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Welcome to Equity Espresso’s Daily Recap. 

The Australian market broke a four-day losing streak on Friday after a better-than-expected jobs data report in the U.S. overnight sent Wall Street higher. The ASX 200 index closed 74.1 pts. or 1.0% higher to 7,421.20. Despite today’s rise, the index ended the week down 1.0%.

It was almost a clean sweep on the sector boards, with 10 of the 11 major sectors closing the day in the green, led by Technology (+3.01%) stocks, followed by Health Care (+2.13%) and Discretionary (+1.20%). Wisetech (+2.8%), Xero (+4.8%) and Altium (+2.8%) were some of the giants in the Tech sector to move higher.

Whitehaven Coal (WHC) was among the better performers on the index today, climbing by 3.8% after the coal producer retained its full-year product guidance despite output challenges at its Narrabi mine and a train derailment in December. Mesoblast (MSB) shares jumped 13.2% to $0.30 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a designated treatment for a rare paediatric disease. Michael Hill International (MHJ) was another company out with news today, flagging lower profit margins due to challenging market conditions. Despite the negative news, the company's share price still etched out a 1.1% gain on the day.

Wall Street

U.S. stocks finished Thursday higher as the S&P 500 (+0.88%) continued to march towards all-time highs as the A.I. wave continued, with gains from Nvidia (+1.88%), which hit another record high. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) rose nearly 10% after the company projected 2024 revenue growth of more than 20% on booming demand for high-end chips used in artificial intelligence applications.

Economic Data

• U.S. unemployment benefits fell 16,000 to 187,000 during the week ending January 18, the lowest mark since September 2022 and below market expectations of 207,000.

• U.K. retail sales fell by 3.2% in December, following a 1.4% increase in November, exceeding market expectations of a 0.5% drop.

• The Japanese Annual Inflation rate dropped to 2.6% during December from 2.8% in November - the lowest point since July 2022.

• Japan’s Core Consumer Price Index rose 2.3% during December, slowing from a 2.5% rise in November, the lowest reading since June 2022.

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Quick Singles

🪃 Local News

• The Australian Government has announced its plans to regulate artificial intelligence (A.I.) and hold companies accountable for their A.I. systems. The Government has identified the need for better regulatory frameworks to address the risks of A.I., which could involve implementing transparency and accountability measures, such as requiring companies to label AI-generated content.

🌎️ Around The Globe

• Investors have reportedly poured $1.9 billion into nine different Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) in their first three days of trading. BlackRock and Fidelity attracted the highest amount of fund inflows.

• Venture capital firm General Catalyst has announced that it plans to buy Ohio health system Summa Health and turn it into a for-profit company.

• The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says the first 40 Boeing 737 Max 9 plane inspections are now complete. 40 of the 171 grounded planes need to be re-inspected before the agency reviews the results and determines if it is safe to allow the MAX 9s to resume flying following the incident on an eight-week-old Alaska Airlines jet.

• Former Meta operating chief Sheryl Sandberg will leave the company’s board of directors after leaving her chief executive role in mid-2022. Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008 after spending around seven years at Google.

• Apple will no longer be allowed to sell watches with blood oxygen sensors due to an ongoing intellectual property dispute with medical device company Masimo. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the ban, initially imposed by the International Trade Commission last October.

• Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, has informed employees that there will be job cuts later this year. Pichai has mentioned that the layoffs will not be as extensive as last year's and will not affect every team.

• Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled its new smart ring, the Galaxy Ring, with sensors it hopes will strengthen its position in the health technology market.

• Champagne sales fell 8.3% in 2023 from the prior year but remained well above the doldrums of 2020 when bars and restaurants were closed.

• Amazon has released a new mobile A.I. feature to answer customers’ questions about products while they shop.

• Costco is introducing membership scanners in stores to reduce the number of nonmembers sneaking into the stores. Shoppers have spotted the new scanners at a store in Washington State.

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A Little Extra

📉 Going Down?

Top-10 shorted stocks on the ASX - as of January 15

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What are the insiders doing? (On-market trade only)

DISCLAIMER: None of the information provided in this newsletter should be constituted as financial advice. This newsletter is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be taken as investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please do your research.