AU Morning Wrap: ASX slides; Origin posts $1.43b loss

Wall Street Summary
US stocks fell as a weak trading update from Target took some of the steam out of this week's rally in retailers. The major indices briefly pared their losses as some investors interpreted the minutes from last month's Fed meeting as less hawkish than expected.

The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ turned positive following the Fed minutes before fading to a loss of 172 points or 0.5 per cent. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ shed 31 points or 0.72 per cent. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ declined 164 points or 1.25 per cent as rising treasury yields weighed on growth stocks.

AU Market Watch
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 looks set to pull back at the open after U.S. stocks finished lower. ASX futures are down by 0.2%. U.S. equities slipped amid another batch of earnings from retailers and signals from the Federal Reserve about future interest-rate moves.

Australian shares opened lower this morning. The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ lost 0.30 per cent to 7106.4 as of 10:18 am.

Stocks to Watch
$Origin Energy Ltd (ORG.AU)$: Origin Energy's underlying profit increased 30 per cent to $407 million for the full year ended June 30, with strong commodity prices fuelling higher earnings in integrated gas, offset by lower earnings in energy markets due to "very challenging market conditions".

$Medibank Pvt Ltd (MPL.AU)$: Medibank has reported an 11 per cent fall in net profit to $393.9 million in the year to 30 June after volatility in financial markets drove a $24.8 million loss in net investment income compared with a $120 million gain in FY21.

$Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (TWE.AU)$: Treasury Wine Estates forecast "strong growth" and margin expansion in financial year 2023 after reporting a 5.3 per cent increase in 2022 net profit to $263.2 million. A further $25 million in supply chain and inflation related costs is expected in the present year. At the same time, the group has raised prices for everything.

$Transurban Group (TCL.AU)$: Transurban has declared a final dividend of 26¢ per share for the six months ended June 30, up 12 per cent year-on-year. This takes its FY22 dividend to 41¢ a share.The company reported total revenue of $3.4 billion for FY22, compared to $2.88 billion in FY21. Transurban delivered a statutory profit from continuing operations of $16 million for the year, compared to the $287 million loss in FY21.

Ex-dividend: $GPT Group (GPT.AU)$, $Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG.AU)$, $Korvest Ltd (KOV.AU)$, $MyState Ltd (MYS.AU)$, $QBE Insurance Group Ltd (QBE.AU)$

Dividends paid: $Alternative Investment Trust (AIQDA.AU)$, $CVC Ltd (CVC.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures fell -1.9% to US$104.6 a tonne. A few quick bites: Chinese iron ore port inventories are rising quickly, up 2m tonnes last week and 12.2m tonnes since late June. It's a V-shaped rebound back to 2-month highs. Port headland iron ore shipments are up 5.9% year-on-year in July.
• Oil is still struggling to rebound even after the EIA crude oil report posted an unexpectedly large 7.1m draw, well above consensus estimates of a 100,000 draw.
• Gold continues to fade amid further strength from the US dollar and Treasury yields.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR