Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 opened 0.2% lower on Monday, with investors turning attention towards local earning reports following new record highs from major US indices last week.
In addition, iron ore miners are under scrutiny as the commodity's price experienced a dip ahead of China's Lunar New Year holiday this week.
In the US, the S&P 500 concluded trading above the 5000-point level for the first time, largely propelled by the performance of US blue-chip tech stocks such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META). This surge is fueled by stronger-than-anticipated earnings reports, a thriving late-stage job market following the addition of a large number of workers to the US economy in January, and a rejuvenated Silicon Valley focusing on AI profits and increased profit margins after the tech sector's upheavals in 2023.
The S&P 500's anticipated fourth-quarter earnings growth of 6.5% year-on-year could be the best performance since mid-2022. However, this optimism was not shared by Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) and Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE), both of which fell short of analyst predictions on Friday, causing their stocks to drop by 9.5% and 17.8% respectively.
In the ASX reporting season, JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX:JBH), an electronics and white goods retailer, reported sales exceeding $5.16 billion, even though net profit declined nearly 20% to $264.3 million, surpassing market predictions. The market had anticipated sales to decrease by 2.9% to $5.125 billion. The company, led by CEO Terry Smart, had previously cautioned in October about softer first-quarter sales in its Australian electronics stores and a significant drop in sales at white goods retailer The Good Guys.