Global stocks rose on Friday, at the end of a busy week that saw an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve; with focus now likely to shift back to the US and China’s current round of trade negotiation.
Deputy trade leaders from both Washington and Beijing will conclude two-day talks on Friday, with discussions mostly focused on agriculture, as the world's two largest economies attempt to build more ‘goodwill’ heading into October's top-level meetings.
With both sides offering conciliatory delays on tariffs, hopes are seemingly high that the market's main risk overhang could soon be settled, allowing the strength of recent central bank rate cuts, including this week's 25 basis point cut, to drive risk-asset prices higher.
This morning’s speaking engagements from Fed members John Williams and Eric Rosengren could help to provide the street with further clues relating to the Fed’s rate path.
This shift comes after yesterday’s session, where US equities ended flat, with an afternoon slide leaving them worse off than their European and Asian counterparts, as Wall Street continued to digest signals from multiple rate-setting decisions by central banks across the globe.
The S&P 500 finished -0.01% lower, having been up as much as +0.50%, and then down as much as -0.10% shortly before the close.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite squeezed out a +0.17% gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped -0.20% into the close.
There are no major economic data reports expected today.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
China & Trade: Trump Grants Tariff Exemptions To Dog Leashes, Plastic Straws, And More From China. (CNBC)
The US is temporarily exempting more than 400 types of Chinese products from tariffs that President Donald Trump’s administration imposed last year.
Markets: Rogue Oil Trader Causes $320 Million Loss at Mitsubishi Corp. Unit. (Bloomberg)
Mitsubishi Corp. said a rogue oil trader at its Singapore unit lost $320 million in unauthorized transactions disguised as legitimate hedges for customers.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today's Economical Announcements.
08:15AM - ★★☆ - FOMC Member Williams Speaks
11:20AM - ★★☆ - FOMC Member Rosengren Speaks
STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.
Steelcase (SCS): [EARNINGS] Reported quarterly earnings of 50 cents per share, 7 cents a share above estimates. The office furniture maker’s revenue also exceeded Wall Street forecasts. CEO James Keane called the quarter one of the company’s strongest in the past 20 years.
Roku (ROKU): [RATING] Rated “sell” in new coverage at Pivotal Research, which points to increasing competition in the streaming device business which will likely drive the cost of such devices to zero.
Xilinx (XLNX): [NEWS] Chief Financial Officer Lorenzo Flores is leaving the chipmaker, which has started a search for a replacement. Flores will depart after the company reports quarterly earnings on October 23.
Etsy (ETSY): [UPGRADE] Upgraded to “outperform” from “sector perform” at RBC Capital Markets, which thinks three recently announced initiatives will have a positive impact on the online crafts marketplace operator’s performance.
Texas Instruments (TXN): [DIVIDEND] Raised its quarterly dividend by 17%. The chipmaker will now pay 90 cents per share, up from the prior 77 cents a share, with the next dividend payable November 18 to stockholders of record on October 31.
Beyond Meat (BYND): [NEWS] Hired Sanjay Shah as the meat-alternative maker’s chief operating officer. Shah had previously been senior vice president of Tesla’s solar business.
Alphabet (GOOGL): [NEWS] Will invest $3.3 billion over the next two years to expand its European data centers.
Molson Coors (TAP): [RATING] Rated “buy” in new coverage at MKM Partners, which notes the effectiveness of a new Coors Light ad campaign.
J.C Penney (JCP): [NEWS] Is preparing for debt restructuring talks ahead of the holiday shopping season, according to a Bloomberg report.
General Motors (GM): [NEWS] The United Auto Workers union issued a statement saying progress has been made in contract talks between the automaker and the union, but that many issues remain unresolved. A strike by workers began earlier this week.
Wayfair (W): [RATING] Berenberg rates the online home goods retailer as a “sell” in new coverage, saying Wayfair’s first-mover advantages are being eroded by intensifying competition.
MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: -
DECLINERS: GRUB, DRI
TODAY'S IPOs
None.
