AU Morning Wrap: ASX Rallies, BoQ Sinks 4%

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rose 0.5%, while the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ gained 0.6%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ advanced 0.4%, or 135 points. Ten of the S&P 500's 11 sectors rose, after all 11 closed higher on Monday.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ is up 35.7 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 7076.3, and the All Ordinaries posted similar early gains. Nine out of the 11 sectors are in the green, led by miners, up 1.3 per cent on expectations of a stimulus package from China to bolster its economy.

$Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AU)$: Shares in Bank of Queensland dropped 3.8 per cent after reporting a 70 per cent slump in bottom-line profit to $124 million, well under analyst expectations. The lender cut its final dividend by 3¢ to 21¢ per share.

$Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AU)$: Qantas rose 1 per cent after chairman Richard Goyder bowed to shareholder pressure and agreed to leave the embattled airline's board next year, joined by two of his fellow directors.

$Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG.AU)$:Insurance Australia Group fell 1.2 per cent even as it confirmed it was on track to meet guidance targets for fiscal 2024. The insurer before its AGM today said it had also "experienced a relatively benign start to FY24 from a natural perils perspective".

$Telstra Group Ltd (TLS.AU)$: Telstra eased 0.1 per cent after announced plans to buy cloud consulting company Versent for $267.5 million to support growth and the digitisation of businesses.

$CSL Ltd (CSL.AU)$: CSL slipped 0.2 per cent. It said before its AGM that it anticipated another strong year with growth to expand between 9 per cent and 11 per cent over fiscal 2023. The biotech giant forecast net profit of $2.9 billion to $3 billion at constant currency, up between 13 per cent and 17 per cent.

Dividends Paid: $Southern Cross Electrical Engineering Ltd (SXE.AU)$, $NRW Holdings Ltd (NWH.AU)$, $News Corp (NWS.AU)$, $Monash IVF Group Ltd (MVF.AU)$, $Cochlear Ltd (COH.AU)$, $Macmahon Holdings Ltd (MAH.AU)$, $PSC Insurance Group Ltd (PSI.AU)$, $TPG Telecom Ltd (TPG.AU)$