Morgans Financial Limited

Thank you Mr Malcolm Deane, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of ALS, for presenting at our latest Morgans Business Breakfast. ALS's analytical testing origins date back to 1976 in Brisbane, with the establishment of a small geochemistry laboratory. Since then, ALS has expanded its services to cover a wide range of industrial and consumer facing industries, servicing over 50 countries through 300 locations worldwide. Check out more from Morgans: Visit the Morgans website: www.morgans.com.au Check out our blog: www.morgans.com.au/Blog On Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorgansAU On Instagram: www.instagram.com/Morgans.Australia On Twitter: twitter.com/MorgansAU

Following the Federal Reserve's latest two-day monetary policy meeting, Morgans Chief Economist Michael Knox says, "yes the FED rates will fall, but only so far." Check out more from Morgans: Visit the Morgans website: www.morgans.com.au Check out our blog: www.morgans.com.au/Blog On Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorgansAU On Instagram: www.instagram.com/Morgans.Australia On Twitter: twitter.com/MorgansAU

US equity markets retreated, with investors eyeing key inflation figures on Friday night AEST (29 March) - Dow slipped -31-points or -0.08%. Boeing Co fell 2.04% as credit rating agency Moody’s said it was considering downgrading some of the jet maker’s debt. Johnson & Johnson added +0.35% amid reports it was in talks to acquire medical device maker Shockwave Medical Inc (+10.04%). Visa Inc slipped -0.22% as it agreed to lower swipe fees to settle a legal battle it and peer Mastercard (up +0.16%) have fought with retailers for decades.

European bourses settled little changed, with gains for the Oil and Gas sector (up +0.9%) offset by decline for media stocks (down -0.9%) to leave the pan-European Stoxx 600 index (which includes UK equities) just +0.04% higher. Goldman Sachs raised its 2024 year-end target for the Stoxx 600 to 540 from 510, citing possible improvement in economic growth and monetary policy easing across central banks. Germany's DAX gained +0.30%. Delivery Hero SE added +0.39%, recovering from an earlier decline after the company announced that Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Emmanuel Thomassin will depart at the end of September 2024 after a decade in the role. France's CAC flat.

US equity markets were mostly weaker on Friday (22 March) but capped their biggest weekly advance in three months - Dow fell -305-points or -0.77%. Nike Inc sank -6.90% after the world's largest sportswear maker warned that its revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 would shrink by a low-single-digit percentage, as it scales back on franchises to save costs. However, FedEx Corp rallied +7.35% after the economic bellwether raised its 2024 guidance and said it would continue to cut costs and trim its spending for the year after the close of the previous session.

Morgans AM: Friday, 22 March 2024 by Morgans Financial

The benchmark US equity indices rallied to fresh all-time highs after the Federal Reserve signaled that it remains on track to lower interest rates three times this year - Dow rallied +401-points or +1.03% to 39,512.13. Boeing Co gained +3.67% to be the leading performer in the 30-stock index, while American Express Co (+2.81%) and 3M Co (+2.65%) climbed over >2.5%.

Following the RBA's recent decision to hold interest rates, RBA Governor Michelle Bullock said, "where we are now is where we need to be." Chief Economist Michael Knox gives his comments on this saying that the RBA are giving us stability for the near future. Check out more from Morgans: Visit the Morgans website: www.morgans.com.au Check out our blog: www.morgans.com.au/Blog On Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorgansAU On Instagram: www.instagram.com/Morgans.Australia On Twitter: twitter.com/MorgansAU

US equity markets advanced as investors eyed the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s latest two-day monetary policy meeting tomorrow morning AEST (21 March) - Dow rallied +320-points or +0.83%, booking its largest one-day point and percentage gains since 22 February. Home Depot Inc (up +2.02%) was the leading performed in the 30-stock index.

US equity markets advanced despite Treasury yields hitting three week highs ahead of a busy week of key global central bank meetings - Dow added +76-points or +0.20%, with Salesforce Inc (up +2.1%) and Walt Disney Co (+1.7%) rising over >1.5 to be the leading performers in the 30-stock index.

US equity markets retreated on Friday (15 March), with mega capitalisation technology names a key drag and with investors eyeing key central bank meetings this week - Dow fell-191-points or -0.49%, with Salesforce Inc (down -2.96%) and Amazon.com Inc (-2.42%) leading losses in the 30-stock index. Microsoft Corp fell -2.07% a day after closing at a record high. McDonald’s Corp fell -0.92% after reporting system outages worldwide that caused the temporary closure of some restaurants.

US equity markets retreated as stronger-than-expected producer prices undermined an early rally, and with some major chipmakers recording fresh declines - Dow eased -138-points or -0.35%, with Amgen Inc (down -1.61%), Honeywell International (-1.69%), International Business Machines (IBM) Corp (-1.66%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (-1.78%) all falling over >1.5%.

US equity markets mostly weaker amid selling of chipmakers and ahead of wholesale inflation data tonight AEST - Dow added +38-points or +0.10%, paring an earlier rally of almost +200-points. Intel Corp dropped -4.44% after Bloomberg reported that the Pentagon had pulled out of a plan to spend as much as US$2.5B on a chip grant to the company. McDonald’s Corp -3.89% after the chief financial officer (CFO) said the fast-food giant's international sales could fall sequentially in the current quarter, pressured by the conflict in the Middle East and demand weakness in China.

US equity markets rallied despite mildly hotter-than-expected inflation figures - Dow rose +236-points or +0.61%. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp rose +3.16% following reports that it had notified employees in its marketing and communications division that it’s making cuts, becoming the latest large technology company to trim its payroll. Last year, IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said the company was “massively upskilling all of our employees on AI [artificial intelligence]” as it replaces nearly 8,000 jobs with AI. 3M Co (up +4.97%), Microsoft Corp (+2.66%), Amazon.com Inc (1.99%) and Walmart Inc (+1.24%) also traded strongly.

US equity markets opened the new trading week mixed amid subdued trading ahead of key inflation figures tonight AEST - Dow added +47-points or +0.10%. Boeing Co fell -3.02% after The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the Boeing 737 MAX jet that experienced a blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in early January.

US equity markets retreated but not before both the S&P500 and Nasdaq touched fresh intra-day record peaks - Dow eased -68-points or -0.18%. Apple Inc rose +1.02%, snapping a seven session losing streak (its longest losing streak since early 2022). Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Boeing Co (down -2.24%) jetliner blowout that left a gaping hole on an Alaska Air Group Inc (-1.85%) plane on 5 January, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday (10 March).

The Morgans Network was joined by Karen Jorritsma, Managing Director and Head of Equities at RBC Capital Markets on International Women's Day 2024. Check out more from Morgans: Visit the Morgans website: www.morgans.com.au Check out our blog: www.morgans.com.au/Blog On Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorgansAU On Instagram: www.instagram.com/Morgans.Australia On Twitter: twitter.com/MorgansAU

Morgans Senior Analyst Nick Harris gives a wrap up of our stocks under coverage in the Technology, Media and Gaming sectors, following this past earning season. February 2024 results were largely in line with expectations. Services & Classified EPS forecasts were reduced by 1-2%, gaming EPS forecasts lifted by 1-2%, free cash flow for larger FCF names was largely unchanged while small cap FCF forecasts were reduced. Follow all of the Morgans Reporting Season coverage here - https://www.morgans.com.au/reporting-season Check out more from Morgans: Visit the Morgans website: www.morgans.com.au Check out our blog: www.morgans.com.au/Blog On Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorgansAU On Instagram: www.instagram.com/Morgans.Australia On Twitter: twitter.com/MorgansAU

US equity markets rallied, lifting both the S&P500 and Nasdaq back to record highs - Dow rose +130-points or +0.34%.

Morgans Analysts Alexander Mees and Emily Porter give a wrap of the Consumer Discretionary sector, following this past February Reporting Season. Investors became more positive towards the consumer discretionary sector over the course of reporting season. The 1H24 earnings performance of the stocks we cover generally exceeded expectations, leading us to increase our full year EPS estimates by 2%. See our full Reporting Season Wrap here - https://www.morgans.com.au/reporting-season Check out more from Morgans: Visit the Morgans website: www.morgans.com.au Check out our blog: www.morgans.com.au/Blog On Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorgansAU On Instagram: www.instagram.com/Morgans.Australia On Twitter: twitter.com/MorgansAU