Company Interview / the open: ASX to plummet 📉 Fed keeps rates on hold

The local market is set for a dramatic reversal this morning with ASX futures down 1.74%. This follows a deeply negative session on global markets overnight after Israel attacked Iran's major gas field, while Iran retaliated, striking Qatar's major LNG facility, sending oil and gas prices soaring. 

Adding to investor worries on Wall Street was the Federal Reserve decision which saw rates remain on hold, but project higher inflation and just one more interest rate cut this year. Reinforcing that view was a higher than expected US Producer Price Index which rose 3.4% year-on-year. 

New projections from the central bank's policymakers showed the Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate would fall by just a quarter of a percentage point by the end of this year, with no indication about the timing of such a move given the uncertainty around the Middle East conflict and its inflationary effects. 

Oil prices have surged % after Iran attacked Qatar's energy hub and threatened several energy facilities across the Middle East in retaliation for a strike on its major gas field. 

The US dollar index is up 0.5% on the day, whilst the Australian dollar has sunk more than 1% to US70.2 cents.