Shares of Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CUV) surged up to 8.6% reaching A$14.34, marking their highest intra-day growth since February 19.

The company has announced an on-market share buyback program for approximately 3% of CUV’s outstanding share capital.

The duration of the share buyback program will be 12 months, pending regulatory approvals.

The shares reached their highest level since March 5, with over 133,170 shares changing hands.

This is significantly higher than the 30-day average volume of approximately 126,100 shares.

Despite this surge, the stock is down 17.5% this year as of the latest close, contrasting a 1.8% increase in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index.

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals is a company specializing in developing drugs for the treatment of a range of severe skin disorders.

Aussie Broadband (ASX:ABB) shares plunged 25.2% to A$3.24, marking their worst performance since May 2, 2022, in light of a prevailing trend.

The telecommunications company announced that Origin Energy will cease the White Label wholesale agreement with the company, effective from April 12, 2024.

Aussie Broadband refused Origin’s latest wholesale proposal on March 7, deeming it to lack additional value for its shareholders.

The ongoing Origin White Label wholesale agreement is projected to contribute an estimated A$14 million in EBITDA for the financial year 2024.

Despite the recent downturn, the company experienced an 11% rise in stock since the beginning of the year up until the last closing.

Aussie Broadband is an Australian-based telecommunications service provider.

Westgold Resources anticipates increased production at their Bluebird Mill in the near future.

The company’s operations witnessed a loss of time due to heavy, intermittent rainfall in Murchison and Bryah in recent weeks.

Flooding has affected certain operations and interfered with both surface and underground haulage.

Despite these challenges, the company remains focused on fulfilling its production and cost guidance for FY24.

Crusher repairs at Fortnum and Tuckabianna have now been completed.

The cessation of mining at Paddy’s Flat underground this quarter has impacted FY24’s production by approximately 15,000 - 20,000 oz.

As a result, FY24’s production is set to be at the lower end of the guidance range.

Conversely, costs for FY24 will now be at the high end of the provided guidance range.

Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) is a company involved in the exploration and production of a range of commodities.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is projected to pay a visit to Australia in the forthcoming week, announced The Guardian, which overserves the burgeoning relationship between Beijing and Canberra after years of cold ties.

This possibility arises as the Anthony Albanese-headed Labor government looks forward to mending ties with China, which is Australia’s top trading ally, since assuming power in 2022.

In the midst of these diplomatic maneuvers, Australia’s leading publicly listed winemaker, Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) indicated on Tuesday that China’s Ministry of Commerce has launched a temporary proposal to lift tariffs on Australian wine, which sparked optimism that nearly three years of burdensome duties may soon be abolished.

Notably, China has been lifting most trade blocks imposed since Australia requested an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in 2020.

Wang is expected to enter into discussions with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong in Canberra next Wednesday under the Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue, according to the Guardian’s unverified resource.

Wong’s office chose not to comment instantly on a comment-seeking request.

Anticipated talking points, as reported from her meeting with Wang include human rights, regional security and the pressing need for removing the remaining trade obstacles.

Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) is a leading Australian wine company.

Shares in Australia’s mineral exploration company, Sky Metals (ASX:SKY), tumbled by as much as 7.1% to A$0.039.

This marked the company’s largest intraday percentage decrease since the start of February.

Furthermore, this has brought its stock to its lowest point since March 5th.

Sky Metals also executed firm bids to boost its funds by A$4.2 million at an issue price of A$0.033 per share.

This issue price indicates a markdown of 21.4% compared to the stocks last closing value.

The issuing of 127 million shares approximates to around 0.3% of the company’s free-floating shares, which total at roughly 461.4 million, according to the data from the London Stock Exchange Group.

There were about 138,204 shares that were traded, which is compared to the 30-day average volume amounting to 442,699 shares.

Since the start of the year, the stock’s value has fallen by 16.7%, based on the last closing value.

Sky Metals is an Australia-based occurrence focused on the exploration and advancement of precious and base metals.

Appen (ASX:APX), an Australian software company, recently confirmed that U.S.-based Innodata (ASX:INOD) has chosen to withdraw a non-binding indicative purchase proposal.

This statement came just days after Appen had released news of the proposal comprised of A$0.70 worth of Innodata shares for each share of Appen, calculated at an increase of over 100% of Appen’s share price at the time the indicative proposal was provided.

Appen, however, declined to reveal the actual value of the proposed offer or when the proposal was extended due to matters of confidentiality.

Further, Appen has reported that Innodata has pulled out from the Indicative Proposal since it was meant to remain confidential.

Appen is an Australian language, search, and social data provider specialized in the development of human-annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence.

On a promising note, Australian shares are anticipated to open modestly higher on the following Thursday, as potential increases in gold and energy companies could rally due to a bump in key prices.

However, miners may face pushback due to a downward trend in iron ore futures.

Meanwhile, the local share price index futures, YAPcm1, has seen an approximate increase of 0.3%, a 29.6-point premium to the fundamental S&P/ASX 200 share index (ASX:AXJO).

The primary indicator marked a slight elevation of 0.2% on Wednesday.

On the secondary front, there’s a slight dip in early trade, with New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index being down by 0.1% at 11,792.27 points.

(ASX:AXJO) is an Australian stock market index that represents Australian large and mid-cap securities.

The global stock market displayed minimal changes recently, taking a pause after European and U.S.

equities hit record levels in the previous session.

This pause comes as investors turned their attention to the next round of data on inflation and consumer health.

MSCI’s measure of stocks across the globe fell 0.01 points to 775.70.

On the other hand, the tech-centred Nasdaq experienced a decline as its growth stocks were hit by rising U.S.

Treasury yields.

Investors are now awaiting more data this week to get a hint on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cuts.

As of 11:35 a.m.

ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 147.19 points or 0.38% at 39,152.68, the S&P 500 declined to 5,168.12 with 7.15 points down or 0.14%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 89.49 points, or 0.55%, at 16,176.15.

Investment bank Citi has upgraded its rating for shares of the Australia-based Sims to ‘buy’.

The decision comes as analysts predict ex-China steel production to increase this year and Turkish scrap volumes to rise by 20% compared to previous corresponding period.

The brokerage firm also expects the company’s EBIDTA to reach A$567 million by FY26 with margins restored to 4%.

Looking further ahead, they anticipate Sims to benefit from steel decarbonisation trends in the long run.

Despite this, they forecast a challenging H2 FY24 for the company due to declining ferrous scrap prices, which could pose risks to FY24 earnings forecasts.

Of analysts working on the company, 13 rate the stock as ‘buy’ or higher, seven hold it, and five rate it as ‘sell’ or lower with a median price target of A$13.50 according to LSEG data.

Year-to-date, the stock has fallen approximately 24% as of the last close.

Sims (ASX:SGM) is a global leader in metal recycling, ferrous and nonferrous metals trading.

Australian shares saw modest gains, largely driven by financial and real estate stocks, as traders evaluated the effect of a higher-than-anticipated U.S.

consumer inflation print on rate cut predictions.

The S&P/ASX 200 index concluded with a modest increase of 0.2% at 7,729.400 points.

Investors' optimism about a potential U.S.

rate cut in June remained undeterred despite Tuesday’s late data publication indicating U.S.

consumer prices, a primary inflation measuring metric, were slightly higher than expected.

The Market predilections for a rate cut in June currently hovers around 67%, slightly less than the 70% seen last week, referenced from the CME FedWatch Tool.

Luci Ellis, chief economist at Westpac, stated that most central banks in advanced economies are inclined to reduce rates, barring any sudden inflationary shocks, as they are running on a data-dependent mode.

Ellis anticipates a rate cut by the Australian central bank in September, followed by another in November.

In Sydney, National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB), ANZ Group (ASX:ANZ), and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) contributed to a gain of 0.9% in financials, with advancements between 1.7% and 1.8%.

The real estate and consumer sectors rose by 1.04% and 0.1% respectively, with Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) surging 2.5% and Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) ascending 1.5%.

In contrast, the heavyweight mining sector fell 0.9% to its lowest level since October 23rd, due to the ongoing reduction in iron ore prices resulting from weakened Chinese demand.

Major losses occurred with Newmont Corp’s (ASX:NEM) local shares dipping by 3%, while iron ore miners Fortescue (ASX:FMG) and BHP Group (ASX:BHP) dropped 1% and 1.3% respectively.

Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) saw the sharpest increase among all shares, closing 6.1% higher after securing a A$550 million debt facility to augment its lithium project in Western Australia.

National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers.