ASX 200 futures are down 36pts (-0.42%) as of 8:30 am AEDT.
In a nutshell:
S&P 500 closed within 0.1% of all-time highs
Breadth was extremely poor, with 9 out of 11 sectors lower and megacap names like Nvidia (+4.4%) propping benchmarks higher
Quarterly updates from Alcoa, Mount Gibson, Regis Resources and more
Let's dive in.
Thu 23 Jan 25, 8:25am (AEDT)
Thu 23 Jan 25, 8:25am (AEDT)
US benchmarks mostly higher but off best levels
S&P 500 briefly traded above 6,100 but failed to hold on for a fresh record close (previously 6,090 set 6-Dec
Breadth was extremely poor, with the Equal-weight S&P 500 underperforming the official benchmark by 97 bps
Broad-based weakness for all sectors outside of Tech, which received a boost from Trump’s US$500bn investment in AI infrastructure
US stock market “kind of inflated”, risks from deficit spending, inflation and geopolitical upheaval, says JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon (CNBC)
'Robust' IPO activity in 2025 says top NYSE exchange official (RT)
China rolled out basket of measures to stabilise its stock markets, including easing rules for long-term funds (BBG)
Netflix shares soar 9% after Q4 result topped all metrics, including a record 19m paid net adds vs. 8.9m consensus, raises 2025 revenue and margin outlook (RT)
Amazon exiting its operations in Quebec, leading to the loss of about 1,700 jobs (RT)
Salesforce CEO sees thousands of deals this quarter from AI-driven Agentforce product (BBG)
Google agrees to new investment of more than US$1bn in Anthropic, building on 10% stake (CNBC)
Puma announces cost-cutting plan amid falling profits (RT)
ECB's Knot says investor bets for interest-rate cuts in January and March are reasonable (BBG)
Trump flags 10% tariff on China from 1-Feb, repeats threat to hit Mexico, Canada and EU with tariffs (RT)
Trump threatens to ramp up sanctions and tariffs on Russia if the Ukraine war does not end (CNBC)
Trump orders federal agencies to speed up permits in bid to shrink project timelines (BBG)
Trump meets House, Senate Republican leaders to discuss GOP legislative agenda (WSJ)
Trump adopts light touch approach to AI in aim to make US AI superpower (BBG)
China sees room to avert trade war despite US tariff threat (FT)
Thu 23 Jan 25, 8:25am (AEDT)
Alcoa reports Q4 EPS of $1.04 vs. $0.95 consensus, NYSE-listed shares up around 2.2% in after hours, provides 2025 production outlook (AAI)
Lotus Resources advances Kayelekera Project, targeting first uranium production for September quarter 2025 (LOT)
Mount Gibson reports Q2 production report, holds A$431m cash (vs. $384m market cap), operations tracking in-line with FY25 guidance (MGX)
Regis Resources reports Q2 AISC of A$2,317/oz vs. A$2,495/oz a quarter ago, quarterly gold revenue of $482m, reaffirms FY guidance (RRL)
Rio Tinto expects Resolution copper mine in Arizona to be given green light under new Trump administration, previously delayed for 12 months over permits (FT)
Star Entertainment lenders discuss with advisors over how a voluntary administration might go (AFR)
Sector weakness: All US sectors (ex-Tech) finished lower. We're seeing big breadth reversal after a solid ~6 days of good breadth. On a side note, most of the above resource-related ETFs finished 1-3% lower after a decent run. Let's see how the dust settles.
Uranium: Another sizeable rally overnight for the Global X Uranium ETF (URA), up 4.0% but off session highs of 5.8%. It's now up 10.2% in the last two sessions. Most ASX-listed names like BOE, DYL and PDN opened 2-5% higher on Wednesday but finished up 7-14%. It appears that local names were front-running that overnight move, which could result in a rather choppy session today. Nevertheless, a big momentum thrust for the sector.
29Metals resumed Outperform with $0.30 target; prior rating was Neutral (MQG)
Evolution Mining downgraded to Underperform from Neutral; but target up to $5.50 from $5.20 (EVN)
Lottery Corp upgraded to Overweight from Neutral; target up to $5.05 from $5.0 (JARD)
Paladin Energy downgraded to Neutral from Buy; but target up to $10 from $9.90 (UBS)
Stocks trading ex-dividend:
Thu 23 Jan: Mirrabooka Investments (MIR) – $0.045
Fri 24 Jan: None
Other ASX corporate actions today:
Dividends paid: None
Listing: None
Earnings: None
AGMs: Myer (MYR), Premier Investments (PMV)
Economic calendar (AEDT):
No major economic announcements.
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