US pre-market equity index futures traded mixed ahead of Monday’s open, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped significantly, following rising safety concerns at Boeing (BA: -8.1%), after an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet crashed, killing everyone on-board.
These moves in pre-market follow suit to last week’s trading, where Wall Street concluded its worst week of 2019, with all three major stock indices declining for a fifth straight session on Friday, after a disappointing US jobs report pointed to further weakness in the global economy and deepened concerns over the impact of the trade war.
The session saw the S&P 500 recover its early morning declines to finish -0.20% lower, securing its fifth consecutive down day, which represented the benchmark’s longest losing streak since late November.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite shared a similar fate, ending the session down -0.04% and -0.15%, respectively.
For the week; the S&P recorded a -2.13% decline, the Dow Jones fell -2.19%, while the Nasdaq Composite saw its value lose -1.85%.
Looking ahead, Washington-Beijing trade developments will likely remain at the forefront of this week’s discussion after China’s top central banker, Yi Gang, signaled that the two leading economies were getting close to reaching a currency deal as part of their continuing negotiations to settle the trade dispute, The Wall Street Journal reported, on Sunday.
As part of the agreement, Yi said, China won’t engage in competitive devaluation to give Chinese exporters a leg up in foreign markets – a commitment Chinese officials have also made in multilateral agreements such as those among the G-20 industrial nations. “This is what we promise” he emphasized.
Upcoming, in today’s economic calendar; investors will likely gauge Retail Sales for January at 8:30am EST, followed by Business Inventories for December at 10am EST.
In earnings; Kronos Worldwide (KRO), Ascena Retail Group (ASNA), Stitch Fix (SFIX) and Coupa Software (COUP) are amongst their major companies scheduled to release their financial results this week.
TODAY’S TOP HEADLINES:
Politics: Fed Chair Powell said ‘The law is clear’ Trump can’t fire me. (CNBC)
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in an interview aired Sunday that he does not think he can be fired by President Donald Trump. While continuing to avoid direct comment on the president’s withering criticism of central bank interest rate policy, Powell told “60 Minutes” that Trump can’t remove him from office.
Economics: The Global Economy Hit Its Weakest Spell Since Financial Crisis. (Bloomberg)
The global economy’s sharp loss of speed through 2018 has left the pace of expansion the weakest since the global financial crisis a decade ago, according to Bloomberg Economics.
Politics: Trump to Request $8.6 Billion for Border Wall in 2020 Budget. (The WSJ)
President Trump plans to seek $8.6 billion for additional barriers along the southern US border as part of his budget proposal to be released Monday, a potential prelude to another fight over funding the president’s long-promised border wall.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today’s Economical Announcements
08:30AM – ★★★ – C. Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan) (Previous: -1.8%)
08:30AM – ★★☆ – Retail Sales (MoM) (Jan) (Previous: -1.2%)
08:30AM – ★☆☆ – Retail Control (MoM) (Jan) (Previous: -1.7%)
10:00AM – ★★☆ – Business Invent. (MoM) (Dec) (Previous: -0.1%)
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks
Boeing (BA): Boeing is set to tumble following the weekend crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8. The airline grounded the rest of its 737 Max 8 fleet, and the Chinese government took similar action following the crash. Boeing Issued a statement saying it is investigating but currently does not plan to issue any new guidance to operators. The projected loss in Boeing’s shares is set to shave more than 250 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
FireEye (FEYE): [UPGRADE] Upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at J.P. Morgan Chase in a valuation call, noting underperformance by the stock and strong growth in December billings for the cybersecurity software company.
Elanco Animal Health (ELAN): [NEWS] Elanco became a fully independent company as of today, following its separation from Eli Lilly.
Apple (AAPL): [UPGRADE] Upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, reversing a call it made in November. The firm said several issues that were negatives at that time have reversed themselves, including inventory levels and growth rates at Apple’s services business.
Facebook (FB): [UPGRADE] Nomura upgraded Facebook to “buy” from “neutral,” saying concerns over engagement trends have eased. The firm also points to a faster than expected transition to the Facebook Stories feed.
Oracle (ORCL): [DOWNGRADE] Downgraded to “reduce” from “buy” at Nomura, saying the business software giant has significantly underinvested in research and development among other factors.
Tesla (TSLA): [NEWS] Will raise prices of its high-end vehicles by about 3 percent, although it will maintain the pricing of the $35,000 version of the Model 3. Tesla also said it will keep more of its retail sales open than it had originally planned.
Baker Hughes (BHGE): [REVIEW] Goldman Sachs added the oilfield services company’s stock to its “Conviction Buy” list, noting that Baker Hughes has a strong balance sheet, is returning cash to shareholders, and is focused on growing market share and increasing margins.
MOMENTUM STOCKS:
GAINERS: BIG, RAMP, COST, YEXT, CDNA
LOSERS: EOG, GME, OXY, IGT, ATI, X
TODAY’S IPOs:
None.