The last trading day of the week finds broad equity market action mixed, but a lot happening under the hood. Positive momentum from yesterday’s US market rally that saw the big 3 indices gain 1.0%-2.0% carried through Asia Pacific trading where Tokyo and Shanghai gained 1.2%, and into European trading where the Dax and CAC are up 0.6% and the FTSE is flat. Momentum appears to have slowed however, with US index futures trading flat and consolidating their gains.
Commodities are also pulling back a bit this morning, WTI crude oil is down 1.3% but holding above $100.00/bbl, while copper is down 0.3%. In currency action, gold and bitcoin are both down 0.3%. The Euro is steady following today’s ECB decision where they maintained their tapering program toward completion in Q3 and indicated they could start raising rates afterward.
It’s a big day for corporate news headlined by reports that Elon Musk has launched a takeover bid for Twitter at $54.20/share, a premium of about 12% over yesterday’s close with the intention of taking it private in order to make changes. Twitter is trading up about 8% and sitting below $50.00 in premarket action suggesting that investors are not expecting another offer or a bidding war.
Earnings continue to roll out in the US this morning headlined by stellar results from brokerages Goldman Sachs ($10.76 vs street $8.89), and Morgan Stanley ($2.02 vs street $1.68). Better than expected numbers are also out from Wells Fargo ($0.88 vs street $0.80), Citigroup ($2.02 vs street $1.55) and UnitedHealth ($5.49 vs street $5.38).
In economic news, US headline retail sales were disappointing (0.5% vs street 0.6% and previous 0.8%), but retail sales excluding autos improved more than expected (1.1% vs street 1.0% and previous 0.6%). US rose slightly (185K vs stret 171K and previous 167K) but remain below 200K.
SIA Wealth In The Media:
Chief Market Strategist Colin Cieszynski appeared on BNN Bloomberg yesterday where he discussed the potential for monetary tightening in Canada and elsewhere and the start of earnings season in the US.
Something to watch is projections on inflation from the BoC
It’s going to be more difficult for companies during time of uncertainty