A mini ‘flash crash’ greeted traders on the opening as trading in dozens of blue-chip stocks from ExxonMobil to McDonald’s and Mastercard was briefly halted on Tuesday after problems with the New York Stock Exchange’s opening auction caused sharp swings at the start of trading. More than 75 stocks were stopped for hitting volatility limits within 15 seconds of the open. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it was reviewing the problem.
Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished higher Tuesday as investors parsed through the latest batch of corporate earnings reports for insight into the state of the economy.
The Dow gained 104 points, or 0.3 per cent, while the S&P 500 traded flat. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.3 per cent.
The Nasdaq Composite has gained 8.6 percent so far this year. As investors have been buying tech stocks in the belief that inflation is easing enough for the Fed to begin slowing the pace of its interest rate increases.
Tech titans are among the best-performing stocks in 2023, with the FANG Index — which includes such tech giants as Amazon, Apple, Meta and Netflix — up 14.8 percent in 2023, on pace for its best month since August 2020.
After market Microsoft has just reported earnings after the bell, with its shares rising as much as 5 per cent in extended trading after the company reported fiscal second quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Sales growth is expected to come in at just 2.3 per cent year over year, which would be the weakest expansion for Microsoft in any period since 2016
In further tech news the US Justice Department will reportedly sue Google over its digital ad dominance. Prosecutors may file a lawsuit as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg. It would be the department’s second antitrust suit against Google in recent years, and part of a broader crackdown on tech giant.
S&P 500 Sectors were mostly mixed on Tuesday, with Industrials and utilities leading the way, up 0.65 per cent and 0.49 per cent.
Earnings season continued Tuesday with mixed results. 3M dropped 6.2 per cent on disappointing guidance, while Union Pacific dipped 3.3 per cent after falling short of estimates.
Some of the best performing thematics include: gene editing, lithium stocks and outer space concept.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.1 per cent fall.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 8:10 AM has strengthened compared to the US dollar yesterday buying 70.45 US cents (Tue: 70.26 US cents).
Commodities
Gold added 0.5 per cent. Silver gained 0.9 per cent. Copper rose 0.1 per cent and oil fell 1.9 per cent.
Figures around the globe
Across the Atlantic, European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE fell 0.4 per cent, Frankfurt lost 0.1 per cent while Paris closed 0.3 per cent higher.
In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite were closed.
Yesterday, the Australian sharemarket added 0.4 per cent to close at 7,490.
Ex-dividends
Alternative Investment Trust (ASX:AIQ) is paying 4.25 cents unfranked
Dividends payable
Premier Investments (ASX:PMV)
360 Capital Group (ASX:TGP)
360 Capital REIT (ASX:TOT)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
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