AU Morning Wrap: ASX rises; coal, lithium stocks climb

Wall Street Summary
US equity futures edged higher overnight despite declines on European markets. Germany bore the brunt of the European sell-off after Russia suspended gas supply to Europe, sharpening an energy crisis that threatens to plunge the euro-zone into recession.

S&P 500 futures climbed 12 points or 0.3 per cent. The US benchmark lost 3.3 per cent last week.

AU Market Watch
Australian stock futures are pointing to a small opening rise for the S&P/ASX 200 ahead of what economists widely expect will be another interest-rate increase by the Reserve Bank of Australia. ASX futures are up by 0.1%, suggesting the benchmark index will add to its week-opening 0.3% gain. The RBA board will meet during Tuesday's session and is widely expected to lift the cash rate by 50 basis points to a seven-year high 2.35%.

Australian shares opened higher this morning. The $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU)$ gained 0.34 per cent to 6875.2 as of 10:17 am.

Stocks to Watch
$Magellan Financial Group Ltd(MFG.AU)$: Magellan reported $1.3 billion of net outflows in August, which included $600 million of retail money and $700 million from institutions.Funds under management (FUM) fell to $57.6 billion by the end of August from $60.2 billion a month earlier.

$BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU)$: BHP contributed $79.3 billion to the Australian economy in the 2022 financial year, according to the company’s economic contribution report.This includes $16.5 billion of payments made to its suppliers for the purchase of utilities, goods and services. It also paid $4.6 billion to employees and made $106 million in social investments.

$Hastings Technology Metals Ltd(HAS.AU)$: Rare earths play Hastings Technology Metals has launched a $100 million two-tranche placement for the issue of 22.7 million new shares at an offer price of $4.40 apiece.

$Airtasker Ltd(ART.AU)$: Airtasker has appointed Mahendra Tharmarajah as its new chief financial officer following the resignation of Nathan Chadwick.

Ex-dividend: $BlueScope Steel Ltd(BSL.AU)$, $CSL Ltd(CSL.AU)$, $Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd(CUV.AU)$, $Lynch Group Holdings Ltd(LGL.AU)$, $Northern Star Resources Ltd(NST.AU)$, $Origin Energy Ltd(ORG.AU)$, $Sonic Healthcare Ltd(SHL.AU)$, $Super Retail Group Ltd(SUL.AU)$, $Veem Ltd(VEE.AU)$

Dividends paid: $Bell Financial Group Ltd(BFG.AU)$, $GWA Group Ltd(GWA.AU)$, $Magellan Financial Group Ltd(MFG.AU)$, $WOTSO Property(WOT.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures rose 3.3% to US$98.5 a tonne. Between 29 August and 2 September, China's domestic steel prices for rebar and hot-rolled coil showed signs of softening, according to Mysteel.