New Zealand Market Movers
The New Zealand market (NZX 50 Index, -0.1%) slipped marginally on Tuesday.
Today at 10:45 am we receive the December quarter inflation rate, which is forecast to show a slowing pace in the rise of consumer prices. Rate sensitive retirement stocks ruled the market on Tuesday, led by Ryman Healthcare (+5.7%), Summerset Group (+2.0%), and Arvida Group (+1.8%).
AFT Pharmaceuticals (+2.4%) advanced after announcing that it had secured a licensing and distribution deal for nine eastern Europe countries.
Australia Market Movers
The Australian market (ASX 200 Index, +0.4%) was buoyed by gains in Materials (+1.3%), IT (+1.3%), and Real Estate (+1.8%).
Myer (+5.3%) jumped after announcing its strongest sales since 2004. Sales for the department store and online retailer rose 24.8% from last year’s corresponding period.
Europe Market Movers
European markets (Stoxx 600 Index, -0.2%) closed lower on Tuesday with Healthcare (-1.3%) and oil and gas (-1.3%) leading losses, while Travel and Leisure (+1.4%) led gains.
The S&P Global euro zone composite PMI, which measures manufacturing and services activity, came in at 50.2 in January, up from 49.3 in December PMIs indicating that euro zone economic activity is back to expansionary territory.
US Market Movers
US markets (S&P 500 Index -0.1%) traded flat on Tuesday ahead of earnings from Microsoft (-0.2%), which was due after the bell (see our stock in focus). During the trading day, 3M (-6.3%) cratered after providing disappointing guidance.
In other news, the U.S. Justice Department filed its second antitrust lawsuit against Google (-2.1%) in just over two years, sending its stock down on the day. The DOJ’s latest lawsuit is seeking to make Google divest parts its online advertising business.
Stock in Focus: Microsoft (MSFT.NASDAQ)
Microsoft reported better-than-feared earnings — EPS of $2.32 vs. $2.29 expected, and revenue of $52.75B, just missing expectations of $52.95B.
MSFT’s cloud segment reported $21.51B of revenue – ahead of expectations of $21.43, while personal computing revenues fell to $14.24B. What’s interesting here are the segments that outperformed – cloud and productivity ($17B vs. est. $16.81B). It suggests that the cloud sector, whilst decelerating, continues to grow apace, suggesting that core Capital Expenditure on cloud is largely immune to recessionary pressures. We continue to rate MSFT a buy; the read-through here is that we expect stronger tech earnings from peers like Amazon and Google.
What Markets will be Watching this Week (UTC +13)
Monday
NZ Westpac Consumer Confidence DEC
Tuesday
NZ Balance of Trade NOV
NZ ANZ Business Confidence DEC
AU RBA Minutes of Dec Policy Meeting
Earnings From Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson
Auckland International Airport Monthly Traffic Update
Wednesday
EU Consumer Confidence DEC
CPI (Inflation) data for Australia and New Zealand
Earnings from Tesla
Quarterly updates from Fortescue, Woodside Energy and Mineral Resources
Thursday
GB GDP Growth Rate YoY Final Q3
Bank of Canada Interest rate decision
Earnings from Visa, LMVH, Mastercard
Friday
US Chicago Fed National Activity Index NOV
US fourth Quarter GDP
Earnings from ResMed
Saturday
US Durable Goods Orders MoM NOV