Early Look

Friday, June 21, 2024

S&P futures (Spuz) are down -0.13% at 5,537 (overnight high 5,550.75 and low 5.526.50) after slipping -0.27% Thursday off record highs while Nasdaq Futures slip -0.1% but holding around 20,000 after snapping its streak of 8-consecutive record closing highs the day prior ahead of the triple-witching derivatives-expiration day. The high-flying tech group that has powered the bull market came under pressure on Thursday, with the Nasdaq 100 down after a seven-day advance, its longest since November and many of its highflyers on the “AI” powered rally (ARM, NVDA, AVGO) saw sharp declines. Global bonds surged after weak European business activity data prompted traders to ramp up bets on monetary easing (U.S. has its PMI data later this morning). In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index slipped -36 points to 38,596, the Shanghai Index dipped -7 points to 2,998, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -306 points to 18,028. In Europe, the German DAX is down -112 points to 18,141, while the FTSE 100 is down -78 points to 8,194. The US economy continues to show signs of weakness as new home construction in the U.S. slumped in May to the slowest pace in four years, as higher-for-longer interest rates weigh on momentum. This morning we get Existing Home Sales, Flash PMI data and Leading Index. Bitcoin struggles, slipping to 5-week lows below $64,000, while the dollar edges higher along with gold and oil is flat. Stocks are still on pace for weekly advances despite yesterday’s pullback.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 299.90 points, or 0.77%, to 39,134.76.
• The Nasdaq Composite dropped -140.64 points, or 0.79%, to 17,721.59.
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -7.84 points, or 0.39% to 2,017.39.

• 9:45 AM ET S&P Global Services, PMI Flash…est. 53.7
• 10:00 AM ET                Existing Home Sales M/M for May…est. 4.04M
• 10:00 AM ET                Leading Index M/M for May…est. (-0.3%)
• 1:00 PM EST                Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

• U.K. consumer confidence improved slightly in June as research group GfK’s consumer-confidence barometer climbed to minus 14 in May, the highest since November 2021, from minus 17 in April, it said Friday. The reading bettered consensus of minus 16 from economists polled.
• Japan’s overall consumer inflation grew at a faster pace in May and stayed well above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target. Overall consumer prices rose 2.8% from a year earlier in May, compared with the 2.5% increase in April.

• Carlsberg (CABGY) shares declined after U.K. soft-drinks maker Britvic (BVIC) rejected an improved offer that valued it at the equivalent of $3.9 billion. Carlsberg has until July 19 to make a firm offer for Britvic or walk away.
• CarMax (KMX) Q1 net sales & operating revenue $7.11B, -7.5% y/y vs. est. $7.2B; used vehicle sales $5.68B, -5.4% y/y, vs. est. $5.69B and wholesale vehicle sales $1.26B, -17% y/y, vs. est. $1.33B; qtrly retail used unit sales decreased 3.1% and comparable store used unit sales decreased 3.8% from prior year’s Q1; qtrly combined retail and wholesale used vehicle unit sales were 358,817, a decline of 5.3% from prior year’s Q1.
• Nike (NKE) upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer and raise tgt to $120 from $110.
• Smith & Wesson (SWBI) Q4 adj EPS $0.45 vs est. $0.34, adj EBITDA $36Mm vs est. $32.67Mm on sales $159.1Mm vs est. $156.8Mm.

• China has imposed sanctions against some Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) subsidiaries and senior executives over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
• Copper prices slipped more than 1% to $9,715 a metric ton on the LSE after 3-days of gains amid concern over surplus supplies and sluggish demand in top metals consumer China, where the currency is also weakening. Copper prices are down over -13% since touching a record peak above $11,100 last month.
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) raises the quarterly dividend to 15c per share from 10c.

• China is pushing for Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) to lower their bank card transaction fees in the country to encourage spending by foreign visitors, Bloomberg News reported. The Payment & Clearing Association of China is proposing lowering the fees charged on foreign card transactions to 1.5% from between 2% and 3%, the report said.

• Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (IRWD) said Chief Financial Officer Sravan Emany will take on the added role of chief operating officer, effective immediately. Emany, 46, has served as the company’s CFO since December
• Outset Medical (OM) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital with a price target of $6, up from $5.

• Asana Inc. (ASAN) announces $150M stock buyback; affirms FY25 revenue $719M-$724M, vs. consensus $723.2M; affirms FY25 Non-GAAP operating loss of $59M-$55M, with 8% operating loss margin at the midpoint and Free Cash Flow positive forecast.