Morgans AM: Thursday, 4 August 2022

Morgans Financial Limited

Positive corporate earnings releases set a strong tone on US equity markets overnight, lifting the benchmark indices solidly across-the-board - Dow up +416-points or +1.29% to 32,812.50, settling ~9.8% above its 52-week closing low (29,653.29) hit on 17 June. The broader S&P500 +1.56%, Information Technology (up +2.69%), Consumer Discretionary (+2.52%) rising over >2.5% to lead ten of the eleven primary sectors higher. Energy (down -2.97%) was the only primary sector to close in the red. The Nasdaq rallied +2.58%. PayPal Holdings Inc rallied +9.52% after it raised its full year earnings guidance after the close of the previous session, announced a new US$15B share-buyback authorisation, a cost-savings program, and confirmed activist investor Elliott Management had acquired an over >US$2B stake in the financial technology firm. Apple Inc (3.82%) and Amazon.com Inc (+4.01%) both climbed over >3.5%, while Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (+5.37%) gained over >5%. There were reports that Meta may become the latest technology company to turn to the bond markets in a bid to raise capital. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are now up ~13% and ~19% respectively from their mid-June lows. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 rose +1.41%.