US tech earnings take centre stage

Asia-Pacific indices

Asia-Pacific indices mostly rose overnight, in the wake of a positive session in the US on Monday. Growing expectations on a soft landing of the US economy boost equity markets around the globe. S&P 500, DAX, CAC 40 closed at all-time high. Hong Kong's Hang Seng drops after the liquidation of property giant China Evergrande.

British Retail Consortium

Prices in British shops rose at the slowest annual pace since May 2022 this month, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC). The BRC said shop price inflation dropped to 2.9% in January from 4.3% in December, driven by heavier discounting of goods in January sales this year than in 2023. Non-food prices were up 1.3%, the least since February 2022, while food prices rose 6.1% on the year, the smallest increase since June 2022, adding to signs of easing inflation pressures ahead of this week's Bank of England decision.

Japanese unemployment

In Japan, the unemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage point to 2.4% in December from a month earlier. Government data also showed that average job availability ratio in 2023 rose for a second straight year, 0.03 point to 1.31. The ratio means there were 131 job openings for every 100 job seekers. This job ratio remains below the pre-pandemic level of 1.60 in 2019.

German's economy

France avoids technical recession by the tiniest of margins. French economy stagnated in Q4. Q3 gross domestic product (GDP) was also upwardly revised to 0%, from -0.1%. Later on Tuesday morning, German economy is expected to contract by 0.3% in Q4 quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). The 0% growth from last quarter saves it from entering technical recession. As for the eurozone, GDP is seen contracting by 01% in Q4 QoQ, after a 0.1% contraction the previous three months.

JOLTs

This Tuesday marks the first chapter of the job data story that will keep the market in its toes throughout the week. job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTs) job openings are forecast to come marginally lower that last month at 8.75 million for the month of December. This would be the fourth consecutive month of decline for this indicator, taking it to a level not seen since March 2021.

Non-farm Payroll

Then on Wednesday, the ADP survey. Private US businesses are anticipated to have hired 135,000 workers in January, fewer than the previous month. Initial jobless claims will be published on Thursday, and on Friday, Non-farm Payrolls. Early expectations are for 173,000 job creations in January. remember that December data was a stronger-than-forecast 216,000, the highest in three months. Unemployment rate is seen rising to 3.8%, from 3.7%.

Diage

Diage net sales came in at $10.96BIn in H1, down 1.4%, and missing estimates. Diage talks of a challenging half year, as if faces an uneven global consumer environment. Saga thinks that travel will return to pre-pandemic underlying pretax profit, but insurance remain challenging. Before the US market opens, Wall Street analysts expect General Motors to announce quarterly earnings of $1.08 per share, representing a decline of 49.1% year over year. Revenues are projected to reach $40.34BIn, declining 6.4% from the same quarter last year.

Pfizer

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is also reporting its Q4 results before market opens. The street expects the group to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on lower revenues. It is expected to post a quarterly loss of $0.18 per share. Revenues are expected to be $14.35 billion, down 40.9% from the year-ago quarter. Pfizer's stock has been on the decline for the past two years. Since January last year, shares have fallen about 46%. The stock peaked in December 2021 bolstered by Covid vaccine sales, but since, Pfizer has failed to find its next sales driver. It hopes finding it in its latest acquisition. Last month, Pfizer completed its $43BIn deal to acquire cancer-focused biotech group Seagen.

Microsoft

Microsoft is due to report tonight after the US closing bell. The street anticipates earnings of $2.29 on revenue of $52.94BIn for its fiscal second quarter. This is to be compared with EPS of $2.32 for the same quarter a year ago, and revenue of $52.7BIn. During Q1, Microsoft experienced a notable acceleration in its Azure cloud revenue growth, marking a significant shift after two years of slowing momentum. Analysts anticipate this trend to have continued in Q2. Investors are also keen to see what impact the acquisition of Activision Blizzard will have on Microsoft guidance. the $68.7BIn deal was finalised in mid-October, is expected to be a topic of discussion by Microsoft executives. And there is Open Al and its recent developments. Many analysts see Microsoft as the early winner of the Al race.

Alphabet

Alphabet is another one to report after the US closing bell. Google's parent company is seen posting earnings of $1.59 per share on revenue of $85.23BIn. A year ago, earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.15 and revenue of just over $76BIn. Throughout the year, top and bottom lines have been improving, thanks to a rebound in advertising activities. Advertisement revenue accounts for 78% of Alphabet's top line. Momentum is expected to continue in Q4, with analysts expecting a 11.6% growth of this segment. The market awaits more Al announcements, as Alphabet is now in a race against time - and Microsoft. Previously, it has announced the incorporation of Al-powered solutions like Search and Performance Max, aimed at helping customers to increase their ad's ROl. No doubt that any progress of new features will be on close watch.

Advanced Micro Device

Earnings from US semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices could prompt some interesting volatility after the closing bell on Wall Street today. Analysts are expecting the $0.77 per share. Regarding the top line, expectations are for the $6.13BIn. PC market seems to have turned a corner. In Q3, revenue from Its Client division, which includes sales from PC processor rose 42% year-over-year (YoY). Analysts expect this trend to have continued in Q4. Like Microsoft and Alphabet, Al has now become a priority for AMD. Investors will keep a close look on AMD's MI300X chip. sales are forecast to reach $400Min in Q4, and AMD see them reaching $2BIn in 2024.