STOCK MARKET BLOG NOVEMBER 2023

by the CEO Silvano Grimaldi of the independent asset management company GRIMALDI & PARTNERS AG

MONTHLY REVIEW

The international stock markets ended the month NOVEMBER with gains.

BURDENING FACTORS

The yield on ten-year US government bonds has fallen noticeably from its high of 5%.
Confidence that the US Federal Reserve has ended its interest rate hike spiral.
The hope for interest rate cuts thanks to an easing of monetary policy (interest rates no longer rising) in the USA and also in the Eurozone.
Inflation in prices in the USA weakened noticeably in October. Consumer prices rose by 3.2 percent compared to the same month last year. In September the rate was 3.7 percent.

EQUITIES IN FOCUS

MICROSOFT shares rise after Q3 2023 figures thanks to cloud

Microsoft has presented its figures for the third quarter of 2023. The technology group was able to increase its sales by 13 percent to $56 billion. The profit amounts to 22 billion dollars. Above all, the cloud business and office software are the drivers of these phenomenal results. Even if the Surface business is weakening and the company still expects weak demand after a decline of 22 percent, the gaming division can convince with a slight increase.

Even if the most successful Bethesda launch cannot contribute to console sales, Game Pass subscribers seem to be increasing. While hardware sales fell by 7 percent, Game Pass increased sales by 13 percent.

MONTHLY OUTLOOK

The well-known strong seasonality towards the end of the year, inflation on the decline and investors' expectations that the US central bank has reached the zenith of the interest rate hike cycle are currently clearly driving up prices on the stock markets. In addition, there are the typical year-end rally fantasies that ensure optimism among investors.

We expect the positive trend on the stock markets to continue in December.

STOCK RECOMMENDATION: MICROSOFT