Early Look

Thursday, December 28, 2023

The quiet holiday week rolls on, as US equity futures (Spuz) are holding near an all-time high set January 2022 as investors wait for fresh data on weekly jobless claims trade data. The Nasdaq is poised looking at slightly higher open after rising for a 4^th straight day on Wednesday and is up 13 of the last 14 trading days, (up 44% YTD). The Russell 2000 Smallcap index is having a great month, up 14% in December as it plays catch up against large caps (+17% YTD). Two days left to 2023, and most S&P sectors are on pace for big yearly gains, led by Technology (XLK) +55% YTD (boosted by the SOX +66% YTD), Communications (XLC) +51% YTD and Consumer Discretionary (XLY) +40% YTD. Utilities (XLU) are -10% YTD, Consumer Staples (XLP) -3.6% YTD, Energy (XLE) -2.5% YTD and Healthcare (XLV) is flat on the year. Stocks have been buoyed much of the last 2-months on expectations of a Fed “pivot” to interest rate cuts in 2024 after rising for years. Zerohedge noted that “this has been the biggest two-month easing in financial conditions in history, surpassing the announcements of QE1, 2, 3, and so on. The market has priced in 136bps, or 5.5x rate cuts since the start of November.” In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index dropped -141 points to 33,539, the Shanghai Index rises 40 points to 2,954, and the Hang Seng Index jumps 418 points to 17,043. In Europe, the German DAX is down -35 points to 16,705. while the FTSE 100 is down -8 points to 7,717.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 111.19 points, or 0.30%, to 37,656.52.
• The Nasdaq Composite climbed 24.60 points, or 0.16%, to 15,099.18.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 7.02 points, or 0.34% to 2,066.21.

• 8:30 AM EST                Continuing Claims…est. 1.875M
• 8:30 AM ET                  Advance Goods Trade Balance for November…prior (-$89.5B)
• 10:00 AM ET                Pending Home Sales M/M for November…est. +1.0%
• 10:30 AM ET                Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data
• 11:00 AM ET                Weekly DOE Inventory Data
• 1:00 PM ET                   U.S. Treasury to sell $39B in 7-year notes.

• SQM (SQM) and state-run Codelco have reached a memorandum of understanding to form a government-controlled partnership for the future production of the key battery metal, the firms said in a joint statement. SQM says public-private partnership with sqm will be structured through a common company with a majority participation of the state of Chile (50% plus one share).

• Regulus Therapeutics (RGLS) files for $150M mixed shelf.
• Theravance Biopharma (TBPH) said on Dec 26 units, Mylan Ireland & Mylan specialty L.P. entered settlement agreement with Accord Healthcare; settlement agreement with accord healthcare relating to Theravance and Mylan’s Yupelri (Revefenacin) inhalation solution.
• UnitedHealth Group (UNH) used secret rules to restrict access to rehabilitation care requested by specific groups of seriously ill patients, including those who lived in nursing homes or suffered from cognitive impairment, according to internal documents obtained by STAT – http://tinyurl.com/3kjuzwf5 .

• Altice USA (ATUS) shares rise 17%, extending Wednesday’s gains, after a report that billionaire Xavier Niel is interested in buying Altice Portugal, a separate entity that is also backed by Patrick Drahi. http://tinyurl.com/58rb6mep
• EchoStar Corp. (SATS) will replace DISH Network Corp. (DISH) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the open of trading on Tuesday, January 2.