Pre-Open Data
Key Data for the Week
- Tuesday – US – Building Permits fell 7.7% in September, down from a 5.6% gain in August.
- Wednesday – EUR – Consumer Price Index
- Wednesday – UK – Consumer Price Index
Australian Market
The Australian sharemarket closed 0.1% lower yesterday, as rising bond yields dampened investor sentiment. The Materials sector weakened, while the Information Technology and REIT sectors were among the best performers.
The major miners lost ground, as BHP announced its quarterly earnings. The company fell 2.0% after it stated it produced less iron ore due to COVID-19 restrictions. Rio Tinto also lost ground, down 3.3%, while Fortescue Metals shed 1.2%.
The Information Technology sector followed a solid lead from the US yesterday to outperform on the ASX. Artificial intelligence provider, Appen, added 4.6%, while Zip and Afterpay jumped 5.2% and 2.7% respectively.
Goodman Group led the gains in the REIT sector, as the company added 2.3%. The major retail providers were mixed, as Stockland lifted 0.2% and Scentre Group closed the session relatively flat. Centuria Industrial REIT jumped 1.7% and Charter Hall Long WALE REIT added 0.8%.
The Australian futures market points to a 0.56% rise today, driven by stronger overseas markets.
Overseas Markets
European sharemarkets closed slightly higher overnight, as earnings reports were mixed, and investors moved to purchase more defensive stocks. A weaker-than-expected earnings report from major food company, Danone, resulted in a 3.0% fall in the company’s share price. The company’s report also alluded to rising inflationary pressures. By the close of trade, the UK’s FTSE 100 lifted 0.2%, while the STOXX Europe 600 and German DAX both rose 0.3%.
US sharemarkets enjoyed their fifth straight session of gains on Tuesday. Johnson & Johnson rose 2.3% after the company raised its 2021 adjusted profit forecast. The ‘big tech’ companies extended recent gains as investors anticipate positive earnings reports; Apple added 1.5%, Facebook rose 1.4% and Alphabet lifted 0.6%.
By the close of trade, the NASDAQ added 1.6% and the S&P 500 gained 0.7%, while the Dow Jones closed 0.6% higher.
CNIS Perspective
Netflix has doubled its net new subscribers in the third quarter to 4.4 million, exceeding forecasts due to the breakout success of Squid Game, the South Korean Tarantino-esque series released in September. The dystopian thriller has now been seen by 142 million households in just four weeks, becoming the company’s biggest ever hit.
Squid Game was sourced, written and produced in South Korea, and within 10 days of its release, was number 1 on Netflix in 90 countries with #SquidGame viewed more than 22.8 billion times on TikTok. The jump in South Korean internet traffic was so great that internet service provider SK Broadband is suing Netflix to pay for the costs its incurred to deliver the megahit.
Netflix’s success is no accident, knowing content is king, is spending US$17 billion per year in new productions, as much as Apple, Facebook, or Samsung spend on Research & Development. What’s also key is that Netflix is truly global and accessible in every country apart from China, North Korea and Syria. The company is now investing in original programming in 40 countries and has produced original scripted shows in 20 foreign languages. It’s spent more than US$1 billion on Korean content alone.
Streaming services will continue to fight for our eyeballs with Apple TV, Amazon’s Prime and the several other services vying for a position. Netflix’s approach to cater for subscribers from 189 countries outside the US gives it an advantage over other streaming services and has seen success in doing so. With its third most successful series produced in Spain, Money Heist, expect to be reading more subtitles or watching poor lip syncing into the future.
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