Australia Election Preview, Microsoft and Meta Earnings Beat

US equity futures rallied Thursday on stronger-than-expected tech earnings and signs the Trump administration may be close to announcing the first round of trade deals to reduce planned tariffs. The advance for US futures came after the S&P 500 erased an intraday drop of more than 2% Wednesday to close 0.2% higher. Shares in Japan and Australia both edged lower Thursday. A number of markets are shut for holidays across Asia including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and India.

Meantime, the outcome of Australia's tight federal election could be the next catalyst for local assets as a tariff standoff between the US and China continues to rattle markets. We preview Saturday's federal election with Bloomberg's Paul Allen in Sydney.

Plus - contracts for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both gained at least 0.9%, helped by a post-market rally for Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. following their bullish corporate results. Microsoft posted better-than-expected sales, while Meta also exceeded analysts' sales forecasts, suggesting customer demand hasn't been rattled by tariffs. We discuss the day's Mag Seven earnings and the latest eco data out of the US with George Cipolloni, Portfolio Manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management.

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