Hot Stocks: KMD Brands, HomeCo Daily Needs REIT, Amplia Therapeutics

US stocks closed flat on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at 4.25–4.5% and signalled it was in no rush to cut, citing uncertainty over the inflationary impact of President Trump’s tariffs. The Fed also trimmed its 2025 growth forecast to 1.4% and raised its core inflation outlook to 3.1%. Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was “well positioned to wait,” noting that the effects of tariffs remain highly uncertain. The Dow dipped 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was nearly unchanged and the Nasdaq posted a modest gain.

Geopolitical concerns lingered as Iran’s supreme leader warned of “irreparable damage” if the US intervenes in the Israel–Iran conflict, now in its sixth day. President Trump said Iran had reached out for talks and even floated the idea of a White House visit. Meanwhile, Microsoft is planning another round of layoffs following recent job cuts, and Bitcoin hovered near US$103,620 as traders hedged against a near-term pullback. US jobless claims remained steady at 245,000.

Globally, Wall Street will be closed for the Juneteenth holiday, while the Bank of England is expected to keep rates on hold at 4.25%.

ASX futures point to a weaker open, with SPI futures down 0.28% to 8,525 as iron ore slipped to US$92.60 a tonne. Brent crude rose slightly, gold eased, and the Australian dollar firmed to 65.03 US cents. Locally, investors are watching for Australia’s unemployment figures at 11:30am and New Zealand GDP at 8:45am. 

KMD Brands (ASX/NZX:KMD) has slashed its FY25 earnings forecast to between NZ$15 million and NZ$25 million, down from NZ$50 million last year, after unseasonably warm weather, including Victoria’s warmest autumn on record, hit Kathmandu’s winter sales. Group revenue is down 0.5% year-to-date, with Kathmandu sales off 1% for the 10 months to May. A June cold snap has driven a partial rebound, with sales up 13.2% in the first 17 days, but CEO Brent Scrimshaw called recent volatility “frustrating.” Insulation products were hardest hit, though categories like rainwear and fleece performed better. The group cited strong online momentum, ongoing US tariff uncertainty (expected to dent EBITDA by NZ$1 million), and expects to end FY25 with net debt of around NZ$70 million after renegotiating banking covenants.

HomeCo Daily Needs REIT (ASX:HDN) reported a preliminary unaudited valuation gain of $142 million for the June quarter, representing a 3.0% uplift to portfolio value. Of this, $80 million came from net valuation gains and the remainder from development capital expenditure. The portfolio-wide weighted average cap rate tightened to 5.56%. HDN reaffirmed its FY25 distribution guidance of 8.5 cents per unit and declared a quarterly distribution of 2.125 cents. The REIT maintains gearing within its target range and continues to invest in growth across retail and health-based assets in metropolitan growth corridors.

Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX) announced a second confirmed complete response in its ACCENT clinical trial for advanced pancreatic cancer using its FAK inhibitor narmafotinib. This is a rare outcome for this aggressive cancer type, where complete responses are almost never observed. The trial, being conducted in Australia and South Korea, is testing narmafotinib in combination with chemotherapy. The result follows another patient’s pathological complete response earlier in the week, reinforcing hopes around the drug’s potential efficacy in fibrotic cancers.