- Futures rise amid earnings optimism; Dollar dips.
- Square, Moderna, First Solar and more made the biggest moves in the premarket.
- Treasuries steady; crude oil declines on China outlook.
(August 2) U.S. index futures gained along with European stocks as upbeat earnings and a surge in corporatedealmakinglifted sentiment, offsetting lingering concerns over China’s regulatory crackdown and the spread of the delta virus variant.
U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were up 19.5 points, or 0.44%, at 07:52 a.m. ET. Dow E-minis gained 118 points, or 0.34%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis rose 66.75 points, or 0.45%.
Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket:
1) Square(SQ) – The digital payments company agreed to buy Australia’s Afterpayfor about $29 billion in stock, representing a roughly 30% premium for Afterpay shareholders. Square shares fell 4.8% in the premarket, but news of the deal boosted shares of U.S.-based payment companyAffirm(AFRM) by 8.2%.
2) Zoom Video(ZM) – The video conferencing companyagreed to pay $85 millionto settle a lawsuit accusing it violated the privacy rights of users. It also agreed to beef up its security practices to prevent so-called “Zoombombing,” where hackers disrupted Zoom meetings.
3) General Electric(GE) – GE has completed its previously announced one-for-eight reverse stock split and will begin trading on a post-split basis today.
4) Moderna(MRNA),Pfizer(PFE),BioNTech(BNTX) – Moderna and Pfizer both raised prices for their Covid-19 vaccines in their latest supply contracts, according to the Financial Times. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Food and Drug Administration is under pressure to give both vaccines full approval and that this could happen within the next month for Pfizer and partner BioNTech. Moderna rose 2.5% in the premarket, Pfizer gained 1%, while BioNTech surged 5.1%.
5) Foot Locker(FL) – The athletic footwear and apparel retailer announced a deal to buy California-based shoe store chain WSS for $750 million and Japan-based streetwear brand Atmos for $360 million.
6) Uber Technologies(UBER) – Shares of Uber gained 1.1% in premarket trading after Gordon Haskett Research Advisors initiated coverage with a “buy” rating. Haskett called Uber a company that is continually engraining itself in the everyday lives of consumers through its ride-hailing and food delivery services.
7) Capri Holdings(CPRI) – Capri rose 1.2% in the premarket following an upgrade to “buy” from “neutral” at MKM Partners, which noted a string of better than expected quarters for the company behind brands like Michael Kors and Versace. MKM also cited an overall improvement in the luxury goods sector.
8) Discovery(DISCA) – Discovery is in informal talks about a potential bid for British state-owned broadcaster Channel 4, according to Britain’s Telegraph newspaper.
9) Robinhood(HOOD) – More than 300,000 users of the stock trading app bought shares in Robinhood’s initial public offering last week, according to The Wall Street Journal. That represents about 1.3% of the company’s funded account base. Robinhood added 1.5% in premarket trading.
10) Parker-Hannifin(PH) – The maker of motion control technology and other industrial products is buying British rival Meggitt for about $8.8 billion in cash. Parker-Hannifin shares fell 2.2% in premarket action.
11) Li Auto(LI) – The China-based electric vehicle maker delivered 8,589 vehicles in July, an increase of 125% compared to July 2020. Li’s U.S.-based shares surged 4.3% in the premarket.
12) First Solar(FSLR) – The solar power systems maker’s shares gained 2.9% in premarket trading after Susquehanna Financial upgraded the stock to “positive” from “neutral,” based on upbeat management comments on solar module demand and pricing.
In FX,a relatively sedate start to the new week and month, but the Dollar has lost some recovery momentum and is moderately softer vs high beta and cyclical counterparts amidst a general improvement in risk sentiment. Hence, the index slipped back beneath 92.000 within a 92.174-91.962 band before finding a base and awaiting the final US Markit manufacturing PMI, construction spending and ISM in particular for the survey breakdown and first jobs proxy for Friday’s NFP.
- AUD/NZD/EUR/GBP - The Aussie and Kiwi have both regained some composure to pare overnight losses incurred on the back of further COVID restrictions, a Chinese manufacturing PMI miss, technical and cross-related factors. However, Aud/Usd remains heavy above 0.7350 and unlikely to trouble hefty option expiry interest at the 0.7400 strike (1.2 bn) ahead of the RBA tomorrow given expectations that the ongoing pandemic outbreaks could well force the Bank to backtrack on QE tapering plans. Meanwhile, Nzd/Usd is still rotating around the 21 DMA that comes in at 0.6979 today having failed to retain grasp of the 0.7000 handle, and the Euro is back below 1.1900 where 1.4 bn option expiries reside in wake of broadly softer than expected Eurozone manufacturing PMIs, bar Germany’s upgrade. Conversely, Cable is back over 1.3900 and Eur/Gbp is holding under 0.8550 following an unrevised final UK manufacturing PMI in advance of Thursday’s BoE.
- CAD/JPY/CHF - All very narrowly divergent vs the Greenback, and the Loonie holding up well in the face of weakness in WTI crude circa 1.2470, while the Yen is meandering from 109.60-77 in the run up to Tokyo inflation data on Tuesday and the Franc is straddling 0.9055 after in line Swiss CPI, a slowdown in retail sales vs pick up in the manufacturing PMI and weekly sight deposits showing just a small rise on domestic bank balances.
- SCANDI/EM - Contrasting manufacturing PMIs from Sweden and Norway, as the former dipped and latter gathered pace, but the Sek is straddling 10.2100 against the Eur with assistance from the aforementioned pick-up in overall risk appetite, while the Nok wanes within a 10.4910-10.4530 range due to a pull-back in Brent prices from Usd 75+/brl towards Usd 74.00.
In commodities,WTI and Brent have commenced the week on the backfoot, with the benchmarks lower by USD 1.00/bbl on the session. Such pressure comes in spite of the generally modestly constructive risk tone in a quiet European session with final PMIs not moving the dial much; with attention more on the weeks macro themes as outlined above. In crude specifics, updates have been very sparse throughout the session and as such the complex is more focus on COVID-19 related dynamics. With the demand-side of the equation torn between the ongoing case increases in Tokyo, among other areas, but on the flip-side supported by a push from top UK Cabinet Officials for an easing of travel restrictions and more broadly as NIH’s Fauci now does not believe the US is likely to return to lockdowns. Elsewhere, attention is on the geopolitical front and specifically last week’s attack on a ship off the Oman coast on which the US Secretary of State is confident that Iran is behind this attack. Moving to metals, spot gold and silver are modestly pressured with not too much read across from a choppy USD as we stand and likely on the back of the aforementioned broader risk tone; for reference, the yellow metal still holds the USD 1800/oz mark. Separately, much of the mornings focus is on copper where BHPs Escondida, Chile facility is facing strike action after the union rejected BHPs final labour offer. As such, Government-mediated discussions will last for 5-10 days and if the status quo is maintained and there is no breakthrough then strike action will formally commence. Given the uncertainty, LME Copper is supported on the session albeit still well off the pivotal USD 10k/t mark vs the current high USD 9799/t.
US Event Calendar
- 9:45am: July Markit US Manufacturing PMI, est. 63.1, prior 63.1
- 10am: June Construction Spending MoM, est. 0.5%, prior -0.3%
- 10am: July ISM Manufacturing, est. 60.9, prior 60.6