AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls as Fortescue's Executive Exodus Weighs

Despite a similarly broad rebound over the previous four trading sessions, major indexes were mixed Thursday. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ opened in the green but gave up those gains in the afternoon en route to a 0.5% decline of about 168 points. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ dipped 0.2% lower, while the tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ climbed 0.1%.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ eased 0.5 per cent in early trade after a mixed session on Wall Street where the S&P 500 ended down and the Nasdaq up. US inflation data matched forecasts, underscoring expectations the Federal Reserve will pause its monetary tightening.

Miners and utilities led losses with $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$ among the worst hit following the departure of Guy Debelle from Fortescue Future Industries, in the third high-profile exit in a week.

$Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$ slipped 0.8 per cent and $BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$ was 1.1 per cent lower.

Energy company $Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$ rallied 1.8 per cent after finalising the delayed sale of a 5 per cent stake in its PNG liquiefied natural gas (LNG) project to Papua New Guina's national oil company Kumul Petroleum in a $US1.4 billion deal.

Wagering operator $Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (PBH.AU)$ jumped 7 per cent following the $US175 millions sale of its American business to sports betting and merchandise company Fanatic in a $US225 million deal. Pointsbet will return $315.4 million in capital on Monday.

Financial technology stock $Link Administration Holdings Ltd (LNK.AU)$ fell 2.1 per cent. It completed the sale of its banking and credit management unit.

Major banks retreated with $ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ANZ.AU)$ losing the most at 0.9 per cent.

$Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$: Santos agreed to sell a 2.6 per cent stake of PNG LNG to Papua New Guinea’s national oil company Kumul Petroleum Holdings for a total purchase consideration comprising cash of $US576 million and the assumption of around $US160 million of project finance debt.

$Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (PBH.AU)$: Wagering operator PointsBet received the first payment of $US175 million for the sale of its American business to sports betting and merchandise company Fanatic in a $US225 million deal.

Trading Ex-div: $Iluka Resources Ltd (ILU.AU)$, $Ampol Ltd (ALD.AU)$, $Orora Ltd (ORA.AU)$, $Coles Group Ltd (COL.AU)$, $Johns Lyng Group Ltd (JLG.AU)$, $Eagers Automotive Ltd (APE.AU)$

Dividends Paid: $Euroz Hartleys Group Ltd (EZL.AU)$, $Dicker Data Ltd (DDR.AU)$, $Hotel Property Investments (HPI.AU)$