AU Morning Wrap: ASX Opens Higher; Silver Lake Sinks 20%

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Jul 30, 2023 19:40

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• Dow, S&P 500 notch third straight weekly gains
• ASX opens 0.2% higher
• Stocks to watch: Silver Lake Resources, IGO, Origin Energy
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Opens Higher; Silver Lake Sinks 20%

Wall Street Summary

U.S. stocks rebounded Friday to cap off a week of gains, as soft inflation data boosted investor sentiment and shares of big tech companies powered the indexes higher.

The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ rose 1%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ added about 177 points, or 0.5%. The $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ jumped 1.9%

All three major indexes locked in weekly gains, with the S&P 500 and Dow each logging a third consecutive positive week. The Dow on Wednesday clinched a winning streak of 13 trading days, its longest streak since 1987.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU)$ climbed 0.2 per cent to 7415.8 in the opening minutes of trade, buoyed by the technology sector.

Silver Lake Resources plunged 18.4 per cent to 91¢ following its quarterly results.

IGO declined 3.5 per cent to $13.97 despite posting record quarterly earnings and underlying free cash flow in the June quarter.

Lynas Rare Earths firmed 2.1 per cent to $6.70 after recording its highest ever quarterly production of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) in the June quarter.

Origin Energy opened flat at $8.53 after reporting that revenue from its share in Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) fell 11 per cent in the June quarter, compared to the prior quarter, due to lower realised oil prices.

Stocks to Watch

$Nickel Industries Ltd(NIC.AU)$: Nickel Industries reported record quarterly production of 32,558 tonnes of nickel in the June quarter.

While the company faced softening nickel pricing during the quarter, it also reported a reduction in operating expenses across all operations.

$Silver Lake Resources Ltd(SLR.AU)$: Silver Lake Resources posted record quarterly production of 81,616 ounces of gold and 642 tonnes copper with sales of 83,540 ounces of gold and 606 tonnes of copper.

For FY23, the company reported production of 261,604 ounces of gold and 1483 tonnes of copper, achieving FY23 sales guidance with 260,372 ounces gold and 1,325 tonnes copper.

Silver Lake said FY24 sales guidance for its Australian operations is 210,000 to 230,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $1850 to $2050 per ounce.

$Gold Road Resources Ltd(GOR.AU)$: Gold Road Resources produced 76,053 ounces of gold at its Gruyere operations in Western Australia in the June quarter at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1620 per attributable ounce.

That was down from 82,604 ounces at an AISC of $1399 an ounce in the March quarter.

Gold production decreased quarter-on-quarter due to mining delays, reducing the quantities of higher grade run-of-mine ore from the open pit, the company said.

Gold Road said its 2023 AISC is now expected at the upper end of existing guidance of between $1540 to $1660 per attributable ounce.

$Origin Energy Ltd(ORG.AU)$: Origin Energy's revenue from its share in Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) fell 11 per cent in the June quarter, compared to the prior quarter, due to lower realised oil prices.

However, June quarter production was higher than the previous quarter due to more "well workover and optimisation activity" carried out following the impacts of wet weather in prior periods and an unplanned non-operated outage.

Origin's FY23 electricity sales volumes increased 1 per cent on the prior year, while gas sales volumes decreased 5 per cent.

$IGO Ltd(IGO.AU)$: IGO reported record quarterly EBITDA of $636 million and record underlying free cash flow of $381 million for the three months to June 30.

Strong production from the Greenbushes operations contributed to IGO reporting full-year spodumene production above the top of its FY23 guidance range.

Group sales revenue of $240.6 million was in line with the prior quarter, with higher sales volumes from both the Nova and Forrestania mines. This was offset by lower realised nickel prices.

$BUBS Australia Ltd(BUB.AU)$: Bubs Australia's gross revenue for the quarter ending 30 June 2023 was $20 million, down 59 per cent on the same period last year, but up 23 per cent on the third quarter.

The company's operating expenses were up 110 per cent on the same period last year.

$Pacific Current Group Ltd(PAC.AU)$: Takeover target Pacific Current Group said total funds under management managed by boutique asset managers within its portfolio grew 9.1 per cent in the quarter ended June 30 to $204.4 billion.

US dollar-denominated fund managers saw FUM increase by 9.1 per cent as a result of the rebound in global equity markets, strong inflows and Pacific's new investment in investment management firm Cordillera.

$Lynas Rare Earths Ltd(LYC.AU)$: Lynas Rare Earths reported quarterly sales revenue of $157.5 million for the three months to June 30, down from $294.5 million in the same period last year.

Sales receipts of $188.9 million were lower than the $351 million recorded in the same period last year.