AU Morning Wrap: ASX opens 0.5% lower, led by energy shares

Wall Street Summary
US stocks rallied for a third night as buyers were encouraged by a weaker dollar and resilient corporate earnings.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ climbed 39 points or 0.99 per cent. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ added 162 points or 0.51 per cent. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ led again, rising 162 points or 1.36 per cent.

AU Market Watch
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is set to edge higher at the open, building on its strong gains so far this week after U.S. stocks climbed again. ASX futures are up by 0.2%, suggesting the benchmark index can add to its 2.9% rise over the past four sessions. A late burst carried the ASX 200 to a 0.5% gain on Thursday.

Australian shares opened lower this morning. The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ lost 0.45 per cent to 6763.7 as of 10:16 am.

Stocks to Watch
$Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG.AU)$: Insurer IAG is on track to report $347 million in net profit after tax for the 2022 financial year, a sharp uptick from the $427 million loss in the prior financial year.

$Brickworks Ltd (BKW.AU)$: Brickworks has today launched a $416 million property trust with real estate fund manager Goodman Group.

$Ioneer Ltd (INR.AU)$: Locally listed lithium producer ioneer is among a group of companies that have struck agreements with automaker Ford to help drive its push further into electric vehicles.

$IRESS Ltd (IRE.AU)$: Iress, a locally listed software vendor to the financial services industry, will extend an existing on-market share buyback program, the company said early on Friday.

Ex-dividend: $Uniti Group Ltd (UWL.AU)$

Dividends paid: $Pengana Private Equity Trust (PE1.AU)$, $PARTNERSGG UNITS (PGG.AU)$, $Vanguard US Total Market Shares ETF (VTS.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures fell -0.7% to US$103.4 a tonne.
• Oil prices tumbled overnight as investors reassess a rather disappointing summer driving season (northern hemisphere) and weakening global economic data.
• Gold prices rose after the ECB and South African bank delivered larger-than-expected rate hikes, taking some heat out of the US dollar.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR