ASX 200 futures are up 28pts (0.33%) as of 8:30 am AEDT.
In a nutshell:
US stocks rallied on Friday, closing out a strong week as bond yields eased from uncomfortably high levels
Trump will be sworn in as US president for a second time tonight
Flurry of mixed economic data since Friday, including better-than-expected China GDP growth, poor UK December retail sales and an IMF upgrade for US GDP in 2024
Let's dive in.
Mon 20 Jan 25, 8:21am (AEDT)
Mon 20 Jan 25, 8:21am (AEDT)
Major US benchmarks finished higher, off best levels but capped off a week of healthy gains
Equal-weight S&P 500 underperformed the official benchmark by 51 bps, reflecting big tech leadership
US weekly recap: Russell 2000 +3.96%, Dow +3.69%, S&P 500 +2.91% and Nasdaq +2.45%
US 10-year yield down 14 bps for the week, while still elevated, the pullback is supporting risk assets this week
S&P 500 Q4 EPS so far up 12.5% vs. forecasts of 11.9% and of the 9% of companies that have reported, 79% have beaten EPS expectations
Global equity funds see drop in demand on rising US Treasury yields (RT)
ETF flows smash through previous full-year record to hit US$1.5tn, peaking after Trump's election win (FT)
Wall Street traders' playbook for Trump's White House return is to ignore the noise (BBG)
China braces for Trump showdown with yuan and equities in the firing line (BBG)
Trump promises to revive TikTok via executive order on Monday, but wants app to be at least half owned by US investors (CNBC)
Starbucks to announce layoffs by early March in push to improve efficiency (SB)
Rio Tinto, Glencore have discussed merger in what could be largest-ever mining deal (FT)
Apple suspends AI-generated news alerts after notification errors (AX)
Microsoft to lift price of Office by 30% for access to new AI tools (BBG)
Tech start-up Shield AI hits US$5bn valuation (FT)
Trump says he will unleash one of the most sweeping deregulatory pushes in US history starting in first week in office (WSJ)
China bracing for Trump trade war, aiming at industries as diverse as chips, apparel and industrial plastic (BBG)
Xi sending Han Zheng, the highest-level Chinese official ever, to attend Trump's inauguration (AX)
Israel set to approve Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal (AX)
Trump team crafting sanctions strategy to facilitate Russia-Ukraine deal, punish Iran and Venezuela (BBG)
China Q4 GDP up 5.4% vs. expectations of 5.0% and quickening from 4.6% growth in Q3 as a flurry of support measures kick in (RT)
China home prices steady for the first time in 18 months (RT)
China's population falls for third straight year in 2024 despite higher birth rate (NBS)
UK retail sales unexpectedly dip 0.3% MoM in December vs. expectations of a 0.4% increase amid cautious consumers and inflation reacceleration concerns (BBG)
US December housing starts up 15.8% MoM, well above expectations of a 2.8% increase (BBG)
IMF raises 2025 US growth forecast to 2.7%, up from 2.2% in October and the highest among G7 countries (IMF)
Mon 20 Jan 25, 8:21am (AEDT)
CogState reports preliminary 1H25 revenue growth of 18% to $23.9m (CGS)
Gold Road releases Gilmour Project PFS, pre-tax free cash flow of $337m at A$3,500/oz, project remains on schedule to be shovel ready from late 2026 (GOR)
Ioneer confirms closing of $996m loan from US Department of Energy, Nasdaq-listed shares up 21.9% on Friday (INR)
Polynovo reports 1H25 group revenue up 22.8% to $59.9m, US sales up 27.9% to $41.2m, first sales were made in Malta, Portugal and Peru (late Friday arvo announcement sent shares up 2.3%) (PNV)
Star Entertainment fails to receive NSW and Queensland government support for tax reprieve (AFR)
Uranium: Uranium ETF (URA) gained 2.4% overnight to hit a fresh one-month high (although it faded from session highs of 5.0%). Uranium stocks are starting to stabilise despite high short interest among most ASX-listed names.
Deep Yellow initiated Outperform with $2.00 target (MQG)
Life360 upgraded to Buy from Neutral; target up to $55 from $52 (UBS – 16-Jan)
Stocks trading ex-dividend:
Mon 20 Jan: None
Tue 21 Jan: Spheria Emerging Companies (SEC) – $2.30
Wed 22 Jan: Leo Lithium (LLL) – $0.505
Thu 23 Jan: Mirrabooka Investments (MIR) – $3.42
Fri 24 Jan: None
Other ASX corporate actions today:
Dividends paid: None
Listing: None
Earnings: None
AGMs: None
Economic calendar (AEDT):
No major economic announcements.
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