United States equity futures advanced and European stocks climbed for a fourth day, ahead of Thursday’s opening bell, boosted by signals of moderate progress in trade talks between Washington and Beijing, while new data from China saw unforeseen growth in Chinese exports, despite trade tensions.
US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, told reporters, earlier this morning in Beijing, that he was “looking forward to discussions” as he headed to meetings with China’s Vice Premier Liu He, with Bloomberg later reporting that President Donald Trump is considering expanding the March 2 trade deal deadline by 60 days, in order to ensure that a comprehensive deal is ultimately reached.
It was this same hopefulness of an impending US-China trade accord that sent US stocks higher for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday – with Industrials (+0.59%), seen as one of the primary tariff victims, as well as Energy (+1.25%) shares, leading the broader S&P 500 positive +0.32%, to end the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite both also recorded advances of +0.5% and +0.07% respectively.
In today’s session, major reports are expected from; Coca-Cola (KO), Nvidia (NVDA), Applied Materials (AMAT), CBS (CBS), Avon Products (AVP), CME Group (CME) and Yeti (YETI).
While, the economic calendar includes; Weekly Jobless Claims, Retail Sales and PPI data at 8:30am EST, followed by Business Inventories at 10am EST.
TODAY’S TOP HEADLINES:
China & Trade: Trump Considers 60-Day Extension for China Tariff Deadline. (Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump is considering pushing back the deadline for imposition of higher tariffs on Chinese imports by 60 days, as the world’s two biggest economies try to negotiate a solution to their trade dispute, according to people familiar with the matter.
Politics: Border-Security Funding Deal Nears a Vote. (The WSJ)
President Trump is likely to sign the border-security legislation finalized Wednesday that would keep the government from closing this weekend, people familiar with his plans said, but he continues to look for ways to supplement the modest funding it contains for barriers.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR:
Today’s Economical Announcements
08:30AM – ★☆☆ – Weekly Jobless Claims (Previous: 234,000)
08:30AM – ★☆☆ – Core PPI (YoY) (Jan) (Previous: 2.7%)
08:30AM – ★★☆ – Core PPI (MoM) (Jan) (Previous: -0.1%)
08:30AM – ★★★ – C. Retail Sales (MoM) (Dec) (Previous: 0.2%)
08:30AM – ★★★ – Retail Sales (MoM) (Dec) (Previous: 0.2%)
08:30AM – ★☆☆ – PPI (YoY) (Jan) (Previous: 2.5%)
08:30AM – ★★★ – PPI (MoM) (Jan) (Previous: -0.2%)
10:00AM – ★★☆ – Business Inventories (MoM) (Nov) (Previous: 0.6%)
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks
NetApp (NTAP): [EARNINGS] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.20 per share for its latest quarter, beating consensus estimates by five cents. Revenue missed forecasts.
Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN): [EARNINGS] Earned an adjusted 30 cents per share for its latest quarter, four cents above estimates. Revenue above forecasts.
Cisco Systems (CSCO): [EARNINGS] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of 73 cents per share, beating consensus estimates by a penny. Revenue beat forecasts.
Coca-Cola (KO): [EARNINGS] Matched Wall Street forecasts with adjusted quarterly profit of 43 cents per share, revenue above estimates and organic growth strongly beating forecasts.
Generac (GNRC): [EARNINGS] Earned an adjusted $1.42 per share for the fourth quarter, three cents above estimates. Revenue beat forecasts.
AIG (AIG): [EARNINGS] Posted an unexpected loss of 63 cents per share, after consensus forecasts had predicted a profit of 42 cents per share. Revenue beat estimates.
Canada Goose (GOOS): [EARNINGS] Beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines, with profit up 64 percent from the year before. Canada Goose also issued upbeat forward guidance.
Yelp (YELP): [EARNINGS] Earned 37 cents per share for the fourth quarter, well above the 10 cent consensus estimate. Revenue above estimates.
MGM Resorts (MGM): [EARNINGS] Came in one cent above estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 14 cents per share. Revenue beat forecasts. MGM also announced an eight percent dividend hike to 13 cents per share from 12 cents.
Alphabet (GOOGL): [REVIEW] Citi named the Google parent its “top pick”, replacing Amazon as #1 on its list of favorite stocks.
Apple (AAPL): [NEWS] Apple will resume selling older iPhone models in Germany. That comes two months after it had stopped sales because a court had ruled that Apple had infringed a patent held by Qualcomm.
MOMENTUM STOCKS:
GAINERS: LSCC, NGL, HLT, RAMP
LOSERS: OHI
TODAY’S IPOs:
Avedro (AVDR) (Price: 14) (Shares: 5M)
Cibus (CBUS) (Low: 14, High: 16) (Shares: 6.7M)
Hoth Therapeutics (HOTH) (Low: 5.50, High: 6.50) (1.3M)
TCR2 Therapeutics (TCRR) (Price: 15) (Shares: 5M)