AU Morning Wrap: Westpac Lifts RBA Peak to 4.1%
G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• S&P 500 snaps four-day losing streak
• ASX falls at the open
• Stocks to watch: Block, Pilbara Minerals, Brambles
- Moomoo News AU
• S&P 500 snaps four-day losing streak
• ASX falls at the open
• Stocks to watch: Block, Pilbara Minerals, Brambles
- Moomoo News AU
Wall Street Summary
US stocks swung from gains to losses and back again as investors cheered earnings from tech heavyweight Nvidia and parsed data on the health of the economy.
The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US$ broke a four-session losing run with a rise of 21 points or 0.53 per cent. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US$ put on 109 points or 0.33 per cent. The $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US$ added 83 points or 0.72 per cent.
A strong sales forecast from computer graphics giant Nvidia got the session off to a bright start. The chipmaker's shares surged 14.02 per cent on the promise of its artificial intelligence software as ChatGPT gains traction. The firm said its AI products will be available in cloud-computing offerings from Microsoft, Alphabet and Oracle.
AU Market Watch
$S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU$ fell 0.03 per cent at the open. Brambles jumped 4.8 per cent to $12.68 on an upgrade to full-year guidance.
$Block Inc(SQ2.AU$ was up 6.5 per cent to $116.56.
$Pilbara Minerals Ltd(PLS.AU$ rose 7 per cent to $4.74. It comes as the company declared an interim dividend of 11¢ a share to investors.
$Imugene Ltd(IMU.AU$ dropped 3.7 per cent to 13¢.
$Westpac Banking Corp(WBC.AU$ chief economist Bill Evans increased his forecast for the RBA's terminal rate to 4.1 per cent from 3.85 per cent.
The bank also raised its forecast for the Fed funds rate to a peak in June of 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, from 4.75 per cent to 5 per cent in March. The Fed funds rate is quoted in a range.
Stocks to Watch
$Brambles Ltd(BXB.AU$: Brambles upgraded its full-year guidance projecting revenue growth of between 12 per cent to 14 per cent, underlying profit growth of between 15 per cent to 18 per cent, and free cash flow after dividends "to improve on FY22 but remain an outflow".
The business declared an interim dividend of US12.25¢, up 14 per cent and partially franked.
$Mineral Resources Ltd(MIN.AU$: Mineral Resources' profit surged in the first half, driven by record lithium earnings from the conversion of both Mt Marion and Wodgina spodumene concentrate into lithium battery chemicals.
The company's statutory net profit after tax was $370 million higher than the year earlier period to $390 million. Underlying EBITDA soared 503 per cent to $939 million.
Operating cash flow of $281 million was up $399 million in the six-month period from higher earnings, with corresponding increases in working capital associated with the conversion of MinRes’ spodumene concentrate into lithium hydroxide.
$MinRex Resources Ltd(MRR.AU$: MinRes declared a fully franked interim dividend of $1.20 per share.
Lottery operator Jumbo Interactive has lifted its dividend after a strong recovery in jackpots in the second quarter.
The board declared an interim dividend of 23 cents per share, a 4.5 per cent increase on the prior corresponding period.
$Link Administration Holdings Ltd(LNK.AU$: Financial services company Link reported a statutory net loss of $410.1 million.
The business declared its dividend at 4.5¢ per share, up from the prior corresponding period's 3¢ per share.
The revenue fell 0.2 per cent to $592.5 million.
Chief executive Vivek Bhatia cited higher inflationary pressures in the economy as a challenge for the company.
Commodities
• BHP and Rio Tinto fell with iron ore prices following the introduction of trading limits on the Dalian exchange earlier in the week to curb speculation. The most-active May contract on the DCE fell 0.5 per cent to 908.50 yuan (US$131.90) a tonne.
• Oil logged its first rise in seven sessions as a decline in US gasoline inventories helped offset news of a 7.6 million barrel increase in crude inventories last week. Brent crude settled US$1.61 or 2 per cent higher at US$82.21 a barrel.
• Gold slumped to its weakest close since late December after the minutes from this month's Federal Reserve policy meeting reaffirmed the central bank's commitment to keep raising rates.
Analysts at Peak Trading Research said the minutes "confirmed what last week's strong inflation data already told us: we're stuck with higher interest rates and a strong dollar — a structural headwind for our commodity markets."
Gold for April delivery settled US$14.70 or 0.8 per cent lower at US$1,826.80 an ounce. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index dropped 1 per cent.
Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR
Disclaimer: Moomoo Technologies Inc. is providing this content for information and educational use only.
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possie67 : like to know where the information for MinRex declare $1.20 dividend came from. Nothing in the reports. considering it was trading at just under 0.06 a share not a bad dividend. If it was true