Equities fell Monday, sovereign bonds rallied and commodities surged amid heightened uncertainty after a new wave of sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
Market Snapshot
At 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 295 points, or 0.87%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 44 points, or 1%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 139.25 points, or 0.98%.
Pre-Market Movers
NIO(NIO) – NIO shares added 1.2% premarket. The electric-vehicle maker plans to list shares in Hong Kong, joining other Chinese businesses pursuing an additional listing outside New York amid the threat of being forced off American exchanges.
Northrop Grumman(NOC),Raytheon Technologies(RTX),General Dynamics(GD) – These and other defense stocks surged in the premarket in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the pledge by European Union countries to spend more on defense. Northrop Grumman added 5%, Raytheon Technologies rallied 6%, General Dynamics gained 5.4%, Lockheed Martin gained 4% and L3Harris Technologiesrose 3.6%.
Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B) – Berkshire reported record annual profit in 2021, helped in large part by its investment in Apple(AAPL). Berkshire also bought back a record $27 billion in stock last year, but the pace of buybacks slowed during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Class “B” shares fell 1% in the premarket.
BP(BP) – BP shares tumbled 7.1% in the premarket after saying it would sell its nearly 20% stakein Russia’s state-controlled oil producer Rosneft following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
First Horizon(FHN) – First Horizon shares surged 32.3% in premarket trading after the bank agreed to be acquired by Toronto-Dominion(TD) in an all-cash deal worth $25 per share or $13.4 billion. The move will help Toronto-Dominion expand its presence in the southeastern part of the U.S.
Renewable Energy(REGI) – The maker of renewable energy fuels agreed to be acquired by Chevron(CVX) for $61.50 per share, compared to the Friday close of $43.81. Renewable Energy shares soared 36.5% in the premarket.
Yandex(YNDX) – Yandex,a search-engine company that provides services in Russia, Ukraine and other countries in the region, plunged 21% premarket.
Starbucks(SBUX) – Workers at a Starbucks café in Mesa, Arizona voted to unionize, becoming the third Starbucks location in the U.S. to do so. Starbucks slid 1% in premarket action.
Zendesk(ZEN) – The customer service platform operator ended its deal to buy SurveyMonkey parent Momentive Global(MNTV) after Zendesk shareholders rejected the proposed transaction on Friday. That follows objections to the all-stock deal by activist investor Jana Partners as well as skepticism about the deal’s benefits by Wall Street analysts. Momentive slid 2.4% in premarket action while Zendesk rose 0.4%.
Healthcare Trust of America(HTA) – The health-care-centered real estate investment trust agreed to combine with rival Healthcare Realty(HR) in a deal with an implied value of $35.08 per share. Healthcare Trust slid 5% in the premarket, while Healthcare Realty tumbled 9.2%.
PulteGroup(PHM),Toll Brothers(TOL) – The home builders received double upgrades to “buy” from “underperform” at Bank of America Securities. The firm notes underperformance by home builders in 2022 despite strong earnings and guidance and feels the risk/reward profile is now favorable. PulteGroup rose 1.1% in the premarket, while Toll Brothers added 1%.
Nielsen(NLSN) – The company best known for TV ratings saw its stock rally 7.6% in the premarket after reporting adjusted quarterly earnings of 46 cents per share, 10 cents above estimates, and also issuing an upbeat full-year forecast. The company also announced a $1 billion share repurchase program.
Market News
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio Inc plans to carry out secondary listings by introduction in Hong Kong and Singapore as it seeks to grow its business in the region.
BP Plc moved to dump its shares in oil giant Rosneft PJSC, taking a financial hit of as much as $25 billion by joining the campaign to isolate Russia’s economy.
Tesla Inc is expected to secure a green light for the start of production at the Berlin gigafactory by the end of next week, Tesmanian reported ((via tagesspiegel) on Sunday, citing a German news outlet.
Chevron is discussing paying $61.50 per share for Renewable Energy, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. A deal could be announced as soon as next week, the people added. No final decision has been made and the terms could change or talks could still fall through.
Lockheed Martin is actively collaborating with Microsoft on 5G.MIL®solutions to rapidly advance reliable connections for U.S. Department of Defense systems capable of spanning air, land, sea, space and cyber domains.
Russia's central bank said Monday that the Moscow Exchange wouldn't open for stock trading.It also said derivatives markets would remain closed. The central bank added that the operating hours of the exchange would be announced Tuesday morning.
The Biden administration announced additional sanctions against Russia’s central bank on Monday, a move that effectively prohibits Americans from doing any business with the bank as well as freezes assets within the United States.The new measures will also target the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to share Washington's thinking, said the new sanctions will take effect immediately.