“Brent’s global experience of the sports footwear and apparel industry will be of enormous benefit to the Group. As a director, Brent has consistently demonstrated a clear and perceptive understanding of the technical branded products markets worldwide,” Kirk said in a statement.

Meanwhile, JB Hi-Fi’s chief financial officer, Nick Wells, has moved to the chief operating officer role. His former role will be filled by David Giansalvo, who is currently the group general manager of analysis and planning. The electronics retailer’s shares are 0.7 per cent lower.

Collins Foods, which on Tuesday afternoon announced a new chief executive in Austrade CEO Xavier Simolet, has lost 1 per cent.

Overnight, the S&P 500 pulled 0.9 per cent lower, a day after setting an all-time high for the 43rd time this year. The Dow Jones lost 173 points, or 0.4 per cent. Both indexes hit records the previous day. The Nasdaq composite shed 1.5 per cent as drops in Big Tech stocks weighed on the market.

Oil prices jumped as worries ratcheted higher that worsening tensions in the Middle East could disrupt the flow of crude from the region. Israel’s military said Tuesday that Iran has fired missiles into the country and ordered residents to shelter in place. A senior US administration official earlier in the day warned of “severe consequences” should a ballistic missile attack take place.

A barrel of benchmark US crude rose 2.8 per cent to top $US70. Shares of oil companies rose, with Exxon gaining 1.9 per cent and Marathon Oil gaining 3.6 per cent.

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Shares of defence contractors also moved higher. Northrop Grumman rose 3 per cent. RTX, which co-produces the “Iron Dome” air defence system used by Israel, rose 2.7 per cent.

The sharp swings halted, at least temporarily, what had been a run to records for US stocks. They had been jumping on hopes the US economy can continue to grow despite a slowdown in the job market, as the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates to give it more juice. The Fed last month lowered its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years, and it’s indicated it will deliver more cuts through next year.

The question is whether the cuts will ultimately prove to be too little, too late after the Fed earlier kept rates at a two-decade high in hopes of braking on the economy enough to stamp out high inflation.

A discouraging report arrived Tuesday, showing US manufacturing weakened by more in September than economists expected. Manufacturing has been one of the areas of the economy hurt most by high interest rates, and the report from the Institute for Supply Management said demand continues to slow.

A separate report was potentially more encouraging. It showed US employers were advertising more than 8 million job openings at the end of August. That was slightly more than July’s number and better than what economists were expecting. A more comprehensive report on hiring will arrive on Friday, when the US government details how many jobs US employers created in September.

With AP

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