AU Morning Wrap: OZ rockets 34% on BHP bid; Suncorp, Aurizon tumble

Wall Street Summary
US stocks opened lower after July employment data showed aggressive interest rate increases this year have yet to cool the economy. Rate-sensitive growth stocks fell as the odds on a 75 basis point rate hike next month jumped.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ trimmed its loss to seven points or 0.16 per cent as traders bought the dip. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ shed 63 points or 0.5 per cent. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ swung to a gain of 77 points or 0.23 per cent.

AU Market Watch
Australian shares were expected to open lower on Monday, tracking weakness on Wall Street's major indexes after a solid jobs report rekindled fears of aggressive policy tightening in the U.S., but strong iron ore prices may lift domestic miners. The local share price index futures fell 0.1%, a 108.6-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark closed 0.6% higher on Friday.

Australian shares opened lower this morning. The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ lost 0.20 per cent to 7001.5 as of 10:15 am.

Stocks to Watch
$Beach Energy Ltd (BPT.AU)$: Beach Energy has signed an LNG sale and purchase agreement with BP's Singapore subsidiary. The deal will see BP purchase all 3.75 million tonnes of Beach's expected LNG volumes from the Waitsia Stage 2 project.

$Oz Minerals Ltd (OZL.AU)$: OZ Minerals has rejected BHP's indicative takeover offer of $25 per share, with its board determining the bid "significantly undervalues" the mining company.

$Aurizon Holdings Ltd (AZJ.AU)$: Aurizon has reported group underlying EBITDA of $1.46 billion for the year ended June 30, down 1 per cent on the prior year. Revenue for the year increased 2 per cent to $3.07 billion, while EBIT fell 3 per cent to $875 million.

$Suncorp Group Ltd (SUN.AU)$: Suncorp has reported net profit after tax of $681 million for the year ended June 30, down 34.1 per cent on the prior year. The company’s revenue from ordinary activities increased 14 per cent for the financial year to $16.1 billion.

$Nickel Industries Ltd (NIC.AU)$: Nickel Industries has executed binding agreements for the issuance of $US225 million of senior secured notes.

Ex-dividend: $Finbar Group Ltd (FRI.AU)$

Dividends paid: $Gryphon Capital Income Trust (GCI.AU)$, $Metrics Income Opportunities Trust (MOT.AU)$, $Metrics Master Income Trust (MXT.AU)$, $Perpetual Credit Income Trust (PCI.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures rose 2.5% to US$109.1 a tonne.
• Oil is trying to stabilise after a rough week driven by global recession fears. The surging US dollar and the risk that the Fed may continue to aggressively raise interest rates continues to outweigh the tight supply narrative.
• Gold rallied to session highs of US$1,794 before fading to US$1,774. The stronger-than-expected US jobs report sent Treasury yields higher, which weighs on the non-interest bearing yellow metal.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR