Gold (GC=F)
Gold prices have climbed to a six-month high as traders bet that interest rates have peaked.
The precious metal has climbed to $2,014 an ounce and briefly hit a six-month top of $2,017.82.
The US dollar’s weakness, fuelled by increasing speculation that the Federal Reserve has concluded its interest rate hikes, has pushed investors toward safe-haven assets that will keep their value.
Recent data showing signs of slowing inflation in the US has boosted expectations that the Fed could begin easing monetary conditions sooner than expected.
Interest rates in the US currently stand between 5.25% and 5.5%.
Salesforce (CRM)
Shares in Salesforce were trending in extended trading as it prepares to report earnings this Thursday after the bell in Wall Street.
The software company is expected to report earnings of $2.06 per share on revenue of $8.72bn. This compares to the year-ago quarter when earnings came to $1.40 per share on revenue of $7.84bn.
Analysts expect the company to sustain 11% increases in sales over the next three years, which would bring sales to just over $47bn by 2026.
Shares of the customer-management software developer have returned 14.1% over the past month after its annual Dreamforce conference include a heavy focus on artificial intelligence. The shares are currently up 70% year-to-date.
Snowflake (SNOW)
Snowflake Inc. is higher in extended trading as it is set to report its third quarter results on Wednesday.
The cloud-computing data management company is expected to post earnings of $0.16 per share on revenue of $713.06m.
Snowflake offers products and services that clients can use to store, process and consolidate data that helps in producing business insights.
It recently launched Snowflake Cortex, a new fully-managed service to provide access to large language models, AI models and vector search functionality.
“We believe SNOW is positioning itself well to capture a larger share of AI workloads in the medium to long term,” analysts at Jefferies said in a research note.
Snowflake stock is up 12% so far this year.
Aviva (AV.L)
Insurance giant Aviva said it will buy a Canadian vehicle insurer for about £100m, but investors don’t seem convinced as shares were in the red.
The purchase of Optiom O2 will let the British insurer reach more customers in Canada, one of its three key areas after years of refocusing the business.
Optiom provides vehicle replacement insurance in the North American nation.
“The acquisition strengthens our offering and distribution capabilities in a highly attractive segment of the Canadian insurance market,” Aviva Canada chief executive Tracy Garrad, said.
“We know Optiom well through our existing relationship and are excited about what we can do together to better serve our brokers and customers.”
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.
Andrea Parker is a reporter for Zobuz. She previously worked at Huffington Post and Vanity Fair. Andrea is based in NYC and covers issues affecting her city. In addition to her severe coffee addiction, she’s a Netflix enthusiast, a red wine drinker, and a voracious reader.
