Morning Preview: September 25, 2023

Early Look

Monday, September 25, 2023

Futures

Up/Down

%

Last

Dow

-19.00

0.06%

34,213

S&P 500

-3.00

0.07%

4,358

Nasdaq

-16.00

0.11%

14,853

 

 

U.S. futures are edging lower to start the week, adding to last week’s declines where the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped -1.9% (closing back below 34K), the S&P 500 was down -2.9%, and the Nasdaq down -3.6%. These were the worst weekly returns since March (when the regional banking crisis weighed on markets) and have now fallen for a 3rd straight week each (and down six of the last eight weeks). The Federal Reserve’s warning last Wednesday that it plans to keep interest rates higher for longer continued to reverberate across global markets. The CBOE Volatility index (VIX) rises over 4% this morning to the 18 level, highest this month as stock prices soften. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 276 points to 32,678, the Shanghai Index fell -16 points to 3,115, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -328 points to 17,729. In Europe, the German DAX is trading lower by -115 points to 15,442, while the FTSE 100 declines about -50 points to 7,635. Weakness in Asian stocks come on the latest woes for the mainland property developers. The euro fell Friday for a 10th straight week and is down 5% from its July highs. In Washington DC, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives will try to advance steep spending cuts this week but is unlikely to pass could force a partial shutdown of the U.S. government by next Sunday where federal workers will be furloughed, and a wide range of services will be suspended. Stock market volumes could be lighter than normal today given the Yom Kippur holiday.

 

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index dipped -9.94 points, or 0.23%, to 4,320.06.

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -106.58 points, or 0.31%, to 33,963.84.

·     The Nasdaq Composite slipped -12.18 points, or 0.09%, to 13,211.81.

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -5.32 points, or 0.30% to 1,776.50.

 

Economic Calendar for Today

·     8:30 AM ET                  National Activity Index for August

·     10:30 AM ET                Dallas Fed Manufacturing for September

·     6:00 PM ET                   Fed’s Kashkari Speaks

 

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: none

·     Earnings After the Close: THO

 

 

Macro

Up/Down

Last

Nymex

0.18

90.21

Brent

0.30

93.57

Gold

-2.10

1,943.50

EUR/USD

-0.0017

1.0635

JPY/USD

0.25

148.62

10-Year Note

+0.055

4.495%

 

 

World News

·     EU Commissioner Dombrovskis warns about new areas of concern in EU relations with China; his 4 day visit to China aims to confront the unbalanced dealings between the 2; EU wants to maintain a trading relationship with China but address certain aspects of the relationship – FT.

 

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Canadian autoworkers ratified a new labor agreement with Ford Motor Co. (F) on Sunday, averting a threatened strike; the new agreement raises base hourly pay for production workers by almost 20% over three years, and by more than 25% for trade workers, and gives permanent workers a $10,000 bonus and adds a cost-of-living adjustment.

·     China EV maker Nio Inc. (NIO) said to consider raising $3b from investors – Bloomberg.

·     Nike (NKE), Foot Locker (FL) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) were each downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies as incremental consumer headwinds lie ahead.

·     Target Corporation (TGT) unveiled plans for its Target Circle Week event Oct. 1-7, exclusively for members of Target Circle, its free-to-join loyalty program.

 

Energy, Industrials and Materials

·     Dow Inc. (DOW) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

·     Sealed Air (SEE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

·     Plains All American (PAA) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

 

Financials

·     M&T Bank (MTB) files automatic mixed securities shelf.

·     Chinese’s property sector woes continued with Evergrande liquidation risk rises after creditors scrapped debt restructuring meeting schedule this week.

·     The SEC has collected thousands of staff’s private messages from more than a dozen major investment companies, escalating its probe into Wall Street’s use of private messaging apps, Reuters reports, citing four unidentified people with direct knowledge of the matter. The firms include Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management, KKR & Co, TPG – Reuters reports.

 

Healthcare

·     I-Mab (IMAB) said late Friday that AbbVie (ABBV) has terminated a 2020 deal to co-develop and market I-Mab’s lead cancer drug candidate lemzoparlimab.

·     Medical technology company Enovis Corp. (ENOV) said it has reached an agreement to acquire LimaCorporate S.p.A., a privately held orthopedic company, for 700 million euros ($745 million) in cash at closing and another EUR100 million in Enovis stock.

·     Novo Nordisk AS (NVO) and Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) are expected to make tens of billions of dollars a year on their new obesity drugs, Barron’s reported, which could be bad news for the companies and government agencies expected to pick up the tab. The financial strain of paying for these drugs on a widespread scale could mean reduced benefits for Medicare prescription drug plans.

·     Rite Aid (RAD) is negotiating with creditors over the terms of a bankruptcy plan that would include liquidating a substantial portion of its more than 2,100 drugstores – WSJ reported.

 

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     James Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden Sports (MSGS), said he has no plans to sell the New York Knicks and Rangers. “There is absolutely no thought of a full sale of the teams,” Dolan told Barron’s in an interview published on Saturday. https://tinyurl.com/4ntpu487

·     Meta (META) to push for younger users with new AI Chatbot characters, the WSJ reported. Facebook parent is developing bots with personalities, including a ‘sass master general’ robot that answers questions – WSJ https://tinyurl.com/js42puff

·     Media firms Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), Paramount Global (PARA), Netflix (NFLX) edged higher pre mkt after Hollywood writers reached a preliminary agreement to end one of the two strikes on Sunday. The three-year contract must be approved by the Writers Guild of America.

·     Amazon (AMZN) will invest as much as $4 billion in Anthropic in efforts to become a major player in generative artificial intelligence.

·     Microsoft (MSFT) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Guggenheim.

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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.