As a result, markets are now pricing in roughly a 50% chance of an RBA rate cut in November, a move anticipated earlier than the previously expected date of April next year. These factors are putting downward pressure on the Australian Dollar.

The Australian Dollar was languishing around 0.6540 on Thursday (1/08/2024), and the charts are painting a bleak picture! The AUD/USD pair is trapped in a relentless descending channel, hammering home a bearish sentiment that can’t be ignored.

The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) is scraping the bottom, hovering dangerously close to the oversold 30 level—an ominous sign that a rebound might be just around the corner, but don’t hold your breath!

Support for the AUD/USD pair is hanging by a thread at the lower edge of the descending channel, around 0.6500. If it breaks below this critical level, brace yourself for a nosedive toward the throwback support at 0.6470—a level that could spell disaster for the pair.

On the flip side, resistance looms large at 0.6555, right at the upper boundary of this punishing channel. Push through this barrier, and the next obstacles are no walk in the park: the “throwback support turned resistance” at 0.6575 and the nine-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 0.6581.

If the AUD/USD pair can defy the odds and break above this resistance, we could be looking at a dramatic surge towards a six-month high of 0.6798. Buckle up—this ride is far from over.

China’s Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) just crashed to 49.8 for July, slamming into the wall of disappointment.

The post Australian Dollar Declines After The Release Of Key Economic Data On Thursday appeared first on Tech Business News.

Based on a survey encompassing 1000 Australian retail investors, a significant portion, constituting 7 percent, expressed their intent to divest some of their holdings from the ‘Magnificent 7’ in 2024, aiming to lock in profits.

Moreover, 10 percent of respondents indicated plans to scale back on fresh capital injections into these corporations in the upcoming months. However, a considerable 42 percent revealed no intentions to alter their investment allocations.

The surge in interest in these companies follows a highly profitable 14 months, witnessing a collective 90 percent surge in their share prices since January 2023.

In terms of sector preferences for the year ahead, the report highlights a predominant inclination towards the tech sector, with 15 percent of Australian retail investors expressing favoritism, closely followed by financial services at 12 percent.

Despite minor fluctuations, the proportion of investors holding AI-related stocks remained steady, experiencing a slight dip from 20 percent to 19 percent in the initial quarter of 2024.

The trend underscores the enduring appeal of the ‘Magnificent 7’ as sought-after investments among Australian retail investors.

The post Australians Still Love The Magnificent 7 Big Tech Stocks in 2024 appeared first on Tech Business News.

The AIIA Tech Index measures the buying sentiment for Australia’s IT sector, illuminating areas of opportunities for major procurement and tender opportunities across the whole of the economy, including government.

The Index will track a representative group of IT decision-makers from various industries, company sizes, and budget sizes to understand how they plan to build and improve upon IT capabilities that will support the business bi-annually.

This first report sets the benchmark for future comparison, and future data will be incorporated into an index to track the progress of digital transformation and investment in Australia.

The AIIA Tech Index – Four Key Insights.

• Insight 1. Government-enacted regulatory and policy uncertainty cited by most CIOs as a top concern.

The first report has yielded interesting insights, starting with CIOs’ concern over increasing regulation and policy uncertainties that could disrupt their businesses this year.

The AIIA recognises this as a fresh concern in the many years of tracking policy developments, noting that there has indeed been a marked increase in government wishing to regulate the technology sector and how it is to be used across the economy, including cyber security, e-safety, privacy and AI regulatory reforms over the past 12-24 months. CIOs from across the economy are seeing this as an uncertainty for their business.

• Insight 2. IT budgets are set to increase with Government spending increasing the most and the Education sector struggling to keep up.

Overall, 81% of the respondents expect to increase their IT budgets in the next 1 to 3 years, with 90% of the Government IT leaders expecting to do so. Comparatively, 55% of the respondents expect at least a 10% increase, while 60% of the Government IT leaders expect the same.

The post First Australian Tech Index Launched to Measure CIOs’ Buying Sentiment appeared first on Tech Business News.

KEY POINTS

• The big names in AI have gained an average of 125% since the start of 2023.
• It’s time for investors to look outside these names for the next massive winners.
• These three under-the-radar stocks deserve more attention.
• 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies

After Big tech crushing the playing field it in 2023; who will provide the next huge gains in 2024?

In 2023, amidst the absence of recession or inflation, the focal point shifted towards the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) and big tech stocks. This led to the emergence of the “Magnificent Seven,” comprising mega-cap tech stocks such as Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.

Since the onset of 2023, these stocks have collectively surged by an average of 125%. While Nvidia has recorded an impressive 322% gain, caution is warranted as some stocks appear to be overvalued. For instance, Microsoft currently trades with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 39, compared to its five-year and 10-year averages of 31.

Astute investors are exploring alternative avenues for significant gains in AI, with several compelling options available. Here are three worth considering.

UiPath Is At The Forefront Of Robotic Process Automation

Consider the significant boost in productivity achievable through automating your most mundane and time-consuming office tasks.

Now envision the exponential increase in productivity for an entire company when its employees can dedicate their efforts to high-value, strategic business activities. It encapsulates the essence of robotic process automation (RPA) with UiPath (NYSE: PATH).

For instance, in a notable case study involving UiPath, a large manufacturer dealing with thousands of vendors and tens of thousands of invoices managed to slash processing time from 7-10 days down to a single day.

Simultaneously, despite a 150% increase in workload, the company only needed a minimal 5% increase in staff. The implications for profitability are profound and undeniable, underscoring the likely sustained demand for UiPath’s offerings.

The post Three (3) AI Stocks That Could Outperform In 2024 appeared first on Tech Business News.

Zuckerberg also stands to gain from Meta’s optimistic financial performance in other ways. The company declared its inaugural dividend for investors, offering a quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents per share for Class A and B common stock starting in March.

As of the close of trading on Friday, Zuckerberg has reached his peak wealth, propelled by a remarkable 22% surge in Meta stock, resulting in a staggering $28 billion paper gain for him.

According to Bloomberg’s data analysis Zuckerberg owning roughly 350 million shares is poised to receive approximately $175 million in each quarterly payout before taxes.

Meta’s decision to issue a dividend communicates its stance on its growth prospects. Traditionally, rapidly expanding tech firms refrain from dividends, preferring to reinvest earnings into innovation or acquisitions.

Despite Meta’s significant investments in AI initiatives, its acquisition opportunities are diminishing due to regulatory hurdles.

Following Meta’s restructuring and significant layoffs, the company’s stock nearly tripled in value in 2023. The introduction of dividends and an additional $50 billion allocated for share repurchases could bolster investor confidence in Zuckerberg’s strategic focus on AI and the metaverse.

The post Mark Zuckerberg’s Net Worth Surged Past $28 Billion In A Single Day appeared first on Tech Business News.

Meta’s strategy to surpass its competitors in the field of AI relies heavily on the vast repository of billions of images, posts, and videos willingly provided by users.

In a recent announcement on Thursday, Meta, led by Zuckerberg, disclosed a remarkable financial performance, with profits soaring threefold year-over-year to a staggering $14 billion.

The surge in profitability has been attributed to stringent cost-cutting measures and a notable resurgence in advertising revenue.

Meta’s strategic roadmap involves substantial investments in its virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI) products.

During an earnings call, Zuckerberg underscored the company’s ambitious stance in the AI arena, stating that Meta is “playing to win.” However, the landscape of AI has rapidly become densely populated, presenting Meta with formidable competition from industry giants such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google.

Zuckerberg outlined several key components of Meta’s AI strategy, emphasizing the vast reservoir of user-generated data across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

The post Zuckerberg Wants To Be AI God King, Meta Surges With Record Stock Price appeared first on Tech Business News.

The aftermath of this announcement led to a surge in Nvidia shares during premarket trading. Simultaneously, the annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is about to commence, with all eyes on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s forthcoming remarks on Friday.

• Prior Earnings – $6.7B.
• Second Quarter – $13.5B
• October Projection – $16B

In a stunning development, Nvidia outperformed Wall Street’s most optimistic projections for second-quarter revenues. The California-based chip manufacturer saw its shares rally significantly in premarket trading on Thursday, fueled by the escalating enthusiasm surrounding generative artificial intelligence.

Anticipation prior to the earnings release was already sky-high, with some sources speculating Q2 sales of $12 billion, and projections for Q3 reaching $14 billion.

However, even these lofty expectations turned out to be modest. The actual revenue for the second quarter stood at a remarkable $13.5 billion, more than doubling the previous figure of $6.7 billion. Nvidia also offered a forward-looking estimate, predicting $16 billion in sales for the ongoing quarter ending in October.

These results underscore Nvidia’s pivotal role in the AI fervor of the current year. The company’s extensive investment in manufacturing graphics processors, vital to powering the burgeoning AI landscape, positions it as a primary beneficiary of the surging demand for AI.

Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, declared, “A new computing era has begun,” and emphasised that the race to embrace generative AI is in full swing.

The post Nvidia Quarterly Earnings Report Q2 Smashes Expectations At $13.5B appeared first on Tech Business News.

According to data from 27 analysts on Refinitiv SmartEstimate, the operating profit of the world’s leading manufacturer of memory chips, smartphones, and TVs is expected to reach 555 billion won ($427 million) for the April-June quarter. It is advisable to favor analysts known for their accuracy.

If these estimates hold true, it would represent Samsung’s lowest profit since the fourth quarter of 2008 when the company reported a consolidated operating loss of approximately 740 billion won.

TrendForce say prices for DRAM memory chips, widely used in smartphones, PCs, and servers, experienced a continued decline during the quarter, dropping approximately 13% to 18% as a result of decreased chip purchases.

Nevertheless, analysts predict that the rate of price decline has slowed compared to previous quarters and is expected to reach a bottom around the third quarter due to supply reductions by Samsung Electronics and other memory chip manufacturers. However, a significant recovery may not be seen until 2024.

Despite the current economic challenges, Samsung is actively striving to expand its share of chip demand in high-growth areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chip contract manufacturing.

The average forecast of five analysts suggests that Samsung’s mobile business is likely to achieve an operating profit of around 3.3 trillion won attributed to cost-cutting efforts in marketing, which offset a slight increase in smartphone shipments from the previous quarter when the company launched its latest flagship model.

The post Samsung Electronics June Quarter Profit Expected To Plunge 96 Percent appeared first on Tech Business News.

Apple’s market value briefly peaked at above $3 trillion in intra-day trading on Jan. 3, 2022, before closing the session just below that mark.

The company’s less-than-expected fall in sales in its most recent quarterly report has highlighted the tech giant’s resiliency in an uncertain economy, making it an investor favorite.

On January 3, 2022, Apple, based in Cupertino, California, briefly reached a market capitalisation above $3 trillion during intraday trading. However, it closed the session just below.

Following a Commerce Department report indicating a lower increase in the Personal Consumption Expenditure price index in May compared to April, heavyweight growth stocks like Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla experienced substantial gains.

In 2023, Apple’s stock has surged by 49%, alongside other highly valued companies on Wall Street. This rally has been driven by optimism that the Federal Reserve is nearing the conclusion of its interest rate hikes campaign and by the promising potential of artificial intelligence.

Although Apple’s most recent quarterly report in May showcased a decline in revenue and profits, the results still exceeded analysts’ expectations.

The post Apple Shares Jumped 2.3% to $193.97, Breaching $3 Trillion Mark appeared first on Tech Business News.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD announced an $11,400 electric vehicle, posing a challenge to Tesla’s lowest-cost offering priced at around $33,000.

In addition, Huawei, which competes with Cisco in various communications technology, revealed that it had shifted to its own enterprise resource planning (ERP) software due to US sanctions in 2019 that cut off its access to American systems.

The move showcases the growing competition between Chinese and US tech companies in the global market as the clash of technological prowess and strategic maneuvers is nothing short of a spectacle

At the recent Shanghai auto fair, BYD’s Seagull EV stole the show with its impressive specs: a 300-mile range and 0 to 60 mph acceleration in just five seconds, all at a base price of 78,000 Yuan ($11,400).

This makes it the world’s cheapest electric vehicle, potentially becoming the Ford Model T of the 21st century, priced at half of what Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt offer. BYD has ambitious plans to export 300,000 vehicles this year, marking a significant six-fold increase compared to 2022.

China’s automotive sector is a global powerhouse, with the country producing a staggering 27 million cars in 2022, surpassing production numbers of the United States, Japan, India, South Korea, and Germany.

The post US Tech Stocks Rattled By China’s 4th Industrial Revolution appeared first on Tech Business News.