AU Morning Wrap: ASX Rises After S&P 500 Gains 1.1%

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Oct 17, 2023 07:39

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• Gold, oil prices slip as traders watch Israel-Hamas situation, earnings reports
• ASX rises, Tech, real estate and materials gain
• Stocks to watch: HUB24, Syrah Resources, a2 Milk
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Rises After S&P 500 Gains 1.1%

Wall Street Summary

U.S. stocks climbed Monday, reflecting investors' hopes that the Israel-Hamas conflict wouldn't have a major impact on the global economy.

While conditions remained tense in the Middle East, investors expressed some relief that the conflict had yet to escalate into an even worse geopolitical crisis. Investors had piled into safer assets on Friday as a hedge against unexpected shocks over the weekend.

The tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ rebounded from a 1.2% decline on Friday, by adding back 1.2%. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rose 1.1%, and the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ gained 314 points, or 0.9%.

AU Market Watch

Australian shares have opened higher, tracking strong gains on Wall Street and amid rising hopes that Middle East tensions could start to cool.

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ opened 25 points, or 0.4 per cent, higher to 7053.3, snapping two sessions of moderate declines.

Early in trading, all 11 sectors are in the green, led by strong gains in materials, tech and real estate stocks.

Overnight, both oil and gold eased on hopes that Israel's response to the Hamas attacks will be more measured than previously expected.

The local currency has rebounded 0.7 per cent to US63.38¢ after the Bloomberg dollar spot index slipped 0.4 per cent.

New Zealand's quarterly CPI growth came in lower than expected, at 5.6 per cent in annual terms, from 6 per cent last quarter.

Stocks to Watch

$HUB24 Ltd (HUB.AU)$: HUB24 is up 5.5 per cent to $34.91 after its total funds under administration jumped 21 per cent to $82.7 billion in the September quarter.

$Syrah Resources Ltd (SYR.AU)$: Syrah Resources is up 4.3 per cent to 49¢ after the graphite miner detailed strong demand for its graphite anode material in the September quarter.

$The a2 Milk Co Ltd (A2M.AU)$: The a2 Milk Company's ongoing dispute with long-time supply partner Synlait is continuing, with the pair now heading to arbitration. A2 Milk shares have slipped 0.9 per cent to $4.21 while Synlait shares are unmoved at $1.29.

Trading Ex-div: $Horizon Oil Ltd (HZN.AU)$, $WAM Capital Ltd (WAM.AU)$, $WAM Leaders Ltd (WLE.AU)$