Thursday Market minute
- Global stocks are trading higher as solid corporate earnings offset rising tensions between the United States and China, concerns over coronavirus infection.
- China’s foreign minister said the United States should “think carefully” about its relationship with Beijing, as the two continue to discuss trade and political interference after the Chinese consulate in Houston closes.
- European stocks make stronger-than-expected bluechip gains, while Wall Street expects a busy Thursday session, as well as weekly jobless claims data, to set the day’s direction.
- Oil prices rise as the dollar falls lower against its global peers, with the advance held back by a surprising 4.9 million barrels rise in domestic crude stocks, according to data from the Department of Energy.
- US equity futures suggest a firmer opening on Wall Street following gains from AT&T, Dow and Twitter, as well as a larger-than-expected rise in weekly jobless claims to 1.42 million.
US equity futures rose on Thursday, buoyed by solid corporate earnings and a weaker dollar, although gains were limited by the latest diplomatic skirmish between Washington and Beijing and the continued rise in coronavirus infections globally.
The shares cut earnings, however, after Commerce Department data showed a more than expected increase of 109,000 in weekly unemployment claims, bringing the total to 1.42 million.
European stocks had set the tone in early Thursday trading, with stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings from brand giant Unilever plc. (United Nations) – Get report and innovative STMicroelectronics technology (STM) – Get report increasing market optimism after Tesla last night (TSLA) – Get report earnings, which could catapult Wall Street’s most popular stocks in the S&P 500 later this year, and a solid top and bottom line from tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) – Get report.
Initial gains, as well as a 0.15% drop in the US dollar against a basket of its world peers, could set a modestly firmer opening on Wall Street later this morning, although several US bluechips, including AT&T (T) – Get report, Travellers (TRV) – Get reportDow (Dow) – Get report and Twitter (TWTR) – Get report – will report second quarter earnings before the bell and weekly unemployment claim data will be released at 8:30 am ET.
The latter could be the biggest figure of the day, at least until Amazon releases its own quarterly update after the bell, as a surge in coronavirus infections in the southern and western US has led to reversals. Closing and business closings in several major US cities, potentially increase unemployment rolls and slow the country’s economic recovery.
That is likely to add further pressure to US lawmakers to present a viable coronavirus stimulus package in the coming days, as the key component of the current plan – paycheck protection payments – will expire next week. However, House Democrats and Senate Republicans remain divided on the best way to build and spend what is likely to be a $ 1 trillion to $ 2 trillion bailout bill.
Still, with second-quarter earnings exceeding Wall Street forecasts, central banks pump billions of dollars into financial assets every day, and lawmakers are about to pump billions more into the real economy, stocks have largely ignored the economic warning signs of low bond yields, rising gold prices and uneven commodity markets, and have paid little attention to the resurgence of the coronavirus that has now infected more than 15 million of people around the world.
The Dow, which is on its longest weekly winning streak in seven months, closed above the 27,000-point mark last night for the first time since early June, while the S&P 500 remains at levels last seen in late February, when the broadest measure of US stocks were trading near all-time highs.
Those gains are likely to continue on Thursday, with contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicating an opening bell gain of 15 points and those linked to the S&P 500, which entered positive territory during the year earlier this week, with a price for a small increase a backwards
European stocks also held strong, with the Stoxx 600 benchmark rising 0.3% in early Frankfurt trades, spurred by a 0.5% gain for the FTSE 100 in London and following a firmer session. in Asia, where the regional MSCI Japan’s Benchmark Index added 0.47%, as Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed for the country’s annual Navy Day holiday.
Tesla shares were up 4% more, at $ 1,657.00 each after the electric car maker made a modest second-quarter profit, its fourth succession, which should pave the way for inclusion in the benchmark index. S&P.
Microsoft, meanwhile, fell 1.6% to $ 208.30 after its stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings were marred by disappointing sales growth for its Azure cloud computing division.
However, a defensive tone continues to color global markets, and 10-year US Treasury yields held steady at 0.592% in overnight trades, falling below the 0.6% mark for the third straight session. , while gold climbed to a new peak of $ 1,876.16 in nine years. per ounce
World oil prices were also trading higher, rising nearly 1% across the board as the dollar plummeted against its global peers with gains limited by data from the Department of Energy showing a surprising rise of 4.9 million barrels in national crude oil stocks.
WTI contracts for August delivery, the US benchmark, were 42 cents more since its close Wednesday in New York and were changing hands at $ 42.32 a barrel early in the European trade, while Brent’s contracts for September, the global benchmark, saw 41 cents more at $ 44.70 per barrel.
.
