AU Morning Wrap: ASX Drops, Miners Lead Losses, Austal, Bubs Rally

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Sep 7, 2023 08:32

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• Inflation, interest-rate worries drag stocks downward
• ASX drops, miners lead losses, Austal, Bubs rally
• Stocks to watch: Bubs, Austal, BHP
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Drops, Miners Lead Losses, Austal, Bubs Rally

Wall Street Summary

Stocks slumped on Wednesday after investors received a fresh sign that the U.S. economy could be revving up, fanning inflation fears.

Major indexes all fell, led by the tech-focused $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$'s 1.1% slide. The losses, however, were broad-based, with everything from shares of real-estate companies to manufacturers and banks falling. Nine of the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$'s sectors finished in the red, dragging the benchmark index down 0.7%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ lost 0.6%, or 199 points.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ opened 0.8 per cent lower, tracking Wall Street's sombre mood after stronger-than-expected US services sector data revived fears the Federal Reserve may have to lift interest rates again to suppress still sticky inflation.

The losses were aggravated by a number of companies, including BHP, trading ex-dividends.

Real estate was the only sector in the black with a meagre 0.2 per cent gain.

Mining companies led losses with $Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$ down 0.7 per cent and $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$ off 1.2 per cent. $BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$ retreated 4 per cent.

Shares in shipbuilder $Austal Ltd (ASB.AU)$ jumped 3.2 per cent after winning a $143 million contract with the US Navy.

$Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AU)$ edged up 0.1 per cent. The regional lender plans to redeem all of its $275 million subordinated notes maturing in November 2028. The offer had an optional early redemption date of November 2023. All the major banks retreated as much as 0.6 per cent.

$Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$ edged 0.1 per cent lower. The gas supplier is mulling a US dollar-denominated 10-year bond.

Infant formula company Bubs Australia rallied 3 per cent on news it had started a nationwide enrolment for its growth monitoring study clinical trial in the United States.

Global mining services company Perenti fell 0.7 per cent despite news that its African unit won a $US235 million ($368 million) contract at the Sandfire Resources’ copper mine in Botswana.

$Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AU)$ shaved off 1.4 per cent.

Stocks to Watch

$Perenti Ltd (PRN.AU)$: African Mining Services, a unit of global mining services company Perenti, won a $US235 million ($368 million) contract at the Sandfire Resources open pit at the Motheo copper mine in Botswana. The contract has a term of 73 months.

$Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AU)$: Macquarie Bank, rated A1 by Moody's, A+ by S&P and A by Fitch, has launched an Australian dollar-denominated benchmark 3-year floating and/or fixed-rate note offer.

The margin is around 92 basis points over asset swap and the bank bill swap rate.

$BUBS Australia Ltd (BUB.AU)$: Infant formula company Bubs Australia has started a nationwide enrolment for its growth monitoring study clinical trial in the United States.

The first infant was enrolled in the program late last month, and Bubs has plans with 13 healthcare clinics across the country.

The study is designed to evaluate the growth, tolerance and safety of new infant formulas as a standard part of the US regulatory process.

$Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AU)$: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will redeem all of its $275 million subordinated notes maturing in November 2028. The offer had an optional early redemption date of November 2023.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has granted its approval.