Closing Bell 10th August: European Gas Spikes Ahead of Tonight’s US CPI Announcement

European Gas Price Surge:

European natural gas prices experienced a sharp surge of 40%, primarily driven by the potential worker strikes at Chevron and Woodside facilities in Australia. This has stirred concerns over potential supply disruptions, notably as the Asian market is likely to raise LNG imports bids in response. 

Apart from the strike concerns, other factors such as a decline in LNG imports to Europe, possible delays in Norway’s maintenance, and position-covering by investors have influenced the market.

Earnings Releases & Corporate News Highlights:

• Cettire’s shares skyrocketed over 12% following a near doubling of its full-year sales revenue.
• Boral observed a 8.47% stock increase after announcing a 17.1% annual revenue increase to $3.46 billion.
• Zip Co’s stocks grew by 1.2% as Cynthia Scott, the current CEO for Australia and New Zealand, was elevated to the position of group CEO.
• Downer’s shares plummeted by 6.39% in the wake of the company’s reported annual net loss of $386 million and anticipated market challenges in the coming half-year.
• AGL’s stock dipped 3.37% due to a full-year bottom-line loss of $1.3 billion attributed to prior write-downs.
• QBE’s shares decreased by 1.47% despite a 10.2% increase in premiums, shedding light on the ongoing pricing pressures in the insurance sector.

All Eyes on US CPI

The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July is set to be released today. Analyst expect a 3.3% annual inflation rise, highlighting the first surge since June 2022. While the overall inflation might accelerate, the core CPI, excluding food and energy costs, is predicted to decrease marginally to 4.7%.