Positive sentiment continued for US stocks overnight, with the S&P 500 rising 0.58% and the Nasdaq lifting 0.45%. US stocks remain at record highs.
Oil prices remained rangebound, while US bond yields fell back slightly. Across the metals, gold rose 0.86% and silver rose 0.65%. Copper was also higher by 0.28%.
The Australian Share Price Index (SPI) futures closed down three points. The Australian market’s relatively low exposure to AI continues to weigh on the performance of the ASX.
FactSet Vice President and Senior Earnings Analyst John Butters is cited in today’s Australian Financial Review on US stocks. He says:
“The number of companies issuing positive EPS [earnings per share] guidance for the third quarter is above the five-year average of 42 and above the 10-year average of 40.”
Butters said this quarter marks the highest number of S&P 500 companies issuing positive EPS guidance for a quarter since FactSet began tracking this metric in 2006. The previous record was 65, which occurred in the second quarter of 2021.
S&P 500 earnings are expected to increase 27% year-on-year in Q3, the fastest pace since 2021. Two-thirds of the expected growth comes from just 10 companies in the index, according to research firm Porter & Co.
Source: Porter & Co
Write to Callum Newman at Mining.com.au
Main image: Unsplash
