| Name | Daily Close | Daily Change | Daily Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 44,627.59 | 71.25 | 0.16% |
| S&P 500 | 6,144.15 | 14.57 | 0.24% |
| Nasdaq | 20,056.25 | 14.99 | 0.07% |
| VIX | 15.27 | -0.08 | -0.52% |
| Gold | 2,949.60 | 0.6 | 0.02% |
| Oil | 72.18 | 0.33 | 0.46% |
US MARKET
US stocks traded lower on Thursday. The S&P 500 slipped 0.6%. The Nasdaq 100 slid 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.3%. The Russell 2000 dropped 1%. The KBW Bank Index slumped 2.5%. A gauge of the Magnificent Seven megacaps fell 0.7%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 4.50%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7%.
Walmart Inc., the first big-box retailer to report results after the holiday season, sank 6.5%. Its chief financial officer acknowledged “uncertainties related to consumer behaviour and global economic and geopolitical conditions.” That’s just days after retail sales signalled an abrupt pullback by consumers. It is worth noting however that Walmart has a history of issuing very conservative guidance at the beginning of a calendar year.
But the fact remains that the news out of Walmart raises even more concerns about the state of the US consumer. There have already been some disappointing numbers on consumer confidence and last week’s retail sales data was much lower than expected, all raising some questions about how strong growth will be over the rest of this year.
A slide in banks also weighed on trading, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. each falling over 4%. Almost all sectors traded in the red, with financials and consumer discretionary emerging as the worst performers.
Meanwhile, investor sentiment remained pressured by geopolitical and economic concerns, particularly fears over trade tariffs and US policy uncertainty. On the economic data front, weekly jobless claims rose to 219K, surpassing forecasts of 215K, while continuing claims increased to 1.869 million, though still indicative of a resilient labour market.
Nvidia is scheduled to release its latest quarterly results next Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) and analysts have begun to publish previews, optimistic generally speaking. The result will be very important with respect to the Mag 7 direction and AI more broadly, given Nvidia is effectively at the center of the AI universe.
Australian Market Wrap
The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 1.15% to close at 8,323 on Thursday, marking its fourth consecutive session of losses and hitting its lowest point in a month. The decline was driven by a selloff in heavyweight iron ore miners and bank stocks following disappointing earnings reports.
Fortescue plunged more than 6% after reporting a 53% drop in first-half profit, largely due to weaker iron ore demand from China. Rio Tinto and BHP Group also faced losses, falling 1.5% and 2%, respectively. Financial stocks were under pressure as well, with notable declines from NAB (-3.3%), ANZ Group (-3.1%), and Westpac Banking (-3%). Additionally, data revealed that Australia’s jobless rate increased to 4.1% in January, up from 4% in December. The jobs market remain strong and resilient currently.
ASX futures are pointing up 25 points or 0.3% to 8313. Notable earnings results for Friday include QBE Insurance, MA Financial Group, Newmont, Guzman y Gomez, Jumbo Interactive, Accent Group, Inghams Group, Nextdc, PWR Holdings and Superloop.