Fed minutes: no rate cut in sight

US Federal Reserve

The minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve show little appetite for cutting rates anytime in the near future as inflation remains high relative to the target rate. Members still worry that inflation could be stubborn or move higher and that more may need to be done to ensure that does not occur. They at least said that policy will need to stay "restrictive" until data shows inflation on a convincing trek back to the central bank's 2% goal.

Sage Group

Sage Group reports a full-year Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) of £553 million and an EBITDA margin of 25.3%. The British software company has announced it is commencing a share buyback programme of up to £350 million.

Kingfisher

Kingfisher downgrades its full-year profit outlook for the second time in three months after third-quarter underlying like-for-like sales fell 3.9%. The home improvement group says UK consumer trends are resilient in the UK, improving in Poland, but weaker than expected in France.

Thyssenkrupp

Thyssenkrupp unveiled a €2.1 billion impairment on its steel unit. As a result of the impairment, the group posted a €2 billion net loss for the fourth quarter. Adjusted operating Profit in the July-September quarter fell 45% to €88 million. Thyssenkrupp has been trying to divest its steel division for several years. Last month, it flagged a marked deterioration in the steel market, adding that optimistic assumptions had been dampened by a mix of economic weakness in Germany and other markets, as well as higher raw materials and energy costs.

NVIDIA

NVIDIA stock slipped 2.6% in volatile after-hours trading, despite earnings, sales, and forecasts above Wall Street's expectations. But investors were taken aback by the group's sales expectations in China in the wake of new U.S. rules. Nvidia is set to take a hit from the vastly expanded U.S. export controls on what the company can sell to China. Sales of the affected chips made up nearly a quarter of Nvidia's data centre sales in the past few quarters.

HP Inc.

HP Inc.. also declined to extend trading after posting a downbeat forecast for the current fiscal first quarter. It sees Q1 earnings per share (EPS) between 76 cents and 86 cents, to be compared to LSEG estimates of 86 cents. But HP remains confident for the rest of the year. It is on track to launch Al PCs in the second half of next year and expects their penetration to increase gradually.

The commodity market

On the commodity market, the release of application programming interfaces (API) oil inventories yesterday evening had little impact on oil prices, despite a much larger than expected increase in crude stockpiles. Oil analysts are waiting for the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday, November 26, and a possible decision to cut supply further after prices have dropped by almost 20% since late September. Yesterday, Toril Bosoni, head of the ElA, said the global oil market would see a slight surplus of supply in 2024 even if the OPEC+ nations extend their cuts into next year.