Pre-market futures, across the board, on the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all point to solid gains ahead of Tuesday’s open – investors expressing optimism that Washington and Beijing are on the verge of reaching a reasonable trade-deal, during on-going negotiations.
The moves come as dozens of officials from the world’s two largest economies continue talks to resolve their ongoing trade dispute; with aims to break the trade impasse between the two countries.
This positive sentiment looks to broaden Monday’s advance, were Wall Street chalked up its third gain in four sessions as investors were encouraged by news of another round of trade talks between the US and China, while digesting positive comments from policymakers on the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises this year.
The session recorded a +0.79% advance for the S&P 500, a gain of +0.46% for the Dow Jones Industrial and a respectable price increase of +1.19% for the Nasdaq Composite.
So far, 2019 has seen the three indices are up +1.7%, +0.9% and +2.8%, respectively.
In today’s economic data front, investors are likely to monitor the latest monthly JOLTs Job Openings figures for November, expected to be published at 10am EST.
In corporate news, SMART Global Holdings (SGH) is amongst the short list of companies expected to publish their earnings today.
TODAY’S TOP HEADLINES:
Trade: US-China Talks Near Close With Positive Signs From Both Sides. (Bloomberg)
Chinese authorities planned to give a statement following the latest round of US trade talks on Tuesday in Beijing, after both sides signalled progress toward resolving a conflict that has roiled markets.
“The talks are still underway and I believe we will release a detailed readout after they are concluded,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a regular briefing Tuesday in Beijing.
Politics & Markets: US government shutdown deprives markets of key data. (FT)
Investors, policymakers and even farmers are being deprived of key economic data as the partial US government shutdown moves into its third week. Funding for agencies deemed “non-essential” lapsed on December 22 amid a political stand-off over President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. About 800,000 federal employees are affected.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR:
Today’s Economical Announcements
08:30AM – ★★☆ – Exports (Previous: 211.05B)
08:30AM – ★★☆ – Imports (Previous: 266.53B)
08:30AM – ★★☆ – Trade Balance (Nov) (Previous: -55.50B)
10:00AM – ★★★ – JOLTs Job Openings (Nov) (Previous: 7.079M)
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks
PG&E (PCG): [NEWS] Set to face at least $30 billion in liability for fire in 2017 and 2018.
Union Pacific (UNP): [NEWS] Hired a new chief operating officer. Jim Vena, who previously worked for Canadian National Railway, will begin as COO effective Jan 14.
PPG (PPG): [NEWS] The stock slid before the opening bell despite reassurances from PPG Chairman Michael McGarry that its acquisition of a German automotive coatings company “is another step forward in our strategic growth plan that will provide further value to our customers and shareholders.”
Monster Beverage (MNST): [NEWS] SunTrust analyst William Chappell told clients that he thinks the concerns around rival Coca-Cola launching a competitive energy drink products are “overblown.”
Nordstrom (JWN): [UPGRADE] Morgan Stanley upgraded the companies shares.
Mastercard (MA): [DOWNGRADE] Bank of America downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy.” Analyst Jason Kupferberg highlighted near-term concerns regarding cross-border deceleration and fiscal 2019 estimates, which he said “look high especially on revenue.”
J.P. Morgan (JPM): [DOWNGRADE] Downgraded by Jefferies from buy to hold. The firm said the bank’s revenues could fall short of consensus expectations.
Comcast (CMCSA): [NEWS] Plans to reduce the amount of advertisements it serves during prime-time even more as it looks to push away from old ad models.
Lennar (LEN): [UPGRADE] Upgraded by KeyBanc from sector weight to overweight. KeyBanc also announced a $50 per share price target for the home construction company.
MOMENTUM STOCKS:
GAINERS: ROKU, CLVS, NVTA, EXAS, PTLA, TWLO, AYX, GME, NFLX
LOSERS: PCG, MYGN, LW, MDT
TODAY’S IPOs:
None.