AU Morning Wrap: ASX Slips; Megaport Sinks 11% on CEO Resignation

US stocks struggled to build on Friday's rebound as trade turned cautious ahead of jobs data and testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the week. An early rally lost momentum once treasury yields reversed early weakness.

The S&P 500 hit a two-week high after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on Apple with a "Buy" rating. The tech giant, which accounts for roughly 7 per cent of the index by weighting, rallied 1.85 per cent. Microsoft and Alphabet also rose.

Megaport sank 10.6 per cent to $5.13 after announcing that its chief executive, Vincent English, has tendered his resignation from the role, effective today.

Sayona Mining jumped 4.3 per cent to 24.5¢ on news that it is placing $54.9 million worth of shares at 31.5¢ apiece.

Rio Tinto fell 1.8 per cent to $123.14 after being fined $US15 million by the SEC relating to an alleged bribery scheme.

Under the terms, InvoCare shareholders would receive $12.65 cash per share, adjusted for any additional dividends or capital returns made by InvoCare before completion of the proposed transaction.

Based on the numbers of shares outstanding, TPG's offer values the company at about $1.8 billion.

The former market darling has tumbled 56 per cent over the past 12 months as data centre headwinds hit its internet connectivity business.

Sayona said the funding would help advance hard rock exploration projects in Quebec, Canada, with the pending restart of its North America Lithium operation to signal its transition from an explorer to a producer.

The explorer boasts a value north of $2 billion at its last closing price of 24 cents per share.

The SEC's orders found that in July 2011, Rio hired a French investment banker and close friend of a former senior Guinean government official as a consultant to help the company retain its mining rights in the Simandou region in Guinea.

Eventually, the mining rights were retained, and the consultant was paid $10.5 million for his services, which Rio never verified, the SEC said.

The company intends to use the proceeds to fund a subscription for additional tier 1 capital of Challenger Life, the registered life insurance company of Challenger Group.

• Iron ore slumped after China's state planner revealed it had sought advice on how to contain soaring prices. The National Development and Reform Commission said its price monitoring unit met with industry experts who advised tougher market supervision to combat hoarding, speculation and misleading pricing.

Also weighing on prices, the steelmaking hub of Tangshan announced a second round of curbs on production to reduce pollution.

The most-traded May ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 2.13 per cent lower at 897 yuan (US$129.70) a tonne after briefly falling more than 3 per cent. Coking coal and coke also declined.

• Oil overcame early pressure from Chinese growth worries. Prices rose after Saudi Arabia increased the price of benchmark crude for a second month.

Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities USA, said it was the "second month in a row the Saudis have increased the price of their flagship oil in anticipation of increased demand in Asia."

Brent crude settled 35 US cents or 0.4 per cent ahead at a three-week high at US$86.18 a barrel.

• Gold closed unchanged following its first weekly advance in five weeks. Gold for April delivery settled steady at US$1,854.60 an ounce. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index dropped 1.75 per cent.