Global equity markets lost momentum on Thursday, while haven assets slipped, amid cautious trade ahead of this Saturday’s sit-down between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
The meeting looms as a pivotal affair for economic markets, with investors continuing to keep a close watch on all rhetoric surrounding the summit in the days leading up the event.
Overnight, the South China Morning Post reported that the two sides were near to agreeing a truce to avoid the application of further tariffs, while the Wall Street Journal headlined China’s insistence that a lifted ban on Huawei will be included in China’s terms for a trade truce.
These developments come after an undecided session on Wall Street yesterday, where US stocks notched their longest losing streak since early May, as investors remained cautious about the prospect of a breakthrough in the trade dispute between the US and China.
The S&P 500 index finished -0.10% lower, having been up as much as +0.50% earlier in the day; recording the benchmark’s fourth consecutive negative session, its longest losing streak since early May.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell just -0.02%, whereas a strong showing for Chip-makers (+3.23%) helped the Nasdaq Composite cling to a +0.47% advance into the close.
Ahead, in today’s economic calendar, Thursday includes; the third estimate of first-quarter GDP, as well as Weekly Jobless Claims at 8:30am EST, followed by Pending Home Sales for May at 10am EST.
In earnings; Nike (NKE), Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), ConAgra Brands (CAG), Accenture (ACN), McCormick & Co. (MKC) and Progress Software (PRGS) are all expected to report their latest financials today.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
China & Trade: China to Insist US Lifts Huawei Ban as Part of Trade Truce. (The WSJ)
Among the preconditions, said Chinese officials with knowledge of the plan, Beijing is insisting that the US remove its ban on the sale of US technology to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today's Economical Announcements.
08:30AM - ★☆☆ - Weekly Jobless Claims (Previous: 216,000)
08:30AM - ★★★ - GDP (QoQ) (Q1) (Previous: 3.1%)
10:00AM - ★★★ - P. Home Sales (MoM) (May) (Previous: -1.5%)
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.
Herman Miller (MLHR): [EARNINGS & DIVIDEND] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of 88 cents per share, beating consensus estimates by 10 cents a share. Revenue beat forecasts, and the company announced a 6% increase in its quarterly dividend to 21 cents per share.
Rite Aid (RAD): [EARNINGS] Reported an adjusted quarterly loss of 14 cents per share, wider than the 8 cents a share loss that expected. Revenue came in slightly below estimates.
National Beverage (FIZZ): [EARNINGS] Reported its second straight quarterly sales decline, after the LaCroix beverage maker had seen sales rise steadily for five years.
KB Home (KBH): [EARNINGS] Beat estimates by 11 cents a share, with quarterly earnings of 51 cents per share. Revenue was also better than anticipated and KB Home reported an improvement in cancellation rates as well as a larger-than-expected backlog.
Conagra Brands (CAG): [EARNINGS] Missed estimates by 5 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of 36 cents per share. Revenue was also below forecasts. Conagra said fiscal fourth-quarter results were below its expectations, but added that it had made progress key areas of the business.
McCormick (MKC): [EARNINGS] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.16 per share, 8 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was very slightly below forecasts. McCormick also increased its full-year earnings outlook.
Boeing (BA): [NEWS] Has identified a new issue with Boeing’s grounded 737 Max jet, a software problem is separate from the stall prevention system issue that Boeing has been addressing.
Accenture (ACN): [EARNINGS] Earned $1.93 per share for its fiscal third quarter, 4 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also exceeded forecasts. Accenture’s results were helped by increased contributions from its digital and cloud services.
Walgreens (WBA): [EARNINGS] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.47 per share, 4 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was above forecasts as well. Walgreens said it rebounded from a difficult prior quarter with improvements in both retail sales and prescription growth.
WageWorks (WAGE): [BUYOUT] Will be acquired by health savings account custodian HealthEquity (HQY) for $51.35 per share in cash, giving it a value of $2 billion.
Amazon.com (AMZN): [NEWS] Launched a new pickup option called “Counter” with Rite Aid (RAD) as its first partner. The service lets customers pick up packages at a store’s counter.
Planet Fitness (PLNT): [RATING] Rated “outperform” in new coverage at Raymond James, which likes the fitness center operator’s differentiated business model.
General Motors (GM): [RATING] Rated “outperform” in new coverage at Credit Suisse. The firm says GM has done a good job in balancing both short-and long-term concerns.
Ford Motor (F): [RATING] Rated “outperform” in new coverage at Credit Suisse. The firm says Ford shares have upside as it reimagines its business. Separately, Ford announced plans to slash 12,000 jobs in Europe by 2020.
Western Digital (WDC): [RATING] Rated “underperform,” in new coverage at Wedbush, based on continued margin pressure for the disk drive and flash memory maker.
QEP Resources (QEP): [NEWS] Activist investor Elliott Management is in advanced talks to buy the oil and gas exploration company, according to a Bloomberg report, with a deal possible within weeks.
Magellan Health (MGLN): [NEWS] Is in advanced talks for a sale to private-equity firm Centerbridge Partners, according to The Wall Street Journal.
MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: OSTK, MYGN
DECLINERS: CRCM, GBT, NEO, TDS, PGRE, RPT, SERV
TODAY'S IPOs
Adaptive Biotechnologies (ADPT) (Price: 20) (Est. Vol: $300.0M)
BridgeBio Pharma (BBIO) (Low: 14, High: 16) (Est. Vol: $300.0M)
Change Healthcare (CHNG) (Price: 13) (Est. Vol: $557.1M)
Morphic Holding (MORF) (Price: 15) (Est. Vol: $90.0M)
Priam Properties (PRMI) (Low: 18, High: 20) (Est. Vol: $171.0M)
