AU Morning Wrap: ASX gains; No Tesla contract for Core Lithium

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ declined 29 points or 0.74 per cent to its first loss in four sessions. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ shed 228 points or 2.04 per cent. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ clung onto a slender gain of two points or 0.01 per cent.

Heavily-weighted tech stocks tumbled after $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ and Google parent company $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ missed expectations. Weak revenue guidance and soft cloud revenue helped drag Microsoft down 7.72 per cent. Alphabet sagged 9.14 per cent as a drop in online advertising cruelled earnings and revenues.

The gloomy outlook for Big Tech weighed on $Apple (AAPL.US)$ and Facebook owner $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ ahead of their trading updates shortly after this morning's closing bell. Apple declined 1.96 per cent. Meta shed 5.59 per cent.

ANZ shares shed 0.4 per cent despite annual cash profit of $6.5 billion.

JB Hi-Fi leapt 2.7 per cent after sales in the first quarter posted double-digit growth across both brands which includes The Good Guys.

Fortescue Metals rose 1 per cent after shipping a record volume of iron ore in the past three months.

Stocks to Watch
$Core Lithium Ltd (CXO.AU)$: Core Lithium reports it has failed to agree an offtake contract with electric vehicle giant Tesla. The date for concluding the term sheet passed on October 26, Core Lithium said.

$Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$: Fortescue's flagship iron ore division has started the new financial year with strong export volumes but has suffered a 16 per cent surge in unit costs over the past year.

$JB Hi Fi Ltd (JBH.AU)$: Total sales for JB Hi-Fi Australia rose 14.6 per cent in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, from a year ago. Sales for the NZ operations jumped 27.7 per cent in the same period. The Good Guys posted a sales increase of 12.3 per cent.

$Super Retail Group Ltd (SUL.AU)$: Annual sales for Super Retail Group grew 20 per cent in its year-to-date fiscal year with Macpac leading the group's four core brands with a 76 per cent gain from a year ago.

$ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ANZ.AU)$: ANZ earned $7.12 billion in statutory profit after tax for the full year ended in September, up 16 per cent from a year ago. Cash profit from continuing operations rose 5 per cent to $6.5 billion

$Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCM.AU)$: Newcrest Mining CEO Sandeep Biswas sees significant growth potential at its Brucejack, Red Chris and Havieron sites following exploration results in the September quarter. "At Brucejack, we returned several high-grade intercepts," he said.

$Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ABY.AU)$: Adore Beauty Group reported revenues of $45.4 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2023 but was down 29 per cent on the prior corresponding period when Australia was in lockdown.

Ex-dividend: $Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AU)$, $Acrow Ltd (ACF.AU)$, $GenusPlus Group Ltd (GNP.AU)$

Dividends paid: $Clime Investment Management Ltd (CIW.AU)$, $Austin Engineering Ltd (ANG.AU)$, $Ridley Corp Ltd (RIC.AU)$, $360 Capital REIT (TOT.AU)$, $Australian Unity Office Fund (AOF.AU)$, $Turners Automotive Group Ltd (TRA.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures rose 0.2% to US$93.5 a tonne.

• Oil prices rallied "after the EIA crude oil inventory report showed exports surged to a record high and gasoline demand bounced back," said Oanda senior market analyst, Ed Moya.

• Gold inched slightly higher as the US dollar tumbled and bond yields eased.