Our market is expected to plunge deeper into correction territory as fears that the Chinese economic slowdown will drag the rest of the world into a recession sent global equities into a tailspin on Friday night.
Hold on tight as the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is expected to plummet 2.8% this morning as key US and European stock indices ended around 3% lower. The S&P/200 index has already shed 12.8% since hitting a high in April and a drop of 10% or more from the peak is defined as a technical correction.
The negative sentiment is infecting commodities with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price declining 2.1% to $US40.45 a barrel as copper lost 0.8% to $US2.2985 a pound.
This isn't an auspicious day for diversified miner South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) to be releasing its first full year profit numbers since its spin-off from BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) in May.
The newly floated miner posted a 41% surge in pro forma underlying earnings to $US575 million ($788.4 million) as four of its mines boasted record production. Shareholders will be hoping there's enough good news in the result to lift the stock off its lowest point of $1.52 that it hit on Friday.
Interestingly, iron ore actually jumped 0.5% to $US56.10 a tonne although this is unlikely to do much to stem the bleeding in the mining sector today.
But there're plenty of other companies that will be sharing the earnings spotlight today. Steel maker BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) reported a 2014-15 underlying net profit of $134.1 million that was 16% above consensus expectations and management thinks the first half of the current financial year will match the second half of 2014-15.
Property development and construction group Lend Lease Group (ASX: LLC) posted a 24.8% drop in statutory net profit to $618.6 million as revenue fell 4.7% to $13.28 billion but management issued an upbeat outlook.
New Zealand telco Chorus Ltd (ASX: CNU) turned in a 38.5% drop in full year net profit to $NZ91 million ($83.2 million) due to the impact from the change in regulated pricing, while aged care facilities operator Japara Healthcare Ltd (ASX: JHC) posted a sharp turnaround with a net profit of $28.8 million for 2014-15 compared to a net loss of $2.9 million in the previous year.
Other notable companies scheduled to release earnings today include fuel supplier and retailer Caltex Australia Limited (ASX: CTX), iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), telecommunications services reseller M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU), construction engineer UGL Limited (ASX: UGL) and oil and gas company Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) – just to name a few.
In other news, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) will start the sales process for its stake in Indonesia's Bank Panin this week, reports Reuters; and the Northern Territory government names Tatts Group Limited's (ASX: TTS) Ubet business as the preferred firm for the totalisator license.
Finally, shares in general insurer Insurance Australia Group Ltd (AX: IAG) could face more downward pressure after two brokers downgraded the stock following its disappointing full year results that wiped 5.2% off its share price on Friday.
