Morning Preview: March 18, 2024
Early Look
Monday, March 18, 2024
Futures |
Up/Down |
% |
Last |
Dow |
-38.00 |
0.09% |
39,117 |
S&P 500 |
20.25 |
0.40% |
5,203 |
Nasdaq |
141.50 |
0.78% |
18,199 |
After posting their first back-to-back weekly losses in 2024 last Friday, the S&P and Nasdaq are looking higher ahead of the key FOMC interest rate 2-day meeting mid-week, though no rate cuts are expected. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.13%, the Nasdaq declined 0.7%, and the Dow fell 0.02% as interest rate expectations have eased in recent weeks (markets now only see 3 interest rate cuts in 2024, in-line with Fed dot plots, but down from prior view of six cuts in 2024) following higher CPI and PPI inflation data points. The odds of a rate cut in this week are down to 2% and odds of a rate cut in May are down to ~7%. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan is widely expected to hike interest rates tomorrow, potentially ending the world’s last negative interest rate regime according to reports. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index surged over 1,000 points or 2.67% to settle at 39,740, the Shanghai Index jumped 30 points to 3,084, and the Hang Seng Index gained 16 points to 16,737. In Europe, the German DAX is up 33 points to 17,969, while the FTSE 100 is up 11 points to 7,738. Other central bank meetings this week include the Bank of England and Bank of Sweden. A light day of economic data today, and this week in general compared to last week as the FOMC rate meeting decision Wednesday is the main catalyst. In technology, all eyes on the weekly GTC keynote this week which could spark volatility in the “AI” sector.
Market Closing Prices Yesterday
- The S&P 500 Index dipped -33.39 points, or 0.65%, to 5,117.09.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -190.89 points, or 0.49%, to 38,714.77.
- The Nasdaq Composite declined -155.36 points, or 0.96%, to 15,973.17.
- The Russell 2000 Index advanced 8.15 points, or 0.40% to 2,039.32.
Economic Calendar for Today
- 10:00 AM ET NAHB Housing Market Index for March
Earnings Calendar:
- Earnings Before the Open: ACXP CODA OSA SAIC XGN
- Earnings After the Close: ALPN AUGX BTBT CMTL EYEN NCMI PRSO RAIL
Other Key Events:
- NVIDIA GTC 2024, 3/18-3/21
- Piper 24th Annual Energy Conference, 3/18-3/20, in Las Vegas
- Roth MKM 36th Annual ROTH Conference, 3/17-3/19, in Dana Point, CA
- S&P Global 39th Annual World Petrochemical Conference, 3/18-3/22, in Houston, TX
Macro |
Up/Down |
Last |
Nymex |
0.80 |
81.84 |
Brent |
0.72 |
86.07 |
Gold |
-0.20 |
2,161.20 |
EUR/USD |
0.0011 |
1.0896 |
JPY/USD |
0.16 |
149.18 |
10-Year Note |
+0.004 |
4.308% |
Sector News Breakdown
Consumer
- Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ) announced that Gil West, former COO of Delta Airlines (DAL) and GM’s (GM) Cruise unit, will become CEO effective April 1, at which time he will join the Board. West will succeed Stephen Scherr, who has decided to step down as CEO and member of the Board of Directors on March 31.
- PepsiCo (PEP) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley, which said the issues driving their downgrade of the stock last year have now played out.
- Porch Group (PRCH) files $100M mixed securities shelf.
- Tesla (TSLA) said it will raise Model Y prices by about $2,177 in some European countries effective March 22, as per TSLA’s post on social media platform X; TSLA also recently increased prices of Model Y cars in the U.S.
- Xpeng (XPEV) has announced plans to launch a line of cheaper electrical vehicles under a different brand name, media outlets reported Saturday.
Energy, Industrials and Materials
- ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) said it found new oil in the waters off Guyana, the South American nation neighboring Venezuela where major oil discoveries have been made recently.
- Tellurian (TELL) said Oct�vio Sim�es has resigned as CEO of the LNG developer, just after saying it would not renew or extend his employment term beyond June 5.
Financials
- B Riley (RILY) shares lower pre-mkt after saying late Friday it was working with auditors to complete and file its annual report "as soon as reasonably possible" as grace period for its 10-K filing ended.
- Canadian payments processor Nuvei (NVEI), backed by celebrity entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds, is nearing a buyout deal. Private-equity firm Advent International is in advanced talks with Nuvei for a transaction that could be announced soon, according to people familiar with the matter. https://tinyurl.com/3bppm28v
- Shift4 Payments (FOUR) CEO is reportedly unhappy with the offers from potential buyers for his firm. Chief Executive Jared Isaacman said those bids failed to “sufficiently value” the payments processor, Bloomberg News reported Sunday (March 17), citing an eternal memo. https://tinyurl.com/yc9dvsp8
- The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into Reddit’s (RDDT) “sale, licensing or sharing” of its users’ content with third parties to train artificial-intelligence models — just days before the social-media company’s long-awaited initial public offering.
- Qudian (QD) announces $300M share buyback.
Healthcare
- 2seventy bio (TSVT) shares rise after an FDA advisory committee meeting backed the expanded use of Abecma, the gene therapy it sells with partner Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY); the panel voted 8-3 that Abecma showed a favorable benefit/risk profile for patients with triple-class exposed relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma based on results from a pivotal Phase 3 KarMMa-3 study, including the key secondary endpoint of overall survival.
- Spero Therapeutics (SPRO) files $300M mixed securities shelf.
Technology, Media & Telecom
- Apple (AAPL) opens new tab is in talks to build Google’s (GOOGL) Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the situation. The negotiations are about licensing Gemini for some new features coming to the iPhone software this year. https://tinyurl.com/2jxmth6c
- HashiCorp. Inc. (HCP) has been considering options including a sale, people with knowledge of the matter said according to Bloomberg late Friday. https://tinyurl.com/2whxndap
- TSMC (TSM) is looking at building advanced packaging capacity in Japan, according to Reuters citing two sources familiar with the matter, a move that would add momentum to Japan’s efforts to reboot its semiconductor industry.
Market commentary provided by Hammerstone Markets, Inc, a firm separate from and not affiliated with Regal Securities. Regal Securities has not participated in the creation of the content, and does not explicitly or implicitly endorse the content.