Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to fall, S&P 500 snaps winning streak + Brambles, Bapcor, Wisetech earnings

Major US benchmarks eased overnight after running up for eight consecutive sessions, the US dollar as dropped to its lowest level since March, all eyes on Powell's Jackson Hole speech on Friday, Canada's inflation drops to an almost four year low and a long, long list of companies are set to report their FY24 results today.

Let's dive in.

S&P 500 SESSION CHART

S&P 500 ticks lower amid choppy trade (Source: TradingView)

OVERNIGHT MARKETS

• Major US benchmarks finished lower, following Tuesday’s rally that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both log an eighth-straight gain

• Very quiet overnight session, with no major catalysts and very thin volumes

• Markets continue to wait for upcoming catalysts including Powell’s speech on Friday and Nvidia earnings next Wednesday

• Energy was the worst performing sector, oil prices on three day skid, down 4.7% 

• Investor confidence makes swift return two weeks after spike in bearish fears (FT)

• Gold in record-setting form on expectations of September Fed cut (Bloomberg)

• S&P 500 will end 2024 at 5,600, according to median forecast (Reuters)

• Dollar index falls to weakest level since March ahead of Powell's Jackson Hole speech, expected rate cuts (Bloomberg)

STOCKS

• Bank of America shares tumble after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway continues to offload shares (CNBC)

• Apple to launch first made-in-India iPhone-Pro and Pro Max this year (Bloomberg)

• Shein files lawsuit against Temu for copyright infringement (CNBC)

CENTRAL BANKS

• BOJ releases pair of research papers highlighting persistent inflationary pressures, indicating rate hike still on table (Bloomberg)

• Sweden cuts rates for a second time since May and guides to more easing (Bloomberg)

• ECB's Rehn says negative growth risks reinforce case for Sept rate cut (Bloomberg)

• RBA flags keeping rates unchanged for longer than markets anticipate (Bloomberg)

• China's banks keep interest rates unchanged as expected, PBOC seen cutting rates again this year (Reuters)

POLITICS & GEOPOLITICS

• Harris proposes corporate tax rate to 28%, drawing a contrast with Trump (FT)

• Trump downplays his comments on presidential say over monetary policy, weighs proposals to aid homebuyers (Bloomberg)

• Blinken says Israel has accepted the Gaza proposal, urging Hamas to do same in last chance deal (FT)

• Despite apparent truce progress, Hamas and Israeli officials see slim chance of ceasefire breakthrough (NY Times)

ECONOMY

• Canada's inflation cools to a 40-month low of 2.5% in July (Reuters)

ASX TODAY

There is an avalanche of FY24 results. You can view all announcements via our ASX announcements page.

• Synlait Milk reaches agreement for recapitalisation, including new equity of NZ$217.8m with Bright Dairy and a2 Milk (SM1)

• Woodside is in the sights of global heavyweights (The Aus)

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

The ASX 200 is set to fall after a weak overnight lead. The Index has manage to rally for eight consecutive sessions so I guess its about time we experience a slight pullback. Today marks the busiest day of reporting season (so far).

Lots of results today. A few that have caught my eye so far include:

• Corporate Travel: Big miss across the board. FY24 underlying NPAT up 22% to $113.3m but 10.8% below Macquarie ests . Total FY24 dividend of 29 cents also a 16% miss. FY25 guidance expects EBITDA for first half to be negative (vs. MQG ests of 1.5% growth).

• Brambles: FY24 EPS up 19% to 56.1 US cents and 5.8% ahead of Morgan Stanley estimates (as at 7 June). Total FY24 dividend of 34 US cents was also a 17% beat against MSe.

• Wisetech Global: Solid double digit growth across most key financial metrics and ahead of analyst expectations. FY25 guidance EBITDA of $680m at the midpoint which is 8% ahead of Goldman Sachs estimates.

BROKER MOVES

• Baby Bunting downgraded to Hold from Add; target cut to $1.70 from $1.80 (Morgans)

• Boss Energy upgraded to Buy from Hold; target cut to $4.20 (Shaw & Partners)

• Hub24 downgraded to Underweight from Neutral; target cut to $44.20  (Jarden)

• Hub24 downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform; target cut to $49 from $50 (RBC)

• Judo Capital upgraded to Overweight from Equal-weight; target up to $1.75 from $1.30 (Morgan Stanley)

• Judo Capital upgraded to Neutral from Underperform; target up to $1.60 (Macquarie)

• Monadelphous downgraded to Hold; target cut to $12.60 from $15.50 (Jefferies)

• Reece upgraded to Buy from Neutral; target up to $29.15 from $26.05 (BofA)

Stocks trading ex-dividend: 

• Wed 21 Aug: AMP (AMP) – $0.02, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) – $2.50, ASX (ASX) – $1.06, GQG Partners (GQG) – $0.035

• Thu 22 Aug: JB Hi-Fi (JBH) – $1.83, Domain (DHG) – $0.04, Suncorp (SUN) – $0.44, Mystate (MYS) – $0.115, GWA Group (GWA) – $0.08

• Fri 23 Aug: Amotiv (AOV) – $0.22, Lendlease (LLC) – $0.095

• Mon 26 Aug: Aurizon (AZJ) – $0.07, Challenger (CGF) – $0.135, Netwealth (NWL) – $0.14

• Tue 27 Aug: Coronado Global (CRN) – $0.005, AGL Energy (AGL) – $0.35, Contract Energy (CEN) – $0.206

Other ASX corporate actions today: 

• Dividends paid: None

• Listing: None  

• Earnings: AUB Group (AUB), Bapcor (BAP), Breville Group (BRG), Brambles (BXB), Corporate Travel (CTD), Domino’s Pizza (DMP), Data#3 (DTL), EML Payments (EML), Healius (HLS), HMC Capital (HMC), IAG Insurance (IAG), Hansen Technology (HSN), Iluka (ILU), Imdex (IMD), Macquarie Technology  (MQG), Maas Group (MGH), Pexa (PXA), Scentre Group (SCG), Service Stream (SSM), Valentino Services (VNT), Wisetech Global (WTC)  

• AGMs: None

Economic calendar (AEST):

• 9:50 am: Japan Balance of Trade (Jul)

• 4:00 am: FOMC Minutes