AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; TPG Shares Plunge 7% at Open

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Jun 20, 2023 19:30

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• U.S. stocks pull back Tuesday as market rally pauses
• ASX falls; TPG shares plunge 7%
• Stocks to watch: BHP, TPG, Rex Airlines
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; TPG Shares Plunge 7% at Open

Wall Street Summary

U.S. stocks dipped on Tuesday to kick off a short week of trading, stalling a rally that has seen indexes climb to their highest levels of the year.

The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ fell 0.5 %. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ shed more than 200 points, down 0.7%. The $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ edged 0.2% lower.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU)$ fell 0.3 per cent, or 23.6 points to 7334.2 at market open, weighed down by mining and energy stocks.

The materials sector was the worst performing, down 1.6 per cent as shares of BHP Group dropped 2 per cent. Fortescue Metals shed 2.3 per cent, Rio Tinto lost 1.4 per cent, South32 fell 1.9 per cent and Newcrest Mining declined 1.6 per cent.

Energy stocks also fell in the red. Woodside Energy shares dropped 1.3 per cent, Santos lost 1 per cent, Ampol fell 0.9 per cent and Strike Energy declined 2.1 per cent.

TPG was the worst performing stock at open, its shares tumbled 7 per cent after The Australian Competition Tribunal blocked Telstra and TPG’s deal to share infrastructure in regional Australia.

Rex Airlines plunged 15.4 per cent after it revealed that it no longer expects to make a profit in financial 2023 and will swing to an operational loss of $35 million.

Stocks to Watch

$Fletcher Building Ltd(FBU.AU)$: New Zealand-based building products business Fletcher Group has downgraded its EBIT guidance for the year to June 30 to be around $NZ800 million ($726.9 million) on an EBIT margin of 9 per cent. The downgrade comes after it cut EBIT guidance to between $NZ800 million and $NZ850 million in February in a result it blamed on input cost inflation.

$Regional Express Holdings Ltd(REX.AU)$: Regional airline Regional Express says it no longer expects to make a profit in financial 2023 and will swing to an operational loss of $35 million.

It blamed the downgrade on supply chain shocks and a shortage of pilots affecting travel capacity.

$Rio Tinto Ltd(RIO.AU)$: Rio Tinto said it will invest $US498 million ($733 million) in its Kennecott operation near Salt Lake City, Utah, to meet the growing demand for copper as a key clean energy ingredient in the US.

The money will be used to develop the Kennecott operation's underground infrastructure area known as the North Rim Skam (NRS).

$Leo Lithium(LLL.AU)$: Broker Wilsons has issued a bullish note on speculative Mali-based lithium explorer Leo Lithium declaring it has struck the fifth-largest spodumene hard rock deposit in the world.

On Tuesday, Leo Lithium announced a 50 per cent increase to its Goulamina Resource, upgrading the total resource to 211 megatons at 1.37 per cent purity from 142 megatons at 1.38 per cent purity.

$Growthpoint Properties Australia(GOZ.AU)$: Industrial and office property developer Growthpoint has upgraded its funds from operations guidance to 26.7¢, ahead of prior guidance between 25.5¢ a share and 26.5¢ a share.

It said total dividends would be 10.7¢ a share for the six months ending June 30 to take full-year dividends to 21.4¢ a share, in line with guidance and a payout ratio of 80.1 per cent.

$TPG Telecom Ltd(TPG.AU)$: The Australian Competition Tribunal has blocked Telstra and TPG's deal to share infrastructure in regional Australia.

Chairman Justice Michael O'Bryan said the tribunal had considered "vast" evidence to conclude that the deal would increase Telstra's strength relative to Optus.

The decision is a major win for the ACCC.

Trading Ex-div: None