Australian share opened in line with losses on Wall Street, after the latest US inflation data renewed bets that the Federal Reserve is not yet done lifting interest rates.

The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 50 points, or 0.7 per cent at open, to 7040.6. The All Ordinaries was also down 0.7 per cent.

Rate sensitive companies were sold off with real estate the worst performing of the 11 sectors to be down 1.5 per cent. Utilities stocks were the only group to move higher in early trade to be up 0.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, the local currency plunged 1.6 per cent overnight below US64¢ and is trading at around US63.13¢ with the US dollar set to post its best session in five weeks. Looking ahead, CPI and PPI from China will be released just after midday.

What happened overnight

The US sharemarket turned lower, with the S&P 500 down 0.6 per cent, after US core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.3 per cent last month. Headline prices were 0.4 per cent higher. Both metrics were forecast to rise 0.3 per cent.

The year-on-year growth rate held at 3.7 per cent, whereas economists had forecast a drop to 3.6 per cent.

“I think the [Fed’s policy committee] would look at this and still conclude that underlying inflationary pressures remain too hot for their liking,” Scotiabank’s Derek Holt said.

The yield on the US 10-year note surged 13 basis points to 4.69 per cent at 4.30pm in New York. The two-year yield, more sensitive to rate moves, reached 5.07 per cent, and the 30-year yield was at 4.86 per cent.

Stocks on the move

Pact Group fell 1.4 per cent after billionaire Raphael Geminder’s plan to take his struggling packaging company off the ASX hit a major speed bump. Shareholders being urged to reject the deal following an independent review.

ResMed is trading 2.4 per cent lower and near its 52-week low following a note from brokers at RBC, which that downgraded stock to perform from outperform.

Bega Cheese is up 1.6 per cent after analysts at Bell Potter upgraded the foods business to a buy rating.

Perpetual is up 1.4 per cent after its assets under management held steady in the September quarter, in a sign flows may be stabilising for the struggling funds management firm.

Harvey Norman shares, which trade ex-dividend as of today, are down 3.9 per cent.

Fletcher Building will brief investors and analysts later today to provide an update on its Western Australian plumbing issues. Shares remain in a trading halt and last traded at $4.45

Read Before the Bell here.

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SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and the San Francisco Police Department this week will start renegotiating an agreement to cooperate on investigations involving police officers with the help of the state Attorney General and San Francisco’s mayor and city attorney, officials said Monday.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a joint statement their offices will get involved to make sure the two agencies reach an agreement that addresses compliance, accountability and mutual expectations.

Such an agreement “is an important tool for advancing transparency and accountability, which are cornerstones in ensuring effective policing and fortification of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” Bonta, Breed and Chiu said.

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said in a Feb. 2 letter to District Attorney Chesa Boudin that he was terminating the agreement to cooperate in DA’s investigations of police shootings, in-custody deaths, and uses of force resulting in serious bodily injury because of concerns over the office’s impartiality.

Scott cited court testimony by an investigator with the DA’s office who said she felt pressured to sign an affidavit against an officer on trial that left out evidence that could have possibly helped the officer.

Boudin denies violating the agreement. Rachel Marshall, a spokesperson for Boudin’s office, said the agreement has room for improvement and that the DA’s office remains committed to prosecuting unlawful use of force.

We are hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement that preserves our ability to conduct independent investigations of police use of force,” she said.

The memorandum of understanding was first reached between Scott and Boudin’s predecessor in 2019 and was renewed last year for another two years. The purpose of the agreement was to give the DA’s office the lead in criminal investigations of police and give the public confidence in decisions to charge officers.

Scott in a statement praised Bonta, Breed and Chiu’s involvement in the efforts to reach a new cooperation agreement with the DA’s office.

“Accountability and transparency must be mutually honored by both parties in agreements such as these,” Scott said in a statement.

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