Early Look

Monday, April 22, 2024

Global markets rise to start the week, as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq look to snap 6-day losing streaks and bounce back after falling three straight weeks. Oil and gold prices retreat after tensions between Israel and Iran eased further over the weekend. In a rare display of sustained market weakness, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite registered 6 straight daily declines, their longest losing streaks since October 2022. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 3.05%, the Nasdaq declined 5.52%, and the Dow climbed 0.01%. The Philly semi-index (SOX) was down over 4% to 4,300 on Friday led by big declines in NVDA and ARM, falling -9.5% for the week and is down -12.4% in April thus far (but still up 7.5% YTD). Attention turns to earnings in the upcoming week(s), with several large cap companies expected to report (MSFT, GOOGL, TSLA, META, BA, CAT, GM) as well as key economic data releases including Advance Q1 GDP on Thursday, with price deflators and the March PCE deflator (the Fed’s preferred metric for inflation) on Friday. Additionally, $183bn of 2, 5 and 7yr Treasury supply comes to auction.

This weekend, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $95B legislative package that, if ultimately approved, would provide security aid to allies Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, and possibly enforce a ban of popular short-form video platform TikTok. The legislation is unusual in that it consists of four bills, three of which deal with aid and the other with national security. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index gained 370 points to37,438, the Shanghai Index fell -20 points to 3,044, and the Hang Seng Index rises 287 points to 16,511. In Europe, the German DAX is up 104 points to 17,841, while the FTSE 100 jumped 1.45% or 114 points to 8,010. Gold fell as geopolitical tensions eased in the Middle East, paring haven demand, and traders looked ahead to US data that will shed light on the outlook for monetary policy. Bitcoin prices +2.95% around $66,000 after having its halving completed late on April 19.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index dropped -43.89 points, or 0.88%, to 4,967.23.

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 211.02 points, or 0.56%, to 37,986.40.

·     The Nasdaq Composite tumbled -319.49 points, or 2.05%, to 15,282.01.

·     The Russell 2000 Index advanced 4.70 points, or 0.24% to 1,947.66.

Economic Calendar for Today

·     8:30 AM ET                  National Activity Index for March

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: ACI AZZ BOH DX SMBK TFC VZ WASH ZION

·     Earnings After the Close: AGNC AMP ARE BRO CADE CALX CATY CDNS CLF CR EFSC ELS GL HSTM HXL IBTX MEDP NUE PKG PNFP RBB RLI SFBS SSD TRST

World News

·     China will facilitate Hong Kong listings by leading Chinese companies and expand the Stock Connect cross-border investment scheme, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Friday.

·     The Bank of Japan is expected to project inflation will stay around its 2% target for the next three years in new forecasts due on Friday, signaling its readiness to raise interest rates again this year from current near-zero levels – Reuters.

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Li Auto (LI) cut prices by around 5% on four of its five models and said it would refund owners who had bought those models earlier this year; the move comes after price cuts by U.S. automaker Tesla and as, the world’s largest EV maker, revised down its prices for relaunched models.

·     Tesla Inc. (TSLA) spent the weekend cutting prices of its models across China, Europe and the US amid slumping sales and a glut of inventory. Late Saturday, the company led by Elon Musk also slashed the price of the driver assistance software that it calls FSD, or Full Self-Driving, by a third to $8,000 in the U.S.

·     Quanex Building Products (NX) said it will buy Tyman (LPUSF) through a cash and share offer in a deal that would value the U.K. supplier of door and window components at around 788 million pounds ($974.8 million); the companies said Tyman shareholders will be entitled to receive GBP2.4 in cash and 0.057 of a new Quanex share for each share held.

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     AZZ Inc. (AZZ) Q4 adjusted EPS $0.93 vs. est. $0.70; Q4 revs $366.5M vs. est. $351.67M.

·     CNH Industrial (CNHI) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank America.

·     United States Steel Corp. (X) mentioned positively in Barron’s saying the company may have taken a hit from the opposition to a takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel, but there are still good reasons for investors to buy the stock.

·     Portuguese oil company Galp Energia (GALP.LS) has launched the sale of half of its stake in an exploration block offshore Namibia where it has made a major oil discovery, Reuters reported citing sources.

·     TotalEnergies (TTE) has signed an agreement with Sapura Upstream Assets to acquire its 50% interest in Malaysian independent gas producer and operator SapuraOMV Upstream for a consideration of $530M, subject to closing adjustments.

Financials

·     Bank of Hawaii (BOH) Q1 EPS $0.87 vs. est. $0.88; Q1 Net interest income $113.9M, vs. est. $117.5M, non-interest income $42.3M, and Net interest margin 2.11% vs. est. 2.15%.

·     Truist Financial (TFC) Q1 adj EPS $0.90 vs. est. $0.80; Q1 revs $4.87B vs. est. $5.7B; 1Q Net Charge-Off Ratio 64 Basis Points; 1Q TE Net Interest Margin 2.89%; end-1Q Nonperforming Assets $1.476B; 1Q Provision for Credit Losses $500M; and said saw muted loan demand in 1Q, Deposit costs continue to be under pressure.

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Salesforce’s (CRM) talks to buy Informatica (INFA) fizzle, the WSJ reported last night. Talks between Salesforce (CRM) and data-management software firm Informatica (INFA) have fizzled after the companies couldn’t agree on terms, according to people familiar with the matter – WSJ https://tinyurl.com/yy2y6u55

·     Roku Inc. (ROKU) defeated accusations its video-streaming products infringe protected technology developed by a Connecticut inventor, according to a Texas federal jury.

·     The US House on Saturday put legislation forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. to divest its ownership stake on a fast track to become law, tying it to a crucial aid package for Ukraine and Israel.

·     SoftBank (SFTBY) to spend $960m to boost computing power for generative AI – Nikkei reports.

·     Smartsheet (SMAR) announces $150M share repurchase program.