AU Morning Wrap: ASX lower; CSL falls 5% on profit slip

Wall Street Summary
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for a fifth day after updates from Walmart and Home Depot underlined the resilience of the American consumer. The S&P 500 advanced before running into technical resistance at its 200-day moving average. Declines in tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq.

The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ led with a rise of 240 points or 0.71 per cent. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ trimmed its gain to eight points or 0.19 per cent. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ fell 26 points or 0.19 per cent.

AU Market Watch
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is set to edge higher at the start of a session featuring a raft of company earnings reports including by blood-products giant CSL. ASX futures are up by 0.2%, suggesting the benchmark index will add to the 1.0% it has gained so far this week.

Australian shares opened higher this morning. The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ gained 0.16 per cent to 7117.8 as of 10:17 am.

Stocks to Watch
$Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$: Santos has delivered record free cash flow and underlying earnings for the first half thanks to surging oil and LNG prices.The company reported free cash flow of $US1.7 billion for the period and an underlying profit of $US1.3 billion, up 300 per cent on the previous corresponding period.

$Magellan Financial Group Ltd (MFG.AU)$: Fund manager Magellan has reported a 23 per cent fall in revenue to $553.53 million while adjusted net profit after tax fell by 3 per cent to $399.73 million.

$Redbubble Ltd (RBL.AU)$: E-commerce player Redbubble has reported a net loss of $24.6 million in the year to 30 June, down 56 per cent from a profit of $31.2 million in FY21.

$Brambles Ltd (BXB.AU)$: Brambles has overcome "significant input-cost inflation," and supply chain issues to deliver profits exceeding its previously stated guidance range, according to its results for the financial year released on Wednesday. Brambles delivered $US571.7 million in after-tax profit on a statutory basis, up 7 per cent on the previous year, while underlying profit increased 6 per cent to $US930 million.

$CSL Ltd (CSL.AU)$: Blood products giant CSL had a 5 per cent fall in profit to $US2.3 billion ($3.3 billion), driven by lower plasma donations, which constrained sales of its core immunoglobulin products.

$Vicinity Centres (VCX.AU)$: Shopping mall landlord Vicinity Centres has swung to a $1.2 billion profit, increasing 571 per cent from a loss of $258 million in FY21.

$Corporate Travel Management Ltd (CTD.AU)$: Corporate Travel Management has forecast financial 2024 underlying earnings of $265 million, on projected revenue of $810 million, relying on China to progressively open its borders and a full recovery in client travel activity.

Ex-dividend: $CommBank (CBA.AU)$, $FSA Group Ltd (FSA.AU)$, $ResMed (RMD.US)$

Dividends paid: $Mirrabooka Investments Ltd (MIR.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures fell -0.15% to US$106 a tonne..
• Oil briefly rallied 3% before finishing the overnight session in red..
• Gold is back to struggling as equity markets grind higher. The US dollar and Treasury yields are also inching higher.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR