Here’s Tuesday’s ‘Just A Minute’ bringing you a 60 second summary what’s happening in the markets today:

Main Trading Events Of The Day: U.S. Fed Chair Yellen Testifies @ 15.00 GMT; U.S. JOLTS Job Openings @ 15.00 GMT

Earnings Reports: Look out for AIG coming up Thursday.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING TODAY

Analysts Expecting Janet Yellen To Emphasise Continuity

All eyes will be on Federal Chair Janet Yellen later today as she testifies on monetary policy and the U.S. economic outlook. Financial markets will be watching closely for any signal that Yellen is contemplating policy changes even though economists think such a signal is highly unlikely. Yellen’s appearance is of particular interest because it follows two weak monthly jobs reports and a spate of market volatility largely tied to turmoil in emerging markets. Her testimony comes four days after the release of the government’s nonfarm payrolls report, which had the economy creating a lower-than-estimated 113,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate falling to 6.6 percent, a five-year low and not all that far from the Fed’s threshold for reducing stimulus. Stocks ended with modest gains on Monday as investors digested recent market gains and looked ahead to new Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s first testimony before lawmakers.

Asian Stocks In Biggest Leap Since November

Asian markets continued to climb ahead of Janet Yellen’s first public appearance as chair of the US Federal Reserve. Major indices in the region were positive, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leading with a 1.8 per cent gain, its third climb in four sessions. The Shanghai Composite added 0.9 per cent to Monday’s 2 per cent gain while South Korea’s Kospi was on pace for a fifth straight daily gain with a 0.5 per cent rise. The solid gains were notable following a less than enthusiastic session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 nudged forward 0.2 per cent. Blue chips were relatively unmoved. A gauge of Asian stocks outside Japan rose, heading for its biggest advance since November. Investors believe that Yellen is going to be dovish given the recent weakness in U.S. employment numbers and that long term investors could start accumulating Chinese shares. Valuations are cheap but investors need to bear in mind that financial conditions might remain tight as the government reins in excessive credit growth.

Is Cash Cow Microsoft A Good Buy?

Microsoft is a great cash cow of a company and has a strong position in cloud computing, a growing market. The company’s stock has risen by more than 10% since Ballmer announced he was stepping down. Compared to other tech giants, Microsoft is relatively cheap and pays a healthy dividend, so, should you buy? There are one or two signs to cautious of. Microsoft faces a serious long-term challenge that may prove very damaging. First of all, there’s Microsoft’s weak position in smartphones and tablets which is certainly a major problem but the main concern is that Microsoft’s near monopoly on desktop operating systems is under threat. Asus has just launched a budget desktop PC in the U.S. that is retailing for just $179, almost 50% cheaper than the cheapest PC produced by Hewlett-Packard. It manages to do this using Google’s Chrome OS operating system, which Google gives away free. By contrast, the Hewlett-Packard PC uses Windows which is not free; Hewlett-Packard has to pay a licence fee to Microsoft. Two of the three top-selling laptops on Amazon.com over Christmas were Chromebooks, powered by Chrome OS and this is a trend expected to continue. If you are considering investing in Microsoft, remember that although it is still early days for Chrome OS, the momentum as we have seen, is beginning to build.

That sums up Tuesday’s highlights! We hope you have a profitable day on the markets.