AU Morning Wrap: ASX Falls; Imugene Plunges

Stocks fell, extending August declines spurred in part by higher yields. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ and $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ both shed 0.8%, while the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ was 1.2% lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, sensitive to higher rates, is down 7.2% this month.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ has opened lower following more overnight more pain on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 posting its worst three-session loss since March.

The tech sector is the worst hit, down 1.7 per cent: $WiseTech Global Ltd (WTC.AU)$ is down 1.3 per cent, $Nextdc Ltd (NXT.AU)$ has dropped 1.4 per cent and $Xero Ltd (XRO.AU)$ has fallen 1.5 per cent.

Materials sector is in the green, with $BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$, $Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$ and $Fortescue Ltd (FMG.AU)$ all up more than 1.5 per cent. Iron ore futures on the Singapore exchange are 0.62 per cent higher for September contracts.

$Imugene Ltd (IMU.AU)$ was the worst performing stock, down 13.8 per cent after completing a $35 million share placement and launching a $30 million share purchase plan.

Shares in $Magellan Financial Group Ltd (MFG.AU)$ were the best performing at open, up 9 per cent. The international equities' manager will pay a final dividend of 39.8¢ and declared a special dividend of 30¢ to take full-year dividends to $1.167.

$Abacus Property Group (ABP.AU)$, which spun off its Storage King self-storage REIT at the start of August, was up 6.5 per cent. In its latest full-year report, teh trust confirmed it will pay a full-year distribution of 18.4¢ per security.

$Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (LFS.AU)$: Latitude's cash profit for the first half of 2023 has dived 88 per cent to $7 million, with the lender also removing its interim dividend.

$Coles Group Ltd (COL.AU)$: Construction cost blowouts at Cole's delayed customer fulfilment centres projects are now expected to come in around an extra $120 million.

$Magellan Financial Group Ltd (MFG.AU)$: International equities manager Magellan Financial Group has posted a net profit down 52 per cent to $182.6 million, on revenue down 22 per cent to $431.7 million. It’s been a torrid financial year 2023 for the firm, which saw total funds under management shrink from $61.3 billion to $39.7 billion.

Trading Ex-div: $Ansell Ltd (ANN.AU)$, $Newcrest Mining Ltd (NCM.AU)$, $Lendlease Group (LLC.AU)$, $GWA Group Ltd (GWA.AU)$