Global Markets Report - 23 January

ASX set to open lower, despite a continued rally for US stocks.

23 January 2025

Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, despite a continued rally for US stocks.

ASX futures were down 0.41% or 35 points as of 8:30am on Thursday, suggesting a lower open.

US stock indexes added to their recent rally helped by gains in AI-linked stocks after the leaders of SoftBank, Oracle and OpenAI, standing alongside President Trump, pledged $500 billion in artificial-intelligence investment in the U.S.

Nvidia and Microsoft, which will also be involved, rose over 4% and ARM jumped 16%. Netflix rose 9.7% after the streaming company reported strong earnings. Procter & Gamble gained 1.9% after posting solid results while Johnson & Johnson lost 1.9% as its sales outlook disappointed.

DJIA rose 130 points, or 0.3%, to 44,156, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% to 6,086 and the Nasdaq jumped 1.3% to 20,009.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 0.43% to US$78.95 a barrel, while gold was up 0.41% to US$2,756.04.

The Australian dollar was at 62.73 US cents, up from its previous close of 62.71.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.9% to 3,213.62, and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1% to 1,920.43.

Hong Kong shares ended lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 1.6% to 19,778.77.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average lifted 1.6% to 39,646.25.

India shares ended higher. The BSE SENSEX added 0.7% to 76,404.99.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished flat. The FTSE 100 Index was unchanged at 8,545.13.

In Europe, shares closed higher. Germany's DAX rose 1% to 21,254.27, and France's CAC 40 increased 0.9% to 7,837.4.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA lifted 0.3% to 44,156.73, the S&P 500 increased 0.6% to 6,086.37, and the Nasdaq gained 1.3% to 20,009.34.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were NVIDIA Corp NVDA surging 4.43%, Apple Inc AAPL jumped 0.53%, and Amazon.com Inc AMZN lifted 1.86%.

The biggest decliners were NVIDIA Corp NVDA which dropped 4.43%, Apple Inc AAPL fell 0.53%, and Amazon.com Inc AMZN lost 1.86%.

GLOBAL EQUITIES

GLOBAL MARKET REPORT

GMR

AUTHOR

Morningstar
Morningstar provides data on more than 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 17 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets.

© 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither Morningstar, its affiliates, nor the content providers guarantee the data or content contained herein to be accurate, complete or timely nor will they have any liability for its use or distribution. This report has been prepared for clients of Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd (ABN: 95 090 665 544, AFSL: 240892) and/or New Zealand wholesale clients of Morningstar Research Ltd, subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. Any general advice has been provided without reference to your financial objectives, situation or needs. For more information refer to our Financial Services Guide at www.morningstar.com.au/s/fsg.pdf. You should consider the advice in light of these matters and if applicable, the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before making any decision to invest. Our publications, ratings and products should be viewed as an additional investment resource, not as your sole source of information. Morningstar’s full research reports are the source of any Morningstar Ratings and are available from Morningstar or your adviser. Past performance does not necessarily indicate a financial product’s future performance. To obtain advice tailored to your situation, contact a financial adviser. Some material is copyright and published under licence from ASX Operations Pty Ltd ACN 004 523 782.