Death toll continues to rise for the Middle East after earthquake

Good Morning,

Turkey has sent a formal request to NATO and allies for assistance in dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake which has claimed over 5,000 lives, The Reserve Bank of Australia has hiked the cash rate to its highest point in over a decade, PM Chris Hipkins meets Australia PM Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Joe Biden's State of the Union address to Congress on today (local time) comes at a pivotal time in his presidency as China will be watching closely.

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• The Nasdaq closed down 1.0%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrials Average slipped 0.1% (WSJ)

• The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.5 per cent, or 34.9 points, to 7504.1 on Tuesday, reversing the slim gain it held leading into the RBA’s policy decision (AFR)

• European markets close lower as investors gauge economic outlook, The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed 0.8% lower, with all sectors bar healthcare and utilities trading in the red. Retail led losses, down 2.1% (CNBC)

• The NZX closed at $11,967.72, a 0.6% drop from the day before

• British house prices were unchanged in January after falling in month-on-month terms in each of the previous four months as borrowing costs rose (RT)

Earnings and Data

• The British energy giant BP posted underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, of $27.7 billion for 2022. That compared with $12.8 billion for the previous year (CNBC)

• Pinterest shares reported revenue that missed analyst expectations and issued a light forecast for the first quarter. Revenue: $877 million vs. $886.3 million expected, according to Refinitiv. Earnings: 29 cents per share vs. 27 cents expected, according to Refinitiv (CNBC)

News Summary

• The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit southern Turkey and neighboring Syria has exceeded 5,000 people, as rescuers continue to dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings in search of survivors (WP)

• NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have held a joint media conference outside Parliament House in Canberra. Hipkins said their discussion was wide-ranging, and covered economy, climate, security issues and "how we'll work together (RNZ)

• The RBA board on Tuesday announced the RBA was issuing a 25 basis point rise, taking the cash rate to 3.35 per cent. Australian with a mortgage will have to fork out an extra $12,000 for their yearly mortgage compared to this time last year (7NEWS)

• The Chinese spy balloon will be looming in Joe Biden's State of the Union Address, and the US's reaction to it, which has dominated headlines, captivated the attention of the American public and prompted sharp criticism of the Biden administration from Republicans (BBC)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

• Holcim AG, the world's biggest cement maker, has agreed to buy U.S. roofing systems manufacturer Duro-Last in a $1.29 billion (USD) deal, the Swiss company said on Tuesday, its latest move to bolster its presence in North America (RT)

• Pharmaceutical company CVS Health Corp is close to an agreement to buy primary care center operator Oak Street Health Inc for about $10.5 billion (USD)including debt, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday (RT)

• Apollo Global Management Inc is among a group of financial firms in talks to buy a stake in Credit Suisse Group's revamped investment bank (RT)

• Public Storage, the largest U.S. operator of self-storage properties, on Sunday unveiled an $11 billion (USD) hostile bid for Life Storage Inc, ratcheting up attempts to buy its smaller rival after its earlier takeover attempts were rebuffed (RT)

Equity Raises

• Sydney private equity firm Adamantem Capital has been asking debt investors for about $200 million (AUD) to bankroll its acquisition of a majority stake in Retail Zoo, which owns Boost Juice and Betty’s Burgers (AFR)

Daily Picks

• Google is launching an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbot called Bard to rival ChatGPT.... will the well known search engine giant roll the existing rival? (BBC)

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