Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
The local share market is predicted to rise for the final day of trade before the Australia Day public holiday, it’s tipped to add a quarter of a per cent.
US markets provided a solid lead, the Nasdaq gaining more than 0.4 per cent per cent, the S&P 500 nearly 0.2 per cent, with only the Dow Jones dipping, but only by 0.14 per cent.
Microsoft’s market cap surpassed $3 trillion overnight, making it second only to Apple as the most valuable company. Microsoft shares gained 1.7 per cent and peaked at a record high of around $405.60, before sliding back to just below that $3 trillion mark for close.
Tesla is planning production of a new mass-market electric vehicle, codenamed “Redwood,” from mid-next year. It’s set to be a ‘compact crossover’, aligning with CEO Elon Musk’s vision for more affordable electric vehicles and self-driving robotaxis!
Canadian policymakers have held interest rates at 5 per cent – leaving rates unchanged for four straight months.
Canada’s central bank Governor Tiff Macklem notes discussions had become less about how high interest rates should be, to how long they should remain at 5 per cent.
In stocks to watch back home … there’s a host of quarterly results due out today, including
from Restaurant Brands New Zealand (ASX:RBD) which operates outlets including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and California. It reported December quarter sales up nearly A$8 and a half million on the same time in 2022.
Health tech company Resmed is reporting lower gross margins but an increase in revenue of 12 per cent.
It has promised a quarterly dividend of US48 cents.
And Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) has achieved first ore feed as it works to pull the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia back into production, but its capital costs are up on US$7 on earlier predictions.
One Aussie dollar is buying 66 US cents, iron ore rose three quarters of a per cent to US$133.50, gold dipped the other way, to just above US$2013. Crude oil has jumped more than a per cent to above the US$75 mark and natural gas is trading up almost 10 per cent, to just below US$2.70.
