Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to rise, Nvidia beats Q3 earnings expectations, Symal IPO at noon

ASX 200 futures are trading 11 points higher, up 0.13%, as of 8:30 am AEDT.

Nvidia just reported its Q3 earnings – which topped market expectations – but the stock is currently down 5% in after hours, the S&P 500 experienced a last minute rally to finish around breakeven, Target shares nosedive 20% after missing pretty much every key metric (EPS, margins and guidance) and construction biz Symal is set to debut at 12:00 pm AEDT.

Let's dive in.

S&P 500 SESSION CHART

S&P 500 returns to breakeven after a last minute rally (Source: TradingView)

OVERNIGHT MARKETS

• Major US benchmarks finished around breakeven but off worst levels

• Magnificent 7 stocks were largely lower, ahead of Nvidia earnings

• Overall – A relatively uneventful session with no major directional drivers at play beyond Target's massive earnings-related selloff

• PIMCO optimistic on equities driven by US soft landing hopes, cautious on inflation (RT)

• Trump policies expected to boost capital markets activity, says Goldman’s Soloman (BBG)

• Bond trades betting on higher yields look capped amid emergence of dip buyers (BBG)

• Dollar rally driven by Trump win may have plateaued, as bullishness fueled by US election wanes (BBG)

• China-related stocks have underperformed amid economic downturn and looming Trump tariffs (RT)

STOCKS

• Target shares dive 22% after Q3 comparable sales up just 0.3% vs. 1.5% consensus and the 5% increase reported by Walmart, EPS missed by more than 20%, gross margins contracted 20 bps due to costs of managing higher inventory levels, Q4 guidance soft and FY EPS guidance lowered by ~8% (RT)

• Ford to cut 4,000 jobs in Europe amid tepid EV momentum (BBG)

• McDonald's planning 2025 value offerings, including a "buy one add one" option (CNBC)

• Nvidia's Blackwell chips in the spotlight as company reports earnings today with another record quarter expected (AX)

• Eliminating US EV tax credit could to cut EV demand by 27% (BBG)

• Palantir becomes popular Trump trade as investors bet on higher spending from its biggest client, the US government (FT)

CENTRAL BANKS

• Fed to cut rates in December but slow pace in 2025 on inflation risks (RT)

• Fed Governor Bowman says she prefers to move cautiously, noting core PCE has moved sideways since May (BBG)

POLITICS & GEOPOLITICS

• Congress urged to strip China of trade privileges, giving US more leverage to address unfair trade practices (NK)

• Ukraine fires British long-range missiles at targets inside Russia (BBG)

• Putin open to ceasefire talks with Trump, demands Ukraine abandon NATO aspirations (RT)

• US embassy in Kyiv closes, saying it has received "specific information of a potential significant air attack" (FT)

• Russia-Ukraine war poised for escalation after Ukraine carries out first long-range strike inside Russia (BBG)

ECONOMY

• UK inflation jumped last month in part due to rising energy prices (FT)

• German wage growth hits 30-years high despite stagnation (BBG)

ASX TODAY

• Technology One Chair Patrick O’Sullivan discloses purchase of 8,400 shares despite shares up almost 100% year-to-date (TNE)

• Web Travel Group expected to release 1H25 results on 27-Nov, discloses financial impacts due to accounting standard change, most of which do not appear material at this stage (WEB)

WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

• Symal IPO: Symal (SYL) is an Australian construction group focused on various activities including civil infrastructure, contracting, plant and equipment hire etc. The company has an indicative market cap of $436.9m, trading at a price-to-earnings of 10.5x FY25e and forecast dividend yield of 4.8%. Several industrial-related IPOs such as AAL and TEA have performed strongly (after a quiet debut) so it will be interesting to see how this one goes.

• Nvidia earnings: Nvidia reported Q3 EPS of $0.81 vs. $0.75 estimates (8% beat), revenue of US$35.1bn vs. US$33.1bn estimates (5.9% beat) and guided to Q4 revenue of US$37.5bn vs. $37.0bn estimates. The stock is currently down 5% in after hours.

BROKER MOVES

• Block downgraded to Neutral from Outperform; target cut to US$88 from US$93 (BNP)

• Emeco Holdings upgraded to Overweight from Neutral; target up to $1 from $0.85 (JARD)

• Piedmont Lithium upgraded to Neutral from Underperform; target up to $0.21 from $0.11 (MQG)

• PWR Holdings upgraded to Buy from Neutral; target cut to $9.45 from $10.85 (CITI)

• Sayona Mining upgraded to Neutral from Underperform; target up to $0.04 from $0.02 (MQG)

• Santos upgraded to Add from Hold; target cut to $7.40 from $7.90 (MORG)

• Tasmea downgraded to Hold from Buy; target remains $2.50 (SHAW)

• Technology One downgraded to Hold from Add; target up to $29.90 from $20.50 (MORG)

Stocks trading ex-dividend: 

• Thu 21 Nov: Australian Unity Office Fund (AOF) – 7.47%, Terracom (TER) – 4.55%

• Fri 22 Nov: N1 Holdings (N1H) – 2.54%, Orica (ORI) – 1.55%, WAM Strategic Value (WAR) – 0.87%

• Mon 25 Nov: None

• Tue 26 Nov: Newmont (NEM) – 0.40%

• Wed 27 Nov: ALS (ALQ) – 1.23%, GrainCorp (GNC) – 3.00%

• Thu 28 Nov: Red Hill Minerals (RHI) – 7.03%, Technology One (TNE) – 0.59%

Other ASX corporate actions today: 

• Dividends paid: Myer (MYR)

• Listing: Symal Group (SYL) at 12:00 pm

• Earnings: None

• AGMs: Accent Group (AX1), Evolution Mining (EVN), Hub24 (HUB), Hansen Technologies (HSN), Insignia Financial (IFL), Mineral Resources (MIN), New Hope (NHC), Qube Holdings (QUB), Ramelius Resources (RMS), Regis Resources (RRL), Worley (WOR)

Economic calendar (AEDT):

No major economic announcements.