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The ASX 200 is tipped to drop 0.6% to end the week after Wall Street tumbled on earnings reports from several tech giants, including Microsoft and Meta.
U.S. markets saw an end to their month-long winning streak overnight, with sharp tech selloffs sparked by middling Microsoft and Meta earnings; Apple too just barely beat its estimates for the quarter with a 6% rise in iPhone sales.
Only Amazon had anything truly strong to share, but even if it couldn’t stop the Nasdaq slumping 2.8%. The S&P 500 charted similar losses, dipping 1.9% by the close.
Expected U.S. jobs data – to be released on Friday – also had investors edgy.
Back home, Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) missed expectations with reports its interim profits had lifted to $1.61 billion. The group’s $2bn buyback was also extended for 12 months.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting crowned a glamorous week where it inked a $1.1bn deal to buy two onshore gas projects from Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) by posting $5.6bn annual profits – MinRes leapt 9.2% after the deal.
Elsewhere, Amcor (ASX:AMC) is selling interest in its BCNA joint venture for $122m.
Smallcap Tower Limited (ASX:TWR) is now looking for a successor to CEO Blair Turnbull after his resignation, while Vulcan Steel (ASX:VSL) shared NZ$148m in EBITDA.
Data on Aussie household spending and home loans are both due at 11.30am today.
Looking at forex, the Aussie dollar is buying 65.8 US cents.
To commodities, which are in the greenback,
Iron Ore has holding flat at $103.78 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is trading at $74.07,
Gold retreated to trade at $2,754 per ounce, and,
US natgas futures are at $2.70 per gigajoule.
That’s Market Open, I’m Isaac McIntyre, stick with us for HotCopper’s Market Update.
