Good Evening,

Welcome to the ASX News daily market wrap-up.

Missed all of the day’s news? Don’t stress. We have you covered.

Here is a sneak peek at some of the day's top stories:

• South32 falls on $1.3B non-cash impairment

• Lithium miners drop as Core Lithium lowers production

• Microsoft cutting Aussie Jobs?

• Twitter goes ‘X’

The Recap

Spotlight on Miners

Today, all eyes were on the mining sector as a slew of quarterly reports kept investors busy before the bell. While the ASX200 took a gentle dip, ending 7.5 points lower at 7,306.40, it felt like the calm before a busy week on global markets.

With major central bank meetings across the US, Europe, and the UK just around the corner, investors will be eagerly awaiting to see if a series of further rate hikes are on the horizon.

Amongst the industry sectors, the Energy giants were today's shining stars with the sector climbing 2.20%. Woodside Energy (+2.34%), Santos (+2.20%) and Ampol (+1.08%) all traded higher. On the other side of the spectrum, the Materials sector felt some gravity, dragged down by BHP (-1.51%), Fortescue Metals (-1.55%) and Rio Tinto (-1.31%).

The Lithium world, however, was playing its own game. Following an underwhelming quarterly update, Core Lithium saw a hefty slide, falling by -17.2%. It wasn't alone, as fellow industry players Pilbara Minerals (-5.7%), Sayona Mining (-11.7%), Lake Resources (-5.8%) and Allkem (-5.6%) all painted the board red.

Economic News

Judo Bank released its latest Flash Australia Composite report which showed that private sector activity declined for the first time in four months, with the Composite PMI falling to 48.3 in July, down from 50.1 in June.

Despite manufacturing output showing a slight increase, a contraction in the service sector, influenced by rising interest rates, impacted overall activity. While new orders were stable, a decrease in new export orders affected the total new business.

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Local News🪃

• Fisher & Paykel director Donal O’Dwyer announced he will retire at the end of the calendar year. CleanSpace Holdings CEO Graham McLean will join the board on 1st October 2023.

• Beach Energy has appointed Seven Group chief executive Ryan Stokes as a non-executive director. Seven Group have a 30.02 per cent ownership of Beach Energy.

• Rio Tinto announced it is forming a joint venture with Giampaolo Group to produce and market recycled aluminium products, highlighting a mutual focus on low-carbon aluminium. Rio Tinto will purchase a 50% stake in Matalco, Giampaolo's subsidiary, for $700 million. Matalco, a top recycled aluminium producer, has seven facilities in North America.

• The ACCC needs more time to review ANZ’s bid for banking rival Suncorp Group. The review period will be extended to 4th August 2023

• Global shipbuilding company Austal entered a trading halt today pending a potential earnings downgrade

Around the Globe 🌏

• Twitter owner Elon Musk announced that Twitter’s new logo, an ‘X’, would go live, replacing the bird logo. Musk tweeted that “X.com now points to twitter.com”

• Netlfix earnings fell flat when they reported last week, whilst the company beat earnings estimates, it missed on revenue. Subscriptions climbed by 8 per cent.

• Stellantics and Samsung announced it will be constructing its second Battery production Gigafactory in the United States, which aims to produce an annual output of 34 GWh.

• The AFR reported today that global tech juggernaut Microsoft has been culling jobs in Australia and overseas. Business Insider reported that the figure was as high as 1,000 jobs globally.

• Some of the bigger companies to report tonight from the US and Europe include Dominoes, Phillips, Cadence Design Systems and NXP Semiconductors

Top Story

South32 Drops on $1.3B Impairment

South32 reported its quarterly production results today, with the share price falling by 2.6% to close at $3.72, mostly on the back of an unexpected US$1.3B non-cash impairment.

From a production standpoint, South reported a nine per cent year-on-year increase in copper production during the June quarter. The company said that this was underpinned by a return to stable operations following weather disruptions and other temporary impacts in the prior quarter.

The aforementioned non-cash impairment is related to the companies Taylor deposits in the US and will be reflected in its’ FY23 financial results. Despite this impairment, the company said it remains optimistic about unlocking additional value across its varying assets.

South32 said it expects FY23 operating unit costs to be in line with previous guidance, and it anticipates FY23 Group Underlying depreciation and amortization to be around US$920 million.

Movers and Shakers

✅ Biggest Winners

Meteoric Resources (MEI) were one of the biggest winners on the market today, increasing by 6.4 per cent to $0.25. The company reported assay results from 27 diamond cores at its’ Caldeira Project in Brazil. Historically, 85% of drilling was less than 10 metres deep. However, Meteoric's new drilling reveals that the clay zone and High-Grade REE mineralisation extend deeper, reaching 36 metres at Capão do Mel and 56 metres at Figueira. The company plans to expand drilling due to the program's success.

Telix Pharmaceuticals (TLX) regained some of their lost ground from last week, climbing by 7.7 per cent to $11.16. Telix traded as high as $12.16 last week before reporting a Q2 business update which saw its shares take a tumble. This is despite Telix reporting revenue growth of 21% quarter-on-quarter along with an improvement of positive operating cash flow to $10.8M.

🔻Biggest Losers 

Berkeley Energia (BKY) fell sharply today, dropping by 42.0 per cent to close at $0.40. Berkeley Energia is a Uranium producer with a primary interest in the Salamanca project located in Spain. Berkeley filed a contentious administrative appeal with the Spanish National Court during the quarter. This followed a rejection of the authorisation of construction for a uranium concentrate plant at the project location.

Core Lithium (CXO) was another to fall after issuing its quarterly production report today. The Lithium Explorer reported a decrease in spodumene to 14,685t - down from 18,274t in the previous quarter. The company said it will produce between 80,000 - 90,000t of spodumene concentrate in FY24, which is lower than expectations. Core Lithiums share price fell by 17.2 per cent to $0.72

Broker Movements

A quieter day on the broker front:

• Northern Star was reduced to a Hold by Ord Minnett. PT - $12.30

• Monadelphous was reduced to a Neutral by JP Morgan. PT - $13.00

Economic Calendar