• Equity Markets: Equity markets had another poor day yesterday with the S&P500 -0.83% and the Nasdaq -1.21%, as tech stocks were weak on spending fears ahead of Nvidia’s results this evening. Europe was even weaker at -1.72%. In the US, it was a balanced day with six sectors in positive territory and 49.7% of stocks ending higher. Energy and Healthcare were best. Consumer Discretionary and IT were weakest. Home Depot was -6% after it missed 3Q numbers and cut guidance, as remodelling slows. A number of semi and names (Western Digital -5.9%, Micron -5.6%, and AMD -4.2%) were also weak. In Europe, all eleven sectors were in negative territory, with real estate and healthcare least bad, with Consumer Discretionary and Financials worst. Ocado fell 17% as its biggest client, Kroger, shuts 3 automated fulfilment warehouses. Umicore the materials technology company fell 14% as its largest shareholder sold shares at an 8.8% discount.
• Macro: In macro news yesterday, in Europe there were no releases yesterday, but this morning UK October CPI was in line with MoM estimates of 0.4%, core CPI YoY was in line with 3.4% estimates, which was 0.1% lower vs last month. Services CPI was lower than estimates at 4.5% (4.6% est., 4.7% previous). In the US, Initial Jobless Claims rose to 232K from 219K a month ago in September, whilst Continuing Claims also rose to 1957K. The ADP Private Payrolls data also saw a -2.5K change in the week to Nov 1st. The New York Fed Services Business Activity index for November improved slightly to -21.7 vs -23.6 but remained deep in the negative. The NAHB Homebuilder improved slightly in November to 38 from 37 (est. 37). Factory Orders and Durable Goods Orders ex Transportation rose in August, +1.4% and +0.3% YoY, as expected.  Economic releases today include UK House Price Index (Sep), EU CPI (Oct F), Irish Trade Balance (Sep) and Irish Property Prices (Sep). Then in the US MBA Mortgage Applications, Housing Starts (Oct) and Building Permits (Oct P).
• Stocks: Rio Tinto: (Overweight PT 5590p c. 5.7% upside): Details relating to strategy shift in the Yarwun Alumina Refinery.Glanbia: (Overweight PT €17, c. 17% upside): Update relating to medium term strategic and growth targets ahead of Capital Markets Day today (2:00 GMT).L’Oreal: (Neutral PT €415, c. 18% upside): Discussion on recent M&A deals in China
• Debt: Despite the travails of equity markets of late, US and European Bond markets are fairly subdued at the moment. US Treasuries have settled north of 4% as the Fed pushes back on December rate cut speculation.

• Asset Allocation
• Focus Feature: Economist Alan McQuaid takes a look into the state of the economy, both at home and abroad as we head into the second quarter of the year.
• Wealth Management: Michael Foley explores estate planning and the benefits of a bare trust.
• Analyst Conviction List: The investment case for our preferred names.
• The Fund Edit: Latest update on our range of investment funds, ETFs and trusts.
• Ethical Investing: Green Effects providing sustainable investment returns.
• Corporate Finance News: David Lawlor spotlights some of the key trends impacting global real estate investment following the MIPIM 2023 event, while Myles Dwyer takes a look at what’s driving growth at Farra Marine.

Opportunities this week:

• Kingspan (Overweight PT: €84.70 Upside 19.5%): Review of potential IPO of ADVNSYS and sector outlook.  
• Cairn Homes (Overweight PT: €2.46 Upside 28%): Update post Cairn’s and Glenveagh’s H1 results and reiterate strength in business fundamentals and outlook.
• Greencoat Renewables (Overweight PT: €1.01 Upside 40%): Reiterate strength of investment case based on asset base valuation.