AU Morning Wrap: ASX Rises 0.7%, Origin Bolstered by Upbeat Outlook

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · May 1, 2023 08:39

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• S&P 500 climbs on strong earnings
• ASX rises 0.7%
• Stocks to watch: Origin, Santos, Best & Less
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Rises 0.7%, Origin Bolstered by Upbeat Outlook

Wall Street Summary

A stretch of strong earnings from some of the biggest U.S. corporations helped push the S&P 500 higher for the week, notching its second consecutive month of gains.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rose Friday and clinched a 1.5% gain for April. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ added 2.5% for the month, while the tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ inched up less than 0.1%.

Market volatility remained remarkably subdued for much of the month, with ebbing trading volumes and a prolonged stretch of muted moves for the major indexes.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ rose 0.72 per cent in early trade in broad gains with energy among the biggest contributors.

Takeover target Origin Energy rallied 0.4 per cent following a sharp upgrade in its earnings outlook thanks to stronger than expected performance at the UK-based energy retail disrupter Octopus Energy and lower coal costs in Australia.

Retailer Best & Less slumped 1.8 per cent after receiving a cash off-market takeover offer from Brett Blundy's BBRC International at $1.89 per share.

Santos jumped 2 per cent. Papua New Guinea's national oil company Kumul Petroleum Holdings has extended Santos' bid for a 5 per cent stake in PNG LNG project to August 31.

Transurban rose 0.9 per cent after lifting its distribution to 58¢ per stapled share, from 57¢.

$Deterra Royalties Ltd (DRR.AU)$ gained 0.7 per cent after its royalty receipts for the three months to March jumped 32 per cent to $60 million.

$Evolution Mining Ltd (EVN.AU)$ eased 0.1 per cent despite promising drilling results at its copper-gold Ernest Henry site in Queensland.

$Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ABY.AU)$ retreated 0.5 per cent following a revenue decline in the first quarter of the calendar year.

Stocks to Watch

$Transurban Group (TCL.AU)$: Transurban declared a distribution of 58¢ per stapled share for fiscal 2023, representing a 41.5 per cent increase from a year ago, on upbeat traffic momentum and better-than-expected funding packages.

The company affirmed distribution guidance will include 2 to 3 stapled security of capital releases.

$Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (JDO.AU)$: Judo Bank upgraded its underlying NIM (net interest margin) guidance for the second half of fiscal 2023 to 3.3 per cent to 3.5 per cent, and affirmed expectations of other metrics.

It posted $86.7 million in profit before tax for the nine months to March, and the average cost of new term deposits over the past month is at the top end of its through-the-cycle expectation of 80-90 basis points over the bank bill swap rate.

$Bluglass Ltd (BLG.AU)$: Retailer Best & Less (BLG) said it has received a cash off-market takeover offer from BBRC International at $1.89 per share.

Brett Blundy's BBRC currently owns 16.45 per cent of the BLG shares on issue. The offer is conditional on receiving at least 55 per cent in acceptance (including BBRC's stake).

The cash offer of $1.89 per BLG share would be reduced by any dividend or other distribution that might be paid after the announcement of this offer. The offer price compares to a closing price of $1.985 per BLG share on April 28, 2023.

$Origin Energy Ltd (ORG.AU)$: Origin Energy has drastically upgraded its earnings guidance on the back of stronger-than-expected contributions from its UK Octopus operations and the high performance of its energy markets division.

It now expects EBITDA between $950 million and $1.2 billion, from a range of $600 million to $730 million. Origin said it also benefited from coal supply secured at a lower cost, which was capped at $125/tonne.

$Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$: Papua New Guinea's national oil company Kumul Petroleum Holdings has extended Santos' bid for a 5 per cent stake in PNG LNG project to August 31.

Santos made the $US1.4 billion ($2.1 billion) bid in September last year with completion slated for December, but rising interest rates complicated funding efforts by Kumul.

Trading Ex-div: None

Dividends Paid: $Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (HVN.AU)$

Listing: None

Source: Dow Jones Newswires, AFR

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