Global equities lay wounded, depleted of their lifeblood, following a surge into haven assets as investors reacted to President Donald Trump’s most recent escalation on Chinese tariffs.
Seeking to ramp up pressure on China over the weekend, Trump had tweeted that tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese-made goods would rise to 25% from 10% by Friday, and added that a similar levy on another $325 billion could be placed on Chinese imports “shortly” – just days after White House officials had said negotiations between the world’s two biggest economies were “going very well”.
These moves in early morning trade looks to completely erase Friday’s gains, where Wall Street bounced back after two days of losses and tested record highs, following a mixed batch of US economic data which had backed the US labor market.
The S&P 500 had recorded a +0.98% increase in its value, closing just a fraction below its closing high, nurtured by widespread gains in Industrial (+1.21%) and Consumer Discretionary (+1.18%) shares, among other major sectors.
The Nasdaq ended the session with a respectable +1.59% advance; with both gauges having notched weekly gains of roughly +0.20%.
Scheduled for today; Monday’s economic calendar remains bare, while in corporate news; American International Group (AIG), Bausch Health (BHC), KLA-Tencor (KLAC), Sysco (SYY), Del Taco Restaurants (TACO), Tyson Foods (TSN), WageWorks (WAGE) and Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ) are amongst the major companies scheduled to report their latest financials today.
TODAY’S TOP HEADLINES
China & Trade: Fresh Trade Tensions Upend Market Calm. (The WSJ)
Global stocks dropped Monday after the sudden intensification of US-China trade tensions, as investors assessed whether the conflict could dent economic growth.
China & Trade: China says it’s still preparing for US trade talks, but won’t give details after new Trump threats. (CNBC)
China said Monday its negotiators are still preparing to travel to the US for trade talks this week despite President Donald Trump threatening Beijing with increased tariffs.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today’s Economical Announcements.
10:00AM – ★☆☆ – CB Employment Trends (Apr) (Previous: 111.0)
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.
Anadarko Petroleum (APC): [NEWS] Occidental Petroleum increased the cash portion of its $38 billion cash-and-stock bid for Anadarko, as it seeks to convince Anadarko to abandon its deal to be acquired by Chevron.
Tesla (TSLA): [NEWS] Tesla bid for a tariff exemption was rejected by US trade officials. Tesla had sought the exemption for the Chinese-manufactured technology that controls its Model 3 vehicle.
Fiat Chrysler (FCAU): [NEWS] The automaker’s $307.5 million settlement over diesel emissions was approved by a U.S. judge. The settlement involves about 100,000 owners of diesel vehicles that allegedly had illegal software allowing excess emissions.
Dish Network (DISH): [NEWS] Upgraded to “neutral” from “underperform” at Credit Suisse, which thinks video subscriber losses for the satellite TV provider will lessen in the second half of the year.
Tyson Foods (TSN): [EARNINGS] Reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.20 per share, 6 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also exceeded forecasts. The company said its chicken segment is poised for improvement after hitting what it believes are profit margin lows for the year.
IBM (IBM): [NEWS] IBM said the Justice Department has concluded its review of its proposed acquisition of Red Hat without imposing any conditions. IBM said it expects to close the deal for Linux software distributor in the second half of the year.
CBS (CBS): [NEWS] CBS announced that Norah O’Donnell would succeed Jeff Glor as anchor of its flagship CBS Evening News program.
Kraft Heinz (KHC): [NEWS] Said it would restate its earnings for 2016 and 2017, due to misstatements in its original filings related to procurement operations. However, Kraft Heinz said the restatements would not be material.
Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI): [NEWS] Sinclair announced a deal to buy 21 regional sports networks from Walt Disney for $9.6 billion. The deal had been widely reported to be imminent on Friday before the late-day official announcement.
Boeing (BA): [NEWS] Officials say Boeing did not tell the Federal Aviation Administration for 13 months that it had inadvertently made a safety alarm optional on the now-grounded 737 Max jet. Boeing issued a statement saying it only discovered the issue after deliveries had begun, but that it did not represent critical safety data.
MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: ZIXI, UCTT, BLDR, NWL, LPLA, PODD, CCS, AYX, INN, GLDD
DECLINERS: REGI, FLDM, CTSH, TDC, EBS, BGS, RLGY
TODAY’S IPOs
None.