Major worldwide stock exchanges, overseas in both Europe and Asia traded mostly lower, while US pre-market equity futures lay flat ahead of the New York open, as investors weighed an upcoming data-rich week of economic and corporate news against hopes that a surging US economy and a dovish stance from the Federal Reserve would help push American equities into fresh all-time-highs.
The North American economy has been on record pace this first quarter, measuring a faster-than-expected Q1 2019 growth rate of +3.2%. This expansion has long maintained its stance as a picturesque backdrop for this year’s 4-month rally in risk assets; accelerated by a series of positive profit outlooks from some of Wall Street’s titans.
A move of this calibre would usually provoke the Fed into issuing a hawkish sentiment, however, with the FOMC statement and Jerome Powell press conference upcoming this Wednesday, market analysts could be expecting a different outcome, one which could instead see the Federal Reserve cement its dovish tilt ever further, on the heels of a forecasted deceleration in the Fed’s preferred economic measure, the PCE deflator, scheduled for release today.
These developments come after Friday’s session where Wall Street shed its early morning losses and worked its way into positive territory, to close at a fresh record 2019 high, as investors initially reacted to US Growth and Inflation data.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index advanced +0.47%, ending just shy of its intraday highs; notching a +1.17% gain for the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added +0.09% to its value, ending positive +1.74% in weekly gains.
In today’s economic calendar, Monday includes; Core PCE Price Index, Personal Income and Spending figures at 8:30am EST.
In corporate news; Alphabet (GOOGL), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Western Digital (WDC), AK Steel (AKS), Yum China Holdings (YUMC), Tenet Healthcare (THC), McDermott International (MDR), Tenneco (TEN), MGM Resorts (MGM), Tapestry (TPR) and Spotify Technology (SPOT) are amongst the major companies secluded to report their latest financials today.
TODAY’S TOP HEADLINES:
China & Trade: Mnuchin Says Trade Negotiations With China Are in ‘the Final Laps’. (The NYT) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that trade talks between the United States and China were entering a critical point as an American delegation heads to Beijing this week to try to finalize a long-awaited deal.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR: Today’s Economical Announcements.
08:30AM – ★★☆ – Core PCE Price Index (MoM) (Feb) (Previous: 0.1%) 08:30AM – ★★☆ – Core PCE Price Index (MoM) (Mar) (Previous: N/A) 08:30AM – ★★☆ – Personal Income (MoM) (Mar) (Previous: 0.2%) 08:30AM – ★★☆ – Personal Spending (MoM) (Feb) (Previous: 0.1%) 08:30AM – ★★☆ – Personal Spending (MoM) (Mar) (Previous: N/A)
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.
Target (TGT): [UPGRADE] Barclays upgraded the retailer’s stock to “overweight” from “equal weight, ” noting the company is ahead of Amazon in same-day deliveries and “has built a supply chain that fulfills e-commerce primarily from stores (where next-day delivery is much easier), which stands in a stark contrast to most retailers.”
Restaurant Brands International (QSR): [EARNINGS] Reported quarterly earnings that fell short of expectations, However, revenue best estimates.
American Airlines (AAL): [UPGRADE] Upgraded to “buy” from “hold” by Deutsche Bank even though American recently lowered its full-year earnings guidance. “We think the resetting of expectations by management essentially establishes a ‘floor’ for AAL’s share price and provides the company a bit more ‘cushion’ around its earnings targets,” the analyst said in a note.
Walt Disney (DIS): [REVIEW] J.P. Morgan hiked its price target on Disney to $150 per share from $137 a share after Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” movie shattered box office records, hauling in $1.2 billion in its global debut. “The underlying business continues to perform very well with several notable catalysts ahead that we believe may continue to drive outperformance,” according to J.P. Morgan.
Spotify Technology (SPOT): [NEWS] Said it now has 100 million paid subscribers for its premium service, overshadowing a larger-than-forecast quarterly loss.
Gardner Denver (GDI): [MERGER] Surged nearly 30% in the premarket after The Wall Street Journal reported the industrial company was in talks to merge with a division of Ingersoll-Rand (IR). The deal, the report said, would value Gardner Denver at around $15 billion and would involve cash and stock.
Anadarko Petroleum (APC): [NEWS] Anadarko announced it will retake sale negotiations with Occidental Petroleum (OXY) after agreeing to sell its business to Chevron (CVX). Anadarko said Monday that Occidental’s bid could be “superior” Chevron’s.
CVS Health (CVS): [DOWNGRADE] Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “outperform,” citing “historically high” leverage and its pharmacy operations being negatively impacted by efforts to lower prescription drug costs.
Boeing (BA): [NEWS] The Wall Street Journal reported the airplane maker did not tell Southwest Airlines, its largest 737 Max customer, that a safety feature in the plan was turned off. The report also said Southwest did not know about this until after the Lion Air crash last month.
Tesla (TSLA): [NEWS] CEO Elon Musk has reached an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over his use of Twitter, according to an amended filing in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York.
MOMENTUM STOCKS:
GAINERS: F, ALGN, AN, COF, VRSN, HSY DECLINERS: INTC, WWE
TODAY’S IPOs:
None.