Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.5% to 8,873.00
  • S&P 500 up 0.6% to 6,959.13
  • Dow Average up 0.7% to 49,419.35
  • Aussie up 0.4% to 0.6919 per US$
  • US 10-year yield fell 1.8bps to 4.2074%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield little changed at 4.26%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield little changed at 4.82%
  • Gold spot up 0.9% to $5,030.88
  • Brent futures down 0.5% to $65.54/bbl

Economic Events

  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 1.5% 2031 Bonds on Jan. 27
  • 11:30: (AU) Dec. NAB Business Conditions, prior 7
  • 11:30: (AU) Dec. NAB Business Confidence, prior 1

Modest gains in stocks and bonds were overshadowed by volatility in energy, commodity and foreign exchange markets at the start of a busy week. The dollar fell to the lowest since 2022, gold topped $5,000 and natural gas jumped almost 30% as cold weather gripped much of the US.

The S&P 500 extended its January advance ahead of high-stakes megacap results. With the Federal Reserve expected to pause its rate cuts, Treasuries remained in a narrow range. The greenback slid on speculation the US could coordinate intervention with Japan to support the yen. After the close, big US insurers including UnitedHealth Group Inc., CVS Health Corp. and Humana Inc. tumbled on a report the US will hold payments to private Medicare plans flat next year.

The earnings season picks up steam this week, with companies accounting for a third of the S&P 500’s market capitalization expected to post results. Following a breakneck rally of artificial-intelligence names, those firms are under pressure to show that the vast sums they’ve committed to capital expenditures are starting to pay off in a bigger way.

While the reporting season is still in its early stages, an analysis by JPMorgan Chase & Co. shows that forward guidance has topped expectations at roughly half of the S&P 500 companies that have provided an outlook for 2026.

“Since most of the companies that have reported are outside the tech sector, this trend suggests a broadening of growth across other industries this year,” strategist Dubravko Lakos-Bujas wrote in a note.

Meantime, Fed officials are expected to hold rates steady following three straight cuts at the end of 2025 as a steadier jobs market restores a degree of consensus at the central bank after months of growing division. Chair Jerome Powell is likely to telegraph his view that policy is well-positioned for now, but refrain from signaling much about where rates are headed.

US power grids are under mounting pressure following a winter storm that unleashed deep cold and heavy snow and ice from Texas to Maine. That’s knocked an estimated 12% of US natural gas production off-line and forecasts for frigid weather caused prices to soar.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries slid one basis point to 4.21%. Bitcoin jumped. The dollar fell 0.4%. The yen climbed 1%.