End of Day Report – Wednesday 27 Mar: CPI kicks ASX 200 towards all-time high

ASX 200 kicks another 39 points higher to 7820 (0.5%), posting a better-than-expected CPI number. 3.4% slightly ahead of consensus. Good news and bad. Banks as usual the winners with the Big Bank Basket up to $209.95 (0.8%). Insurers jumped after the CPI showed price hikes still above and beyond inflation. QBE up 1.2% and SUN up 2.2%. GQG had a good day rising 2.7% but PTM cratered 21.1% on cost cutting and FUM loss news. REITs mixed, GMG up 0.7% and MGR down 0.9%. Healthcare solid, CSL pushing up 1.4% on a bond issuance program, COH rising 0.6% and RMD up 2.0%. WOW and COL doing well in the industrials. Up over 1.5%+. Even TLS managed a solid 0.5% bounce. Tech a little weaker, WTC falling 1.1%. The All-Tech Index flat lined. Resources staged a fight back after early losses. RIO down 0.4% and BHP up 0.1%. Gold miners selectively doing ok, NST up 2.2% and NEM up 0.4%.  Lithium finding some temporary support, PLS up 0.3%, uranium stocks a little soggy. Oil and gas stocks mixed. In corporate news, WBC announced a cunning plan to play catch up on IT spending. APM in suspense after CVC walks away and the SXL chair has retired. On the economic front, CPI came in a notch below expectations. Asian markets. Japan up 1.1%, HK off 0.6% and China off 0.5%. 10-year yields 4.00%.

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