US stocks ticked lower Wednesday as investors looked ahead at the personal consumption expenditure reading for January, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, due later this week.

The S&P 500 pulled back 0.17 per cent to close at 5,069.76. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.55 per cent to 15,947.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 23.39 points, or 0.06 per cent, to end at 38,949.02 and notch a third straight day of losses.

UnitedHealth lost nearly 3 per cent to lead the Dow lower. Intel and Alphabet declined 1.7 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively. Elsewhere, Urban Outfitters fell 12.8 per cent after reporting weaker-than-expected results for the fourth quarter.

Turning to US sectors, Real Estate was the best performer, whilst Communication Services was the worst.

In crypto news, Bitcoin reached a fresh high of $64,000 Wednesday before turning lower, according to Coin Metrics. This marks the cryptocurrency’s highest level since Nov. 15, 2021, when it rose as much as $66,333.33.

The surge in bitcoin's value is driving trading volumes for bitcoin ETFs to potentially reach record highs. Both the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) are witnessing significant increases in trading volume, indicating billions of dollars in activity on Wednesday.

In the Australian landscape, companies anticipated to report results on Thursday include Atlas Arteria, Cromwell, Karoon Energy, Pepper Money, Platinum Financial, Ramsay Health Care, and Southern Cross Media.

January retail sales and private sector credit, fourth quarter private capex are due at 11.30am
 
Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.1 per cent fall.

Currency

One Australian dollar at 8.25am was buying 64.94 US cents.

Commodities

Gold lost 0.05 per cent. Silver fell 0.4 per cent. Copper lost 0.35 per cent. Oil fell 0.63 per cent.

Figures around the globe

European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.76 per cent, Frankfurt added 0.25 per cent, and Paris closed 0.08 per cent higher.

Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.08 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.51 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.91 per cent..

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.03 per cent lower at 7,660.42.

Ex-dividends
AUB Group Ltd (ASX:AUB) is paying 20 cents fully franked
Beacon Lighting Grp (ASX:BLX) is paying 4.1 cents fully franked
Capral Limited (ASX:CAA) is paying 35 cents fully franked
Carlton Investments (ASX:CIN) is paying 41 cents fully franked
Corp Travel Limited (ASX:CTD) is paying 17 cents unfranked
Dalrymple Bay (ASX:DBI) is paying 5.375 cents 68.18 per cent franked
Ebos Group Ltd (ASX:EBO) is paying 47.5581 cents 95.77 per cent franked
Gold Road Res Ltd (ASX:GOR) is paying 1 cents fully franked
Integral Diagnostics (ASX:IDX) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Jumbo Interactive (ASX:JIN) is paying 27 cents fully franked
Metrics Income (ASX:MOT) is paying 1.6 cents unfranked
Medibank Private Ltd (ASX:MPL) is paying 7.2 cents fully franked
Metrics Master (ASX:MXT) is paying 1.44 cents unfranked
Pengana Int Equ Ltd (ASX:PIA) is paying 1.35 cents fully franked
Pro Medicus Limited (ASX:PME) is paying 18 cents fully franked
Shape Aust Corp Ltd (ASX:SHA) is paying 8 cents fully franked
Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX:SUN) is paying 34 cents fully franked
Ventia Services Goup (ASX:VNT) is paying 9.41 cents 80 per cent franked
Vulcan Steel (ASX:VSL) is paying 11.16 cents fully franked

Dividends payable
Abacus Group (ASX:ABG)
Abacus Storage King (ASX:ASK)
Aspen Group Ltd (ASX:APZ)
Carindale Property Trust (ASX:CDP)
Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC)
Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX:CQR)
Cryosite Ltd (ASX:CTE)
Dexus (ASX:DXS)
Elanor Commercial Property Fund (ASX:ECF)
Elanor Investors Group (ASX:ENN)
GDI Property Group (ASX:GDI)
GPT Group (ASX:GPT)
Growthpoint Properties Australia (ASX:GOZ)
Kelly Partners Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:KPG)
Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR)
Scentre Group (ASX:SCG)
Stockland Corp Ltd (ASX:SGP)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

Disclaimer

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