AU Morning Wrap: Wall Street slide; ASX opens higher

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ faded 125 points or 2.88 per cent. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ gave up 671 points or 1.99 per cent. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ shed 470 points or 3.53 per cent last week.

AU Market Watch
Australia’s $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ looks likely to open higher after oil prices rebounded, shrugging off a negative lead from U.S. equities. ASX futures are up by 0.3%, suggesting the benchmark will bounce from a 0.9% loss on Friday. Australian energy stocks may find support after Brent crude futures rose 3.3% at the end of last week.

Australia shares opened higher on this morning. The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ gained 1.07 per cent to 7139 as of 12:19 pm.

The Residential Property Price Index in Australia rose by 5.0 percent qoq in Q3 2021, slowing from a 6.7% growth in Q2 but matching market consensus. Still, this marked the fifth straight quarter of growth in property prices, supported by record-low interest rates, strong demand, and low levels of stock on the market.

Wednesday 3/16
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia rose 0.1% YoY in January 2022, improving from a reading of no change in the previous month. Meanwhile, the six-month annualized growth rate, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, rose 0.4% in January 2022 from -0.1% in the previous month.

Thursday 3/17
Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment stood at 4.2% in January 2022, unchanged from a month earlier. The latest reading was in line with market estimates while remaining at the lowest level since August 2008, as COVID-19 lockdowns were lifted.

Stocks to Watch
$Ampol Ltd (ALD.AU)$ said it had agreed to sell its New Zealand Gull business to investment manager Allegro for more than NZ$500 million.

$Elders Ltd (ELD.AU)$ told shareholders this morning expects its underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the 2022 financial year to be 20-30 per cent higher than in 2021, boosted by excellent weather conditions.

Ex-dividend Companies
$Austin Engineering Ltd (ANG.AU)$ $Ariadne Australia Ltd (ARA.AU)$ $Best & Less Group holdings Ltd (BST.AU)$ $Chorus Ltd (CNU.AU)$ $FFI Holdings Ltd (FFI.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore eased slightly, but remain above the symbolic US$150 a tonne level.
• Oil remains volatile as headlines regarding the Russia-Ukraine war and US-Iran nuclear talks kept the market on edge.
• Gold has struggled to hold above US$2,000 following the short-lived Russian ceasefire talks. Gold’s bull-case remains intact given inflationary pressures, economic growth concerns and the continued Russian assault on Ukraine.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, Market Index