ASX 200 futures are up 31pts (+0.37%) as of 8:30 am AEDT.
In a nutshell:
Nasdaq continued to ease as investors rotated out of major tech names
S&P 500 and Dow positive, most US stocks finished higher, led by Materials, Tech and Healthcare sectors
Yields and the US dollar remain a problem as both continued to tick higher overnight
Let's dive in.
Tue 14 Jan 25, 8:20am (AEDT)
Tue 14 Jan 25, 8:20am (AEDT)
Major US benchmarks finished mixed but well off worst levels
S&P 500 finished up 0.16%, rallying from session lows of -0.92%
Strong breadth, with more than 70% of S&P 500 constituents closing higher
Yields continue to dampen risk appetite, the US 10-year yield is up more than 115 bps since the Fed kicked off the current easing cycle
S&P 500 earnings forecast to increase 11.7% year-on-year in Q4, the strongest growth in three years
Investors hope corporate earnings growth can revive faltering stock market rally amid fading bets for quicker Fed rate cuts (WSJ)
Hedge funds increased bearish bets ahead of Friday's strong US jobs report, says Goldman Sachs (Reuters)
Stronger US dollar to boost domestically oriented sectors over those with global revenues, says Morgan Stanley's Wilson (BBG)
Strong US jobs report reinforces expectations for higher for longer rates; some fear inflation rebound (RT)
Global bond yield backup triggering a lot of worries about start to 2025 (BBG)
BofA strategists see weaker demand for long-duration, investment grade bonds amid hawkish Fed repricing (BBG)
Bitcoin briefly dips below $90,000 to lowest level since November (CNBC)
Tougher US sanctions set to curb Russian oil supply to China and India sending crude to four-month high (BBG)
Nvidia Blackwell customers delaying orders over overheating, glitches in how chips connect with each other (RT)
Optimism over US banks set to be put to the test with earnings this week (YH)
Airline bosses bullish over 2025 but industry remains vulnerable to unexpected problems like recession, inflation rebound (NYT)
TSMC Q4 profit expected to surge 58% on strong AI chip demand (RT)
ECB's Vujcic says central bank unlikely to speed up rate cut pace (BBG)
ECB's Rehn says more rate cuts will be needed irrespective of Fed moves (BBG)
BoE faces inflation challenge as CPI set to remain elevated (BBG)
China ramps up support for yuan with tweaks to its capital controls and vows to crack down on market disruption (BBG)
Tue 14 Jan 25, 8:20am (AEDT)
Bravura Solutions confirms 16.3 cents per share return of capital or a yield of approximately 7.4% (BVS)
MAF Financial to raise ~$300m for listed private credit trust, sources say MA has begun contacting potential investors about the raise, as it targets managing $15bn by the end of 2026 (The Aus)
Telix Pharmaceuticals reports preliminary Q4 revenue growth of 46% to $218m, upgrades FY revenue guidance to $783m vs. prior $745-776m and $771m consensus (TLX)
Xingchun Wang discloses 5.5% stake in The Star, the mystery investor is Macau-based, listed address as the Windsor Arch high-rise project (AFR)
Resource bounce: Energy (+2.2%) and Materials (+2.2%) were the best performing S&P 500 sectors. Continued strength across several commodities like oil (Brent up 1.5% to four-month high), copper (up 0.75% to three-month high) and a small bounce in iron ore prices (up 0.4% to US$99.35)
Gold weakness: Bullion prices eased -1.0% overnight, snapping a four-day win streak.
Retailers: Premier Investments (-15.9%) and Myer (23.1%) suffered steep selloffs yesterday after trading updates flagged weaker-than-expected earnings. PMV guided to 1H25 sales between $855-865m or 2.2% below Macquarie estimates (as of Nov-24). The result dragged most retail stocks lower (e.g. BRG -3.4%, WES -2.2%, LOV -1.8%). It will be interesting to see if PMV is hit with consensus downgrades today.
MA Financial upgraded to Neutral from Underperform; target up to $11 from $9 (BofA)
Newmont initiated Buy with $76.20 target (GS)
Northern Star Resources upgraded to Buy from Neutral; target up to $20 from $16.60 (GS)
Stocks trading ex-dividend:
Tue 14 Jan: None
Wed 15 Jan: Tower (TWR) – 4.22%
Thu 16 – Fri 17 Jan: None
Other ASX corporate actions today:
Dividends paid: None
Listing: None
Earnings: None
AGMs: None
Economic calendar (AEDT):
9:30 am: Australia Consumer Confidence (Jan)
11:30 pm: US Producer Price Index (Dec)
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