US equities rallied last week on growing expectations of lower interest rates and Microsoft became the largest company by market capitalisation. The earnings season kicked off in earnest on Friday with the major banks including JPMorgan reporting, and this will be followed by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs announcing results on Tuesday. The Republican nomination process for the US presidency begins tonight with the Iowa caucuses, where the former President Trump is seen as the clear frontrunner. Chinese equities are only marginally lower as China's central bank did not cut a key interest rate, while Baidu is sharply down as the risk of sanctions on the company has increased. Mensur Pocinci, Head of Technical Analysis Research, points out that the uptrend in (US) equities remains intact, as does the downtrend in bond yields.00:00 Introduction by Helen Freer (Investment Writing)00:27 Markets wrap-up by Mike Rauber (Investment Writing)07:01 Technical Analysis update by Mensur Pocinci (Head of Technical Analysis Research)09:50 Closing remarks by Helen Freer (Investment Writing)Would you like to support this show? Please leave us a review and star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast player.