S&P/ASX 200 to jump: 8 shares to watch

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index:^AXJO)(ASX:XJO) is expected to open firmly lower. Shares of AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL), Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX:TAH), Downer EDI Limited (ASX:DOW) and Ansell Limited (ASX:ANN) will be in focus.

Owen Raszkiewicz

Owen Raszkiewicz is a Motley Fool Contributor. Owen has been a Contributor since 2013, having also spent time as a Fool writer/analyst. He also worked as an Investment Analyst at Zenith Investment Partners, Australia's top research house specialising in managed funds. Owen has appeared on Channel 10's The Project and was invited on the BBC. He holds a Masters of Applied Finance, Masters of Financial Planning, Bachelor of Technology, Advanced Diploma of Financial Services and Diploma of Mortgage Broking Management. In addition, Owen has passed Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program. He has taken the Banking + Finance Oath (BFO). When he is not writing, Owen is Managing Director of Rask Finance, an Australian financial education company. You can email him: [email protected].

Published February 4, 2016 10:13 am AEDT

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AJXO) (ASX: XJO) is expected to trade higher despite mixed leads from international markets overnight.

Here's a recap:

Dow Jones (USA): up 1.13%
NASDAQ (USA): down 0.28%
FTSE 100 (UK): down 1.43%
DAX (Germany): down 1.53%
EURO STOXX 50 (Europe): down 1.87%

In the US, a 6% jump in oil prices helped the Dow Jones nudge higher. Meanwhile European investors appear to have been spooked by inflation concerns and volatile oil prices, dragging energy and bank shares lower. FTSE-listed shares of Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) rose 2.15%, while BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) ended 0.17% lower.

Closer to home, the Sydney Futures Exchange is tipping a 32-point, or 0.6%, rise in the S&P/ASX 200.

Shares in focus will include AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL). This morning, the energy giant announced it'd take an impairment of $640 million after tax on gas exploration and production assets. It will no longer hold exploration and production of natural gas assets as a core business. It also chose not to proceed with its New South Wales assets and announced the sale of select assets in Queensland.

In other news, Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) announced the appointment of Will Irving as Group Executive Telstra Wholesale following a decision by current executive Stuart Lee to stand down.

Another company in focus today will be betting agency, Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH). In an ASX announcement this morning, the company revealed a 33% drop in profit for the half-year ended 31 December 2015 despite a 2% increase in revenue.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) released an operational briefing to the market saying that it expects the "FY16 result to up on FY15."

Programmed Maintenance Services Ltd (ASX: PRG) released a "business update" flagging impairments. It expects to report a dividend of 5 cents per share, equal to 50% of the updated profit forecast. Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU) announced the acquisition of Capital Markets Cooperative, LLC for $US71.2 million.

Yesterday evening, Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) lowered its earnings per share forecast from between $US1.05 and $US1.20 to between $US0.95 and $US1.10.

Finally, Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW) announced a first-half net profit of $72.1 million, down 24% over the prior corresponding period.

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