Microsoft shares increased after earnings exceeded expectations

　　

U.S. equities struggled to maintain their recent rally throughout Tuesday’s trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.31% to close at 33733.96. The S&P 500 slipped 0.07% to close at 4016.95. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.27% to close at 11334.27. The recent bear market rally has been aided by better-than-expected earnings results and signs of cooling inflation.

After the bell of the 24^th, Microsoft Corp. released F2022 Q4 earnings. The software giant delivered better-than-expected earnings and shares rose 4% in late trading. Microsoft announced $2.32 earnings per share, while sales rose 2% over the quarter to $52.7 billion.  Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing proved resilience by gaining 38% in sales, beating estimates of a 37% growth. Recent developments of ChatGPT and OpenAI have injected excitement for the tech giant.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year treasury yield continued to drift lower and was last seen trading at around the 3.455% mark. The policy-sensitive short-term 2-year treasury yield currently sits at 4.148%.

Main Pairs Movement

The Dollar index, which tracks the U.S. Greenback against a basket of major foreign currencies, traded mostly sideways throughout Tuesday and lost 0.09% by the end of the day. The Dollar has been trading extremely range bound between the 101 to 103 level over the past week as market participants await crucial earnings results from major U.S. corporations.

EURUSD gained 0.13% throughout yesterday’s trading. The Euro continued to gain against the Dollar as the Dollar recedes around the 101 level. The EURUSD has notched its fifth consecutive winning session.

GBPUSD lost 0.32% throughout Tuesday’s trading. The British Pound traded lower against the Greenback as the U.K. PMI came in at 47, lower than the market consensus of 47.9. The lower British PMI sparked a weakening of the Sterling.

XAUUSD rose 0.31% throughout yesterday’s trading. The Dollar denominated Gold continues to gain as the Dollar weakens.

Economic Data

Currency	Data	Time (GMT + 8)	Forecast
AUD	CPI (QoQ) (Q4)	08:30	1.6%
EUR	German Ifo Business Climate Index (Jan)	17:00	90.2
CAD	BoC Monetary Policy Report	23:00
CAD	BoC Interest Rate Decision	23:00	4.5%
USD	Crude Oil Inventories	23:30	0.971M