AU Morning Wrap: ASX Flat Ahead of RBA Decisions; Superloop Surges

Moomoo News AU joined discussion · Mar 18 18:40

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• S&P 500 closed 0.6% higher
• ASX flat ahead of RBA decisions; Superloop surges
• Stocks to watch: KMD Brands, Boral, New Hope, Aussie Broadband, Superloop

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Flat Ahead of RBA Decisions; Superloop Surges

Wall Street Summary

U.S. stocks climbed Monday as investors balanced optimism over artificial intelligence with concern over monetary policy as investors await the outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting later this week. Investors also looked forward to $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$'s GTC computing industry conference, where CEO Jensen Huang announced a brand-new large GPU chip for AI processing shortly after 4 PM EST.

The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ led the way higher, gaining 0.82% to a preliminary 16,103.45 close, while the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ added 0.6% to a 5,149.41 preliminary finish. Meanwhile, the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ gained 0.2% to end at a preliminary 33,789.05.

AU Market Watch

At the beginning of the trading day, Australian shares slightly increased as investors turned their attention to the Reserve Bank's policy statement and Governor Michele Bullock's press conference later that afternoon. It is not expected that there will be any change in interest rates.

Energy stocks saw the strongest performance as crude oil prices rose, reaching a four-month high due to geopolitical tensions caused by Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries and better-than-expected Chinese economic data.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan will hold a policy meeting later in the day, and traders are anticipating a possible rate adjustment.

Stocks to Watch

$KMD Brands Ltd (KMD.AU)$, the company that owns Kathmandu and Rip Curl, reported a 14.5% decline in group sales in its interim half-year results, resulting in a 66.8% decrease in underlying earnings before interest tax and amortization (EBITA) to NZD 15.1 million. As a result of the operating performance, the company announced that no interim dividend would be declared.

$Boral Ltd (BLD.AU)$ has urged its shareholders to reject Seven Group Holdings' takeover bid as it is "not fair and not reasonable," according to independent expert Grant Samuel. The company assessed that Boral's fair value is in the range of AUD 6.50 to AUD 7.13 per share.

$New Hope Corp Ltd (NHC.AU)$, a mining company, declared an interim dividend of 17 cents per share, payable to shareholders on May 1. The company reported an underlying earnings before interest, tax, and amortization of AUD 424.8 million and a net profit of AUD 251.7 million.

$Aussie Broadband Ltd (ABB.AU)$ has made an "urgent" request to the Federal Court on Monday to set aside $Superloop Ltd (SLC.AU)$'s notice, seeking permanent and interlocutory injunctions to prevent the rival internet provider from forcing it to lower its stake of nearly 20% in another twist to the battle between the two companies for market share.

Trading Ex-div: $Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIA.AU)$, $Credit Corp Group Ltd (CCP.AU)$, $Seek Ltd (SEK.AU)$, $Briscoe Group Ltd (BGP.AU)$