Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro, shares his three things to watch in Australia in the coming days.
Michelle Bullock speech & RBA minutes
On Tuesday, the RBA Monetary Policy meeting minutes will be released against the backdrop of the ASIC Annual Forum, where RBA Governor Michelle Bullock is scheduled to address the crowd.
The meeting minutes will give some good insight into the central bank's decision to raise the cash rate by 25bps, particularly given it was such a live meeting.
However, the bigger picture sentiment will tell us what we already know; while other central banks increasingly head towards a softer tone, Australia is far from out of the woods – and the RBA’s hawkish bias will likely stay intact for now.
At the forum, investors will still be looking for any hits of doveish sentiment from Bullock, similar to what we saw in the statement following the decision. It’s highly unlikely they will get that, though, with this week’s unemployment and wage figures causing further headaches for Bullock and the board heading into the year’s end.
Unfortunately, anyone hoping for the November 28 retail figures indicating the economy is cooling may have their hopes dashed – and a December rate pause will not signal the hike cycle is over, especially once retail figures drop in January following both the Christmas and Black Friday flurry.
NVIDIA earnings
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) investors will be gearing up for what is likely to be an impressive set of earnings on Tuesday, US time. NVIDIA more than delivered in Q2 with eye-watering results, along with a solid forecast for the upcoming quarter, guiding for revenue of US$16 billion, well above estimates of US$12.6 billion.
Even with the Magnificent Seven going in hard on AI, NVIDIA is still leading the pack when it comes to converting hype into profit. Earnings are expected to rise by just under 500% next week, putting AI monetisation front and centre.
The stock has continued to perform impressively, sitting near record highs after gaining 240% this year. Recently, shares experienced a 10-day winning streak in November, following a dip in October. The good news for AI investors broadly is that demand is set to stay high, with use cases exploding and businesses continuing to spend big.
A wealth of materials AGMs
This week will be a huge one for the materials sector, with a whole host of miners delivering AGM’s. The two big names worth watching are Pilbara Minerals and Core Lithium.
Both stocks have had a miserable 12 months as lithium prices continue to free-fall. Worse still, Core Lithium has seen shares plummet by 75% in that time, so this is a key AGM to reassure investors of what’s ahead.
Elsewhere, we have updates from gold miners Bellevue and Evolution Mining. Both these stocks have performed in stark contrast to the lithium names, gaining more than 40% each in the last 12 months.
This is thanks in part to the recent rally in gold prices, as geopolitical tensions cause uncertainty across global markets and central banks buy gold at record levels.
AGMs are an important time for shareholders and the business itself. A poor AGM can impact investor confidence but a solid AGM can drive positive investor sentiment.
It’s a great time for investors to get a sense of if the business is delivering and what’s ahead.
With lithium’s slump largely driven by slow demand against a glut of supply, material investors will be hoping for strong indications of increased lithium demand in the tech and hardware sector going into 2024.