AU Morning Wrap: ASX edges up ahead of another US rate rise; miners shine

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ dropped 16 points or 0.41 per cent. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ eased 80 points or 0.24 per cent. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ lost 97 points or 0.89 per cent.

Stocks turned lower after Labor Department data showed job openings increased by 437,000 in September to 10.7 million. Economists had expected vacancies to decline to around 10 million.

AU Market Watch
The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ edged up 0.34 per cent in the opening minutes of trade, ahead of an expected lofty interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve on Thursday morning AEDT.

All four major banks were lower but heavyweight miners Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue rallied more than one per cent.

Stocks to Watch
$CSL Ltd (CSL.AU)$: CSL Seqirus, a subsdiary of CSL, will work with $Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT.US)$ on an influenza vaccine platform technology.

$Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (VUL.AU)$: Vulcan Energy is expanding its activities to the French side of the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field (URVBF), which accounts for roughly one third of the Upper Rhine Graben, containing both geothermal energy and lithium-rich brine.

$Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$: Rio Tinto reconfirmed that the proposal of $C43 per Turquoise Hill share is best and final.

$Amcor PLC (AMC.AU)$: Amcor's net sales increased 9 per cent to $US3.7 billion in the three months that ended in September, bringing a GAAP net income of $US232 million, up 15 per cent. Earnings per share jumped 18 per cent to 15.5 cash per share.

$Goodman Group (GMG.AU)$: Goodman Group said it has $13.8 billion worth of development work in progress across 85 projects as of September 30 and manages $77.8 billion in total assets.