AU Morning Wrap: ASX Sink 1%, Tech Stocks Battered

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ slid 2.5%, while the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ shed more than 750 points, or 2.3%, logging its worst day in three months. The technology-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ dropped 3.2%.

$S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ slumped 1.09 per cent in early trade, amid a global sell-off on fears that higher interest rates will tip the world economy into recession.

All 11 sectors of the index were in the red, with tech stocks hit hard, echoing a sharp decline on Wall Street. They tumbled 2.4 per cent, with $Block Inc (SQ2.AU)$ the worst-hit, down 4.6 per cent.

$Mineral Resources Ltd (MIN.AU)$: Mineral Resources is planning to acquire all remaining shares of $Norwest Energy NL (NWE.AU)$ it does not already own. The off-market offer consists of one fully paid ordinary share in MinRes for every 1367 Norwest Shares held on the register date. The implied offer price of $0.06 per Norwest Share represents an equity value for Norwest of approximately $403 million and a premium of 33 per cent to the closing price of Norwest shares on December 15.

$Link Administration Holdings Ltd (LNK.AU)$: Link Administration Holdings will extend its agreement to provide superannuation administration and customer engagement services with AustralianSuper by two years, commencing on July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025.

$Aurizon Holdings Ltd (AZJ.AU)$: Aurizon signed a binding sale agreement with Magnetic Rail Group to acquire the East Coast Rail (ECR) business for $425 million. The purchaser will take ECR's existing debt facilities, which originally totalled $500 million. No capital gains tax is expected and
completion is targeted for early 2023, with $125 million of the proceeds to be deferred for 12 months.

$Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (TWE.AU)$: John Mullen will join Treasury Wine Estates' board as an independent non-executive director in the last quarter of the company’s 2023 financial year.

$Vulcan Steel Ltd (VSL.AU)$: Vulcan has received approval from German state authority Rheinland-Pfalz for a lithium extraction demonstration plant. The plan is start commercial production by 2025 to supply customers in the battery electric vehicle market in Europe with sustainable lithium.

Dividends Paid: $Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ALL.AU)$, $Elders Ltd (ELD.AU)$, $Technology One Ltd (TNE.AU)$, $Australian Vintage Ltd (AVG.AU)$, $ALS Ltd (ALQ.AU)$

Commodities
• Iron ore futures fell 0.5% to US$110.70 a tonne.