Morgans Financial Limited

In this episode, Chris Titley speaks with Dawn Kanelleas, Head of Australian Small and Mid Cap Companies at First Sentier Investors. Dawn manages a range of Small and Mid Cap portfolios and brings over 20 years of experience in the investment industry, including 15 years as a dedicated Small Companies Portfolio Manager. At First Sentier Investors, she focuses on researching and analysing Australian listed stocks in the Small and Mid Cap sectors, helping clients navigate opportunities in this dynamic space.

Morgans AM - Wednesday, 3 December 2025 by Morgans Financial

US equity markets retreated to open the final trading month of the calendar year, with technology and cryptocurrency-related stocks under particular pressure - Dow fell -427-points or -0.90%. Merck & Co Inc (-2.81%) was the worst performer in the 30-stock index, while Amgen Inc (-2.31%) and McDonald's Corp (2.06%) both fell over >2%.

US equity markets advanced in an abbreviated trading session on Friday (28 November) to cap a strong, holiday-shortened trading week - Dow rose +289-points or +0.61% with Amazon.com Inc, International Business Machines (IBM) Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co all rising +1.77%.

US bond and equity markets bond and equity markets were CLOSED overnight for Thanksgiving Day holiday, while it is an abbreviated trading session tonight AEST.

US equity markets advanced for a fourth consecutive session ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday - Dow rose +315-points or +0.67%. Boeing Co (up +2.46%) and Walmart Inc (+1.96%) were the leading performers in the 30-stock index. Nvidia Corp +1.37%

The Fundamentals Podcast 2025 – Episode 3

US equity markets extended their strong start to the holiday-shortened week as the latest delayed economic data releases bolstered hopes of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts - Dow rallied +664-points or +1.43%, rebounding from an earlier ~100-point decline. Merck & Co Inc (+5.24%) and Home Depot Inc (+4.34%) were the leading performers in the 30-stock index.

US equity markets rallied sharply to kick off a holiday-shortened trading week amid renewed optimism around a December interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve - Dow rose +203-points or +0.44%. Amazon.com Inc (up +2.53%) said it will spend as much as $US50B expanding its capacity to provide artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing services to US government entities. Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to break ground next year on what will ultimately be 1.3 gigawatts of additional capacity across data centres designed for federal agencies, the company said in a blog post overnight. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (+2.15%), International Business Machines (IBM) Corp (+2.25%), Merck & Co (+2.70%) and Nvidia Corp (+2.05%) also rallied over >2%. However, Procter & Gamble Co (-2.61%), Verizon Communications Inc (-2.47%) and Walt Disney Co (-2.24%) all fell over >2%.

US equity markets advanced after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams suggested the central bank could cut interest rates yet again this year - Dow rallied +493-points or +1.08%. Home Depot Inc (up +3.29%) was the leading performer in the 30-stock index. Nvidia Corp lost -0.97% after Bloomberg News reported, citing sources, that the Trump administration was mulling the sale of H200 AI chips to China. The report said President Trump held talks internally about possible shipments in recent days, though it added that a decision had not been made.

US equity markets retreated on Thursday as the Dow was on pace for its worst week in a month as strong Nvidia earnings weren't enough to cool investor fears. Dow fell -386.51 points or 0.84%.

US equity markets advanced, with the Dow and S&P500 snapping four session losing streaks ahead of the release of Dow component Nvidia Corp's (up +2.85% in the regular session) third quarter result after the closing bell and tonight's AEST delayed September jobs report - Dow edged +47-points or +0.10% higher. Boeing Co (down -2.07%) and Salesforce Inc (-2.41%) both fell over >2%.

US equity markets retreated as concerns about valuations for artificial intelligence (AI) stocks continued to weigh on sentiment and with investors eyeing Nvidia Corp's (-2.81%) third quarter result after the closing bell of tonight' AEST session - Dow rose -499-points or -1.07%, having been down almost -700-points at its worst levels of the session. E-commerce and cloud giant Amazon.com Inc lost -4.43%, while International Business Machines (IBM) Corp (-2.43%), Honeywell International (-2.36%) and UnitedHealth Group Inc (-2.17%) were among seven Dow components that fell over >2%.

US equity markets opened the week sharply lower, with traders eyeing quarterly results from Nvidia Corp (down -1.88%) and some major retailers later in the week as well as delayed economic data - Dow fell -627-points or -1.33% American Express Co dropped -4.46% and was the worst performer in the 30-stock index after the financial-services giant said its U.S. Consumer Card Member loans net write-off rate was 2.2% in October, up from 1.9% in September, while its U.S. Small Business Card Member loans net write-off rate ticked up to 2.6% from 2.5%.

US equity markets were mixed on Friday (14 November) but recovered from an early, steep sell-off to settled well of their worst levels of the session - Dow fell 310-points or -0.65%, having been down as much as -600-points or ~1.3% earlier in the session. UnitedHealth Group Inc (down -3.21%) was the worst performer in the 30-stock index. Nike Inc lost -2.82%, with Moody's downgrading its ratings on debt issued by the footwear and athletic apparel company, pointing to elevated competition and cost pressures related to tariffs as factors behind its more cautious outlook. Walmart Inc dipped -0.06% after it announced Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Doug McMillon will retire on 31 January 2026, and be succeeded by Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner. Nvidia Corp (+1.77%) and Microsoft Corp (+1.37%) were the leading Dow components on Friday (14 November).

US equity markets mixed as investors continued to monitor progress on resolving the US government shutdown - Dow rose +327-points or +0.68% to 48,254.82, the 30-stock index's first close above >48,000 after setting a fresh record intra-day peak (48,431.57). Goldman Sachs Group Inc (+3.54%) and United Health Group Inc (+3.55%) both rallied ~3.5%. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp +0.40% after the company the company announced several quantum-computing "breakthroughs."

US equity markets mixed as investors continued to monitor progress on resolving the US government shutdown - Dow rose +327-points or +0.68% to 48,254.82, the 30-stock index's first close above >48,000 after setting a fresh record intra-day peak (48,431.57). Goldman Sachs Group Inc (+3.54%) and United Health Group Inc (+3.55%) both rallied ~3.5%. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp +0.40% after the company the company announced several quantum-computing "breakthroughs."

Morgans AM - Wednesday, 12 November 2025 by Morgans Financial

US equity markets rallied amid signs that a historic U.S. government shutdown could be nearing its end - Dow rose +382-points or +0.81% Nvidia Corp (up +5.79%) was the clear outperformer in the 30-stock index.

US equity markets settled narrowly mixed on Friday (7 November), recovering from steeper declines earlier in the session to cap a volatile week - Dow added +75-points or +0.16%, recovering from an earlier slide of ~400-points or -0.9%. Coca-Cola Co (up +2.16%) and Sherwin-Williams Co (+1.95%) were the leading performers in the stock index.

• Fresh selling in the technology sector led US equity markets lower overnight - Dow fell 399-points or -0.84%, with Salesforce Inc (down -5.31%) the worst performing component in the 30-stock index. So-called ‘Magnificent Seven' mega-capitalisation technology companies Nvidia Corp (down -3.65%) and Amazon.com Inc (-2.86%) also fell sharply, while Microsoft Corp (down -1.98%) extended declines into a seventh consecutive session to book its longest losing streak since 6 September 2022

Technology stocks led a rebound for US equity markets - Dow rose +226-points or +0.48% Amgen Inc (up +7.81%) was the leading performer in the 30-stock index after the pharmaceutical company posted a better-than-expected third quarter result and raised its full-year sales outlook after the close of the previous session Economic bellwether Caterpillar Inc gained +3.94%. Home Depot (down -2.41%) was the worst performing Dow component overnight.

• US equity markets retreated, with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of investment banking giants Goldman Sachs Group Inc (up +0.68%) and Morgan Stanley (+0.22%) cautioning that equity markets could be heading for a drawdown of around 10% to 15% - Dow fell -251-points or -0.53%, with Caterpillar Inc (down -4.03%) and Nvidia Corp (-3.96%) both falling ~4%.

A mixed start to November for US equity markets ahead of another busy week of quarterly earnings releases - Dow fell -226-points or -0.48%, with Merck & Co Inc (down -4.06%) the worst performer in the 30-stock index. 3M Co (down -2.59%), UnitedHealth Group Inc (-2.27%) and Chevron Corp (-2.33%) all declined over >2%. Microsoft Corp (down -0.15%) announced it has secured export licenses to ship Nvidia Corp (+2.23%) chips to the United Arab Emirates amid Gulf's ambitions to become an AI leader. Amazon.com Inc rallied +4.03% to be the leading Dow component overnight, hitting a fresh record high (US$258.60) after signing a multi-year US$38B deal to supply cloud computing services to OpenAI, affording the ChatGPT maker access to Nvidia's graphics processors. Amazon soared +9.58% in the previous session after releasing stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings after the close last Thursday's (30 October), underpinned by a sharp acceleration in cloud revenue. Separately, an intense lobbying effort by Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, to persuade President Donald Trump to sell its chips to customers in China was thwarted by top US officials, The Wall Street Journal

US equity markets advanced on Friday (31 October) after a choppy session to cap a solid week and month for the benchmark indices - Dow edged +41-points or +0.09% higher Apple Inc settled -0.38% lower at US$270.37, unwinding an gain that saw the mega-capitalisation technology stock touch a fresh record intraday high of US$277.32 after reporting better-than-expected third quarter earnings after the close of last Thursday's (30 October) session and forecast holiday-quarter iPhone sales and overall revenue that surpassed Wall Street expectations thanks to strong demand for its iPhone 17 models. Nvidia Corp slipped -0.20% following news it is partnering with Samsung and other South Korean firms to deploy 250,000 of its chips across the Asian country.

• US equity markets settled mixed albeit the benchmark indices logged record intra-day highs for a third straight session as investors digested the latest monetary policy pronouncements from the Federal Reserve and eyed corporate earnings releases from three mega-capitalisation technology companies after the closing bell - Dow eased -74-points or -0.16% to 47,632, touching a record intra-day high (48,040.64) earlier in the session. Nike Inc (-3.08%) and UnitedHealth Group Inc (-3.42%) both fell over >3%. Nvidia Corp +2.99% following a well-received presentation from Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang at the company's GPU Technology Conference, becoming the first company to close with a US$5 trillion market capitalisation just 78-days after closing with a market capitalisation of US$4 trillion for the first time. A US$5 trillion market capitalisation is larger than the 2024 gross domestic product (GDP) of every country except the U.S. and China, and it would roughly equal what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects for Germany's nominal GDP this year.

Morgans AM - Thursday, 30 October 2025 by Morgans Financial

Benchmark US equity indices advanced to book record closing highs for a third consecutive session - Dow rose +162-points or +0.34% to 47,706.37.

US equity markets climbed to fresh record highs for a second consecutive session running on optimism that the U.S. and China will strike a trade deal when US President Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday (30 October) at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea - Dow rose +337-points or +0.71% to a record closing high of 47,544.19. Apple Inc (up +2.28% to US$268.81) and Microsoft Corp (+1.51% to US$531.52) are close to joining Nvidia in the US$4 trillion market capitalisation club, needing to close at US$269.54 and US$538.13 respectively to achieve the mark. Amazon.com Inc rose +1.23% after Reuters reported that the technology giant is planning to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs beginning on Tuesday (28 October) as the company works to pare expenses and compensate for over-hiring during the peak demand of the pandemic, according to three people familiar with the matter. The figure represents a small percentage of Amazon's 1.55M total employees, but nearly 10% of the company's ~350K corporate employees.

Benchmark US equity indices rallied to fresh record highs after delayed inflation figures bolstered expectations for two interest rates cuts before calendar year end - Dow rose +473-points or +1.01% 47,207.12, booking its first close above 47,000 ever a logging a record intra-day high (47,326.73). International Business Machines (IBM) Corp rallied +7.88% following a Reuters report the firm determined it could run certain quantum computing algorithms on an easily accessible Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc (+7.63%) chip. Investment banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc (+4.41%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (+2%) traded strongly.

US equity markets advanced following another busy corporate earnings calendar and ahead of the release of delayed inflation figures tonight AEST - Dow rose +144-points or +0.31%. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp settled -0.87% lower, paring earlier, steeper losses following the release of an underwhelming third quarter result after the close of the previous session.

US equity markets declined as investors navigated another busy corporate earnings calendar and eyed fresh trade tensions between the US and China - Dow fell -334-points or -0.71% to 46,590.41 after a booking record closing (46,924.74) and intra-day (47,125.66) highs a day earlier.

Beginning on the 1st of October 2025, the US government began its current Federal government shutdown. The shutdown occurred because Democratic Party Senators refused to support a Continuing Resolution to provide funding for the US government. At the time of writing, Republican Senators have now put up Continuing Resolutions for funding to the Senate 11 times, and Democrat Senators have refused to support them 11 times.

Morgans AM - Wednesday, 22 October 2025 by Morgans Financial

US equity markets opened a busy week with sharp gains as investors eye a fresh round of third quarter earnings and inflation data at the end of the week - Dow rose +516-points or +1.12%, with Salesforce Inc (up +4.61%) the leading performer in the 30-stock index.

• US equity markets advanced on Friday (17 October) as investors shook off concerns about the health of the banking sector and mulled comments from President Trump about threatened extra tariffs on Chinese goods - Dow rose +238-points or +0.52% . Apple Inc rose +1.6% after the technology giant said it scored an agreement with Formula 1 to broadcast races and other content exclusively on Apple TV in the U.S. The deal, which begins next year, will include “comprehensive coverage of Formula 1, with all practice, qualifying, Sprint sessions, and Grands Prix,” as well as select races and all practice sessions for free on Apple TV. Financial terms were not released.

US equity markets retreated, with regional banks under particular pressure - Dow fell -301-points or -0.65%, with Visa Inc (down -2.98%), Nike Inc (2.37%), Walmart Inc (-2.35% after hitting a fresh record intra-day high of US$109.575), JPMorgan Chase & Co (-2.34%) and American Express Co (-2.28%) all declining over >2%.

US equity markets mostly firmer after a volatile session but settled well off their session highs - Dow dipped -17-points or -0.04%, unwinding an earlier rally of ~423-points.

US equity markets mixed as investors digested the first major earnings of the third quarter reporting season, the latest developments in the US-China trade tensions and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell - Dow rose +203-points or +0.44% Walmart Inc rallied +4.98% to be the leading performer in the 30-stock index after the biggest brick-and-mortar retailer said it is partnering with OpenAI to allow customers to buy goods from Walmart through ChatGPT. Caterpillar Inc climbed +4.50%. Nvidia Corp (down -4.40%) was the weakest Dow component overnight.

US equity markets rebounded after President Trump appeared to soften his initial hardline on China that saw him say last Friday (10 October) that he was weighing a "massive increase" in tariffs, and with investors eying the unofficial beginning of the third quarter earnings season tonight AEST - Dow rose +588-points or +1.29%, clawing back ~67% of last Friday's (10 October) decline. Nike Inc rebounded +3.31% (after dropping -4.17% in the previous session) to be the leading performer in the 30-stock index, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Salesforce Inc both gained +2.93% and were among nine Dow components that gained over >2%. JPMorgan Chase & Co rose +2.35% after the world's biggest bank said it was planning to pump US$1.5 trillion dollars over 10 years into industries seen as critical to U.S. national interests under a programme called the Security and Resiliency Initiative. The plan will focus on four key areas: Supply Chain and Manufacturing; Defence and Aerospace; Energy Independence and Resilience; and Frontier and Strategic Technologies.

US equity markets fell sharply while US Treasury yields dropped and the U.S. dollar weakened on Friday (10 October) after President Trump said he was weighing a "massive increase" in tariffs on Chinese goods - Dow dropped -879-points or -1.90% to 45,479.60. ‘Magnificent Seven' mega-capitalisation technology stocks Amazon.com Inc (down -4.99%) and Nvidia Corp (-4.89% to US$183.16, hitting a record intra-day of ) both fell over >4.5% to be the worst performers in the 30s-stock index, while Nike Inc fell -4.17%.

All three (3) major U.S. stock indexes closed lower on Thursday. Dow fell -243-points or -0.52%.

US equity markets rebounded, with the S&P500 and Nasdaq booking fresh record intra-day and closing highs - Dow flat at 46,601.78. Caterpillar Inc (up +3.17%) was the leading performer in the 30-stock index. Nvidia Corp rose +2.20% after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang said that demand has risen in recent months, telling CNBC that “this year, particularly the last six months, demand of computing has gone up substantially.” Mr Huang also confirmed the company's involvement in funding Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) startup, xAI, and said that he's “super excited about the financing opportunity they're doing.” Investment banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc (-1.66%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (-1.19%) fell over >1%.

US equity markets retreated overnight as the US government shutdown entered its second week but not before the S&P500 and Nasdaq scaled fresh record intra-day highs - Dow eased -92-points or -0.20%, with Nike Inc (down -3.18%) the worst performer in the 30-stock index, while Salesforce Inc fell -2.46% after the company said it won't pay a ransom demand from a hacker who claimed to have stolen a large amount of client data and threatened to publish it, according to an email seen by Bloomberg. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp rose +1.54% following news it was partnering with Anthropic to integrate the artificial intelligence (AI) firm's Claude large language model into its enterprise software. Amazon.com Inc added +0.4% as the e-commerce giant began its two-day Prime Big Deal Days.

US equity markets advanced, with the S&P500 and Nasdaq booking fresh record closing highs despite the U.S. government shutdown entering its sixth day, with the White House threatening mass federal worker layoffs. - Dow eased -63-points or -0.14% Verizon Communications Inc -5.11% after Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hans Vestberg stepped down, replaced by independent lead director and former PayPal Inc CEO Dan Schulman. Sherwin-Williams Co (-2.80%). Microsoft Corp (up +2.17%) and Salesforce Inc (+2.25%) rose over >2%, while Boeing Co gained +1.59% after Bloomberg reported that the airplane maker plans to accelerate its production of jets in its 737 Max line. The company could reach a 42-jet output per month for its 737 Maxs as soon as October, the report said.

US equity markets closed out the week on a mixed note albeit the Dow and S&P500 logged fresh record closing highs - Dow rose +239-points or +0.51% to 46,758.28 Nike Inc -3.54% Nvidia Corp lost -0.67% after hitting a record closing (US$188.89) and intra-day (US$191.05) high in the previous session.

US equity indices advanced for a fifth consecutive session, with the three (3) leading indices booking a fresh round of record closing highs amid a global rally for semiconductor stocks after OpenAI announced South Korean firms SK Hynix (+9.86%) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (+3.49%) would partner with the ChatGPT maker on its Stargate AI infrastructure project - Dow added +79-points or +0.17% to 46,519.72, tallying its first five-day winning streak since 2 May and marking the 30-stock index's second consecutive record closing high and 10th of the calendar year-to-date. Caterpillar Inc rose +2.003% to be the leading Dow component overnight. Nvidia Corp rose +0.88% to a fresh record closing high of US$188.89, hitting a record intra-day high (US$191.05) after the chipmaker's market capitalisation hit US$4.5 trillion.

US equity markets advanced, with the Dow and S&P500 posting record highs despite the federal government shutting down for the first time in six-years - Dow edged +88-points or +0.19% higher to book a second consecutive record closing high of 46,441.10. Nike Inc gained +6.41% after the athletic retail giant posted better-than-expected headline numbers for the fiscal first quarter after the close of the previous session. Nvidia Corp (+0.35%) hit a fresh record high that lifted the chipmaker's market capitalisation above >US$4.5 trillion.

Morgans AM - Wednesday, 1 October 2025 by Morgans Financial

US equity markets advanced overnight, shrugging off the potential threat of a US government shutdown and shaping to record an unusually strong September - Dow edged +69-points or +0.15% higher, with Nvidia Corp (up +2.05%) the leading performer in the 30-stock index. Chevron Corp (down -2.53%) was the weakest Dow component.

US equity markets advanced on Friday (26 September), snapping a three session losing streak following benign - Dow rose +300-points or +0.65% Boeing Co (up +3.62%) was the leading performer in the 30-stock index on Friday (26 September) after the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a report the plane maker will be allowed to issue airworthiness certificates on some of its 737 Max and 787 jets. The eased restrictions, which enable the company to conduct the final safety check on certain aircraft, could help Boeing accelerate production and delivery schedules. In addition, Turkish Airlines finalised a deal to purchase 225 Boeing planes following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to the U.S. last week.