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Morning Research Notes - 02.04.25
US markets closed higher on Tuesday, driven by gains in the tech sector despite concerns over upcoming tariffs and economic data. Commodities experienced mixed performances on Tuesday. Gold decreased by 0.2% to $US3118.57 an ounce, Brent Crude (oil) fell by 0.4% to $US74.46 a barrel, while iron ore increased by 1.7% to $US102.70 per tonne.
Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 climbing 0.4% and the NASDAQ rising 0.9%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell slightly by 11 points (0.03%). Market movements were driven by anticipation of President Trump's April 2 tariff announcements, which could impose reciprocal tariffs on a broad range of trading partners. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported a dip to 7.568 million in February, adding to economic concerns. The S&P 500 ended the first quarter down nearly 5%, the NASDAQ Composite plunged over 10%, and the Dow Jones lost nearly 2%. In corporate news, Tesla rose 3% ahead of its Q1 delivery update, PVH Corp surged 18% on strong Q4 earnings, Johnson & Johnson fell 7.6% after a judge rejected its $10 billion settlement proposal, Progress Software gained over 12% on strong earnings, and Newsmax Inc jumped 183% following its IPO.
On Tuesday, the Australian market saw a positive close, with the ASX200 index rising by 1.03%. Major sectors, including Materials, Financials, Information Technology, Healthcare, and Utilities, all ended the day in the green. In contrast, major commodities experienced a bearish trend, with Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, and Nickel dropping by 1.58%, 1.25%, 0.81%, and 2.75%, respectively.
Chart of the day
Companies spend three times as much per year on talent as they do on capital assets, and business leaders often think of talent as an operating cost to be minimised. But that’s a shortsighted belief, noting that few companies attempt to calculate their ROI in labour with the same rigour they apply to ROI in capital assets.
Source: McKinsey
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