Author: therawinformant

On Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gave back its strong morning gains to finish the day lower. The benchmark index fell 0.4% to 6,020.5 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to drop lower.

The ASX 200 is expected to drop lower again on Wednesday after a poor night of trade on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the benchmark index is expected to fall 24 points or 0.4% at the open. On Wall Street the Dow Jones fell 0.8%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.65%, and the Nasdaq tumbled 1.3% lower.

Rio Tinto half year results.

The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price will be one to watch on Wednesday when it releases its half year results. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it expects the mining giant to report underlying earnings of US$4 billion and underlying EBITDA of US$9.1 billion. In respect to its dividend, Goldman is expecting Rio Tinto to declare a US$1.51 per share interim dividend.

Virgin Money UK Q3 update.

The Virgin Money UK PLC (ASX: VUK) share price could be on the rise today following the release of its third quarter update after the market close on Tuesday. The UK-based bank reported a 4.8% increase in customer deposits to £67.7 billion and a 5.7% increase in Business lending growth to £8.8 billion. Over in the UK, the Virgin Money share price rose 2.5% overnight.

Oil prices pull back.

Energy producers including Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could come under pressure today after oil prices pulled back. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 1.3% to US$41.06 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price dropped 0.35% to US$43.26 a barrel. Oil prices tumbled after rising coronavirus cases sparked demand fears.

Gold price jumps again.

Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) could be on the rise again on Wednesday after the gold price continued its ascent. According to CNBC, the spot gold price rose 1% to US$1,950.30 an ounce. This could be the start of even greater rises, with some analysts tipping the price of the precious metal to go materially higher from here.

More reading

• Are ASX tech shares the only way to protect your portfolio against the coronavirus?
• Is the Newcrest share price a buy?
• ASX 200 down 0.4%, Credit Corp and Temple & Webster impress
• Will Rio Tinto pay a special dividend tomorrow?
• Virgin Money UK share price on watch after Q3 update

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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Every week, we Fools like to look at both the ASX and international shares that Aussie investors have been buying recently. Using data from Commonwealth Bank of Australia‘s (ASX: CBA) CommSec platform (the most popular broker in Australia) we can get a fair idea of which shares have been of most interest to ASX investors.

My Fool colleague James Mickleboro has already covered the top ASX shares that Aussie investors were adding to their portfolios last week, but here are the most popular shares from beyond our shores that ASX investors were buying between 20-24 July.

The top international share: Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA)

Electric vehicle and battery manufacturer Tesla once again tops the list this week. Tesla shares have been on an extraordinary run over the past few years, and have gained around 250% in 2020 alone, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Aussie investors are fighting to get a piece of the action (or just a piece of anything Tesla CEO Elon Musk owns). Tesla has also been making waves recently over the company’s possible inclusion in the flagship American S&P 500 Index on the back of a positive earnings update last week.

2) Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)

Microsoft is more of a blue chip juggernaut these days with its market capitalisation of more than US$1.5 trillion, but that didn’t stop Aussie investors adding this tech giant to their portfolios last week. Microsoft’s low exposure to the coronavirus pandemic as well as its capital-light earnings model has brought a lot of additional investor interest this year. Its Azure cloud platform, as well as its new Teams software, are exciting growth areas.

3) Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)

Apple is a company that never really needs an introduction. It’s iPhone product range is amongst the most popular and sought after products in the world. Not only does Apple have an additional range of top-notch products across its Mac and Accessories ranges, but its also been growing its Services range (which includes Apple Music, TV and News) at an impressive speed as well. With one of the most valuable brands on the planet, it’s no surprise Aussie investors are keen to add this one to their portfolios as well.

4) Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)

If you think of one company that has benefitted the most from the coronavirus-induced lockdowns around the world, it’s probably going to be this undisputed emperor of online retail. Amazon is one of the most dominant companies in the world, in my view. For one, it has the Amazon store, where you can buy almost any product you can think of, often at the cheapest price you can find. But the company also has its fingers in a baker’s dozen of other pies too. It owns the audiobook site Audible, online pharmacy PillPack as well as the growing behemoth that is Amazon Web Services, just to name a few. It seems Aussies aren’t turning a blind eye to all of this, despite Amazon’s sky-high share price of over US$3,000.

5) Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA)

Lastly, we have biotech company Moderna. This company has been in the news recently as the company has made significant progress on a treatment for the coronavirus, which is now in Phase III trials over in the US. ASX investors might be chasing Moderna because they believe this company’s COVID treatment will be successful or otherwise be jumping on this stock after it has appreciated by around 300% in 2020 so far. Either way, it was a share of interest for ASX investors last week.

Foolish takeaway

It’s always interesting to see which international shares ASX investors have been interested in. There seems to be a healthy mix of blue chip shares like Apple and Microsoft, as well as some more speculative shares like Moderna and Tesla this week. It will be interesting to see how this list changes throughout the rest of the year, so stay tuned to the Fool for more updates next week!

More reading

• Will Rio Tinto pay a special dividend tomorrow?
• Top broker warns earnings expectations for the ASX reporting season are too high
• Is CommBank the BNPL killer?
• What APRA’s latest release means for ASX bank shares like Westpac
• HUB24 and 2 more ASX 200 shares to watch this week

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft, short January 2021 $115 calls on Microsoft, short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Apple. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post ASX investors have been buying Tesla and these international shares appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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