AU Morning Wrap: ASX climbs 1.5% on Wall St rally; tech stocks jump

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rallied 95 points or 2.65 per cent. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ gained 551 points or 1.86 per cent. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ jumped 354 points or 3.43 per cent.

AU Market Watch
Australian shares opened Tuesday higher after the S&P 500 rallied and the reversal of the UK's vast fiscal stimulus bolstered global sentiment.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ rose 1.54 per cent to 6,766.7 at the open led by tech, real estate and financials. Only energy was lower, down 0.1 per cent.

Stocks to Watch
$Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AU)$: Westpac has confirmed it is in talks to buy payments business Tyro Payments, in a move that could help the Sydney-based bank leapfrog Commonwealth Bank in the scale of its payments terminal business.

$Austal Ltd (ASB.AU)$: Austal has been fined $650,000 after the Federal Court found the ship building company contravened continuous disclosure laws, ASIC said in an announcement.

$Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (TWE.AU)$: Treasury Wines says first quarter 2023 trading conditions and group earnings were in line with expectations ahead of its annual general meeting.

$Brambles Ltd (BXB.AU)$: Brambles has confirmed its guidance for financial 2023 of sales growth at 7 per cent to 10 per cent and underlying profit growth at 8 per cent to 11 per cent. It also expects improved free cashflow after dividends, though technically still in “net outflow”.

$HUB24 Ltd (HUB.AU)$: Hub24 reported net inflows of $3 billion for the first quarter of the 2023 financial year, down 1.6 per cent on the prior corresponding period (pcp).

Average monthly net inflows for FY23 to date are $995 million, up 1.7 per cent from FY22.

Ex-dividend: $K&S Corp Ltd (KSC.AU)$

Dividends paid: $Qube Holdings Ltd (QUB.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures rose 0.2% to US$94.8 a tonne. China's steel prices eased in over 10-14 October.

"Market sentiment weakened with steel demand waning during the survey period, partly due to the resurgence of covid cases across the country," Mysteel Global noted.

• Oil prices traded flat, down from session highs of 1.7%.