China has reportedly offered to buy $70 billion in U.S. exports
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are trading well above fair value, boosted by signs of progress on global trade talks. The latest reports indicate that China is willing to buy roughly $70 billion in U.S. agricultural and energy exports, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is said to be pushing for a Canadian exemption to the Trump administration's recently announced metals tariffs.
Meanwhile, data this morning showed the U.S. trade deficit hit a seven-month low in April as exports rose to a record high. Elsewhere, the tech rally looks set to continue, with pre-market gains for Apple (AAPL) and Netflix (NFLX) signaling more record highs for the FAANG stocks -- and lifting futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX).
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- What next week's Fed meeting could mean for stocks, according to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
- Analyst: This drug stock could soar 90%.
- The catalyst that sent 2 cruise stocks to new lows.
- Plus, Elon Musk's latest Model 3 update; SCWX narrows its quarterly loss; and YELP gets downgraded.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.1 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 534,756 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.48, while the 21-day moving average dropped to 0.58.
- At Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) annual meeting last night, CEO Elon Musk won shareholders' vote of confidence to retain his dual role as chairman. Musk also boasted that the company's manufacturing would soon become a strength, as the automaker is "quite likely" to meet its goal to build 5,000 Model 3 cars per week by month's end. Following the event, Citigroup this morning slashed its price target on the stock to $313 from $347. TSLA is up 3.6% at $301.46 in electronic trading.
- Secureworks Corp (NASDAQ:SCWX) could see active trading today, after the company earlier reported a narrower-than-forecast first-quarter loss, but offered mixed guidance for fiscal 2019. The tech concern has had a volatile year, recently using the 200-day moving average as support, but struggling to break above the $11.50 level. At last night's close, SCWX was up just 2.6% year-over-year.
- KeyBanc downgraded Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) to "sector weight" from "overweight" this morning, sending the stock down 2.6% in electronic trading. YELP shares have gained 46% over the past 12 months to close Tuesday at $44.11, but the stock is now at risk of closing beneath its 200-day trendline for the eighth time in the last nine sessions.
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Today will bring fresh readings on the MBA mortgage index and the weekly crude inventories report, while an earlier update showed a downward revision to first-quarter productivity. Five Below (FIVE), Thor Industries (THO), United Natural Foods (UNFI), Vera Bradley (VRA), and VeriFone (PAY) will report earnings.
Tech Outperformance Continues to Push Asian Markets Higher
Asian stock indexes closed higher today thanks to ongoing strength out of tech names. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng had the best day with a 0.5% win, though China’s Shanghai Composite only gained 0.1%. Outside of tech, most other sectors struggled in the region, as investors also kept their eye on the latest trade-related headlines. Meanwhile, the Nikkei closed up 0.4% in Japan, with a weaker yen lifting automakers, and South Korea’s Kospi settled with a 0.3% advance.
European equities are for the most part seeing an upbeat session. The energy sector is one of the leading reasons for the strength, headlined by big days from names like BHP Billiton and Royal Dutch Shell. More political developments in Italy are also in focus, after new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte yesterday delivered his first speech, which focused on immigration and tax reform policies. Against this backdrop, London's FTSE 100 was last seen 0.4% higher, the German DAX was up 0.3%, and France’s CAC 40 was flat.