The S&P 500 in the US rose another 1.4% last week, closing at fresh highs on the back of impressive earnings releases (including a very strong one from Meta) and robust economic indicators. The US market has started the new year where it left off in 2023, having gained 4.0% barely a month into 2024. Other sharemarkets performed well, with the Australian ASX 200 posting a very strong gain of 1.9% and also finishing last week at a new record high, while the local market was solid with the NZX 50 index rising 0.5%. It'll be another holiday-shortened week here in New Zealand with Waitangi Day on Tuesday, which will make for a quieter market. We'll get the latest global dairy trade auction results early on Wednesday, and later that day the labour force report for the December quarter is due. The international earning season will continue, with more than 100 S&P 500 companies scheduled to announce results. Some of the highlights across the world are likely to include Caterpillar, McDonald's, Eli Lilly, Alibaba, Costco, CVS Health, Disney, PayPal and Unilever.