Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.7% to 9,043.00
  • S&P 500 up 0.7% to 6,888.72
  • Dow Average up 0.8% to 49,210.16
  • Aussie little changed at 0.7060 per US$
  • US 10-year yield little changed at 4.0328%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 1.8 bps to 4.24%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 2.4 bps to 4.69%
  • Gold spot down 1.4% to $5,153.75
  • Brent futures down 0.6% to $71.05/bbl

Economic Events

  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. CPI YoY, est. 3.7%, prior 3.8%
  • 11:30: (AU) 4Q Construction Work Done, est. 1.2%, prior -0.7%
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. CPI Trimmed Mean MoM, prior 0.2%
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. CPI MoM, prior 1.0%
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. CPI Trimmed Mean YoY, est. 3.3%, prior 3.3%
  • 19:40: (AU) RBA’s Bullock-Fireside Chat

Australia’s January CPI report is likely to show inflation easing slightly, but remaining above the RBA’s 2%-3% target band, according to Bloomberg Economics. RBA Governor Michele Bullock participates in a fireside chat in Melbourne.

A rally in technology firms spurred a rebound in stocks after a rout driven by fears about the disruptive impacts of artificial intelligence, with sentiment also buoyed by an improvement in consumer confidence.

Beaten-down software firms climbed, with the Nasdaq 100 up 1.1%. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. jumped about 9% on Meta Platforms Inc.’s plans to spend billions on its gear. Texas Instruments Inc. slid on concern about heavy capital spending. Short-dated bonds underperformed. Gold fell.

Weeks after Anthropic PBC sparked a market meltdown with the release of tools that raised questions about AI’s potential to render entire businesses obsolete, the startup said it’s expanding the reach of its Claude chatbot into new sectors.

It also highlighted how Claude integrates rather than displaces existing systems, noted Adam Crisafulli at Vital Knowledge.

“This ‘we’re here to help, not hurt’ message from Anthropic is helping to trigger a fairly healthy rebound rally in software,” he said.

Traders are also bracing for Nvidia Corp.’s results on Wednesday, expecting the chipmaker to trounce expectations. The report will follow its recent lackluster stock performance driven by investors rotating away from megacaps.

This week’s earnings will either “calm or exacerbate” AI fears, said David Laut at Kerux Financial. “We won’t have all of the answers this week, but worried investors are hungry for clarity,” he noted.

Before the chipmaker’s results, President Donald Trump will deliver the State of the Union address Tuesday evening, laying out his administration’s priorities for the year ahead.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.03%. The dollar wavered.