 12.8 per cent to see a net profit just below $3.5 billion ($3.49 billion). It’s pressing ahead with its share buy back – today announcing it’ll increase it by $1.5 billion.

Link Market Services (ASX:LNK) is in a trading halt after ASIC approved Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corporation’s acquisition proposal; and, Perpetual Group (ASX:PPT) is continuing negotiations around the potential sale of its Corporate Trust and Wealth Management businesses to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR).

Perpetual promises an update by next Wednesday.

One Australian dollar is buying 65.2 cents, iron ore’s holding at US$110 a tonne, gold’s added 1.3% to be back above US$2320 (US$2321), Brent Crude oil has dropped about 3.3% to just shy of US$83.50 a barrel and natural gas has been in the low US$1.90s per million British thermal units.

Uranium added nearly 3% overnight, to be trading back above US$90 a pound (US$90.25).