AU Morning Wrap: ASX opens 0.5% lower; ResMed net income jumps

Wall Street Summary
US stocks opened strongly for a second night after wholesale prices declined last month, sharpening hopes inflation has peaked. The rally in equities gently deflated as Fed officials dismissed talk of a pause in rate hikes.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ eased to a loss of three points or 0.07 per cent. A strong quarterly from Disney helped the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ hold on to a gain of 27 points or 0.08 per cent after earlier rising more than 340 points. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ shed 75 points or 0.58 per cent as high-growth companies retreated.

AU Market Watch
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 looks likely to edge lower at the open after a U.S. equities rally faded. ASX futures are down by almost 0.3%, suggesting the benchmark index will give back at least some of the 1.1% made on Thursday. The ASX 200 is up 0.8% so far this week and on course for a fourth consecutive weekly gain, which would be its best such run in more than a year.

Australian shares opened lower this morning. The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ lost 0.51 per cent to 7035.1 as of 10:28 am.

Stocks to Watch
$ResMed Inc (RMD.AU)$: ResMed, which makes devices to address sleep apnoea, grew net income by two thirds to $US779.4 million in the financial year that ended in June following a 12 per cent increase in revenue.

$Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG.AU)$: IAG has delivered a net profit of $347 million in the 2022 financial year, dragging the insurer up from a net loss of $427 million a year ago, the company said in its results on Friday.

$Fonterra Shareholders Fund (FSF.AU)$: New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra said in an update to its guidance for its financial year that ended in July that earnings would likely reach “the top end of its current guidance of 25¢ to 30¢ per share,” the company said on Friday.

Dividends paid: $Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (CLW.AU)$, $Katana Capital Ltd (KAT.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures rose 1.6% to US$111.1 a tonne. Prices of Chinese steel for export continued to strengthen this week on support of the recovery in the domestic steel market and improved market sentiment, according to Mysteel.
• Oil prices rallied as demand fears seem overdone. US gas prices are now below $4 a gallon which should provide some relief to a weak summer driving season. IEA reaffirmed that global oil demand growth will be positive in 2022. In contrast, OPEC cut its 2022 forecast for global oil demand for the third time since April.
• Gold faded from the key US$1,800 level as bond yields inched higher and optimism about a Fed pivot started to wane.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR