DJIA futures are trading above fair value, despite growing geopolitical drama
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are trading above fair value this morning, as stocks look for a strong start to an abbreviated week. With the economic and earnings calendar mostly bare today, traders may take a wait-and-see approach before the start of earnings season on Thursday. Still,
geopolitical tensions remain high after last week's U.S. missile strikes in
Syria, with a Group of Seven meeting kicking off today in Italy -- and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson scheduled to visit Russia tomorrow after deeming the country "incompetent" for allowing the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Elsewhere, oil prices are on the rise once again, with crude futures set for May delivery up 1.3% at $52.93 per barrel.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The defense stock presenting a contrarian buying opportunity.
- Analysts are predicting shares of Wal-Mart Stores will hit two-year highs.
- Why bullish options traders have been blitzing this cloud stock.
- Plus, Tesla eyes new highs; drugmaker M&A drama; and why analysts are backtracking on this shoe stock.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 24 points above fair value.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 650,754 call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 432,830 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio moved up to 0.67, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.64 for an eighth straight day.
- Tesla stock is set to pick up exactly where it left off last week, pointed 2% higher ahead of the open after Piper Jaffray upgraded the shares to "overweight" from "neutral." The firm also raised its price target on TSLA up to $368 from $223 -- well beyond last week's record high of $304.88.
- Biotech Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRX) is on pace to open 11% higher, after the company confirmed it's in talks to sell itself to Germany drug company Fresenius. AKRX stock struggled through 2016, but has climbed higher lately to finish last week at $29.77.
- Just a couple weeks ago, Susquehanna downgraded Skechers stock to "negative" from "positive." This morning, though, the brokerage firm is taking action again, raising its opinion on the shares to "neutral" from "negative." As of Friday's close at $24.85, SKX shares were down 17% since peaking at $30 on March 28.
- Traders will likely be looking ahead to tomorrow for economic data, as the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) is slated for release.
Overseas Trading
Stocks in Asia started the week mostly lower, amid heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the U.S. relocated an aircraft carrier group to the Western Pacific Ocean following recent North Korean ballistic missile tests. Trading understandably turned negative on South Korea's Kospi, which fell 0.9%. Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged just 0.02% lower. Bucking the bearish trend, Japan's Nikkei jumped 0.7%, bolstered by a weaker yen and the largest account balance surplus since March 2016. Plus, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda pledged to maintain current monetary easing policies until inflation reaches its 2% goal.
Amid mounting geopolitical risks, European markets are struggling, as G-7 foreign ministers convene for a two-day meeting to discuss the civil war in Syria after last week's U.S. airstrike. France's CAC 40 has surrendered 0.5% amid election uncertainty, as a weekend poll showed far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon overtaking conservative Francois Fillon for the first time. Meanwhile, the German DAX and London's FTSE 100 have each shed around 0.1%.