• The ASX stumbles again on Thursday
  • Aussie unemployment stays at 3.5%, a 50-year low
  • Medibank cyber saga continues as AFP steps in

Market volatility continues as local shares tumbled once again on Thursday, this time by 1.1%.

The ASX has tracked movements on Wall St overnight where stocks fell on the back of rising bond yields.

US treasury yields soared (bond prices lower), with the 10-year rising to its highest level since 2008 ahead of the Fed rate decision on November 2nd.

The US 2-year yield also jumped to the highest since 2007 as traders price in a peak policy rate closer to 5%.

Australian bond yields meanwhile remained steady today, as the ABS said that our jobless rate is holding steady at a 50 year low of 3.5%.

According to the bureau, the participation rate remained steady at 66.6%, in seasonally adjusted terms, consistent with the relatively small changes in employment and unemployment.

Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said: “With employment increasing slightly, by around 1,000 people, and the number of unemployed increasing by 9,000, the unemployment rate rose by less than 0.1 percentage point but remained at 3.5 per cent in rounded terms.”

The AUD slipped to US62.34c after the jobs data release.

Meanwhile, the cyber breach drama at Medibank Private (ASX:MPL) has escalated today as the company revealed the AFP is now getting involved.

Medibank claimed that it has been contacted by a criminal claiming to have stolen 200GB of data. They have provided a sample of records for 100 policies which is believed to have “come from its
ahm and international student systems”.

On the ASX, the only sector in the green today was Energy, which rose by 2.5%.

Energy stocks have been rising in the past couple of days as President Biden announced a plan to sell 15 million barrels of crude oil from the nation’s strategic reserves.

“The Biden administration has one mission right now, and that is to ease the inflation pain the American consumer is feeling before the midterm election,” said OANDA analyst Edward Moya.

Looking ahead to tonight’s Wall St session, EU leaders will hold a leaders’ summit, EU current account is scheduled for August, and existing home sales data is due out in the US.

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Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) leapt 14% today after releasing a couple of pleasing announcements.

Syrah, currently constructing a 11.25ktpa active anode materials plant at Vidalia in Louisiana, said that it has been selected for a grant of up to US$220m, almost half of the expected cost of a phase 3 ramp up to 45,000tpa currently being placed under a DFS microscope.

Syrah also announced that it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with LG Energy Solution, a leading global manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries. Both companies will work together to evaluate natural graphite active anode material supply from the Vidalia AAM facility in the US.

Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) was up almost 6% today after it upgraded its full-year FY2022 production guidance to 153–157 MMboe after reporting a revenue for Q3 of US$5.868 a billion, a 70% rise on pcp.

Santos Energy (ASX:STO) rose 1.5% after the company reported a US$1 billion of free cash flow and US$2.15 billion of sales revenue in Q3.

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Magellan Financial (ASX:MFG) fell 3% as it held its AGM.

After slumping by 20% yesterday, Megaport (ASX:MP1) fell another 10% today after it restated its AUD capex amounts released in yesterday’s earnings report. The stock is currently on trading halt.

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