ASX edges lower after Wall Street extends losing streak

The Australian sharemarket opened solidly in the red but has trimmed losses by midday. The S&P/ASX 200 was 0.1 per cent lower at 12.30pm AEST.

The tech sector has fallen by 3.2 per cent and utilities was up 1 per cent mid-session. Shares in Afterpay owner Block are 5.5 per cent lower. The big four banks all advanced bar the Commonwealth Bank, which retreated by 0.7 per cent after releasing its full-year results.

A2 Milk is one of the market’s biggest losers on Wednesday. The company’s shares are down 8.6 per cent after the FDA delayed its decision to allow a2 to export baby formula to the US.

Stocks on Wall Street extended their recent run of losses overnight as investors reviewed disappointing earnings reports and looked ahead to the release of an inflation snapshot closely watched by the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent, marking its fourth consecutive drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 per cent and the Nasdaq slid 1.2 per cent. Smaller company stocks also gave up ground, sending the Russell 2000 index 1.5 per cent lower.

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Technology companies and retailers were the biggest drags on the US market, outweighing gains in energy, financials and elsewhere. Bond yields rose broadly.

After a surprisingly strong 9.1 per cent gain in July, the benchmark S&P 500 index has been mostly selling off this month as Wall Street tries to gauge how aggressively the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates in order to combat inflation and what that will mean for the economy and corporate profits.

The US Labor Department will release its July report for consumer prices Wednesday, followed by its producer prices report on Thursday. Investors and economists will look for any signs that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes the past few months have helped to bring inflation under control.