POTUS is slated to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He later
Stock futures are choppy this morning, as traders eye U.S.-China trade negotiations. Ahead of today's meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted negotiations with Beijing are "moving along nicely." However, a Wall Street Journal report hinted at several remaining hurdles, including Washington's request to maintain punitive tariffs. The bulls had the edge at last check, though, with futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) most recently seen signaling a higher start.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Options traders bet on bigger gains for Verizon stock.
- One signal says to take profits on this video game stock.
- Analyst targeted major upside for this "cheap" stock.
- Plus, Tesla and Office Depot brace for big drops; and upgraded Facebook pops.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.08 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 566,160 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.52, and the 21-day moving average slipped to 0.62.
- The shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) are down 10.1% in electronic trading, after the electric car concern reported a larger-than-expected drop in first-quarter deliveries. TSLA stock has been blasted with bear notes, too, including a price-target cut to $170 from $180 at Cowen and Company. After closing last night at $291.81, the equity is set to open near its late-March lows.
- Office Depot Inc (NASDAQ:ODP) said it expects first-quarter revenue to arrive at $2.76 billion, less than analysts were expecting, due to a weak operating performance at its CompuCom division. ODP stock is down 10.3% ahead of the bell, on track to open near its 40-day moving average, which caught a mid-March pullback.
- The bull notes keep coming for Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), with the FAANG stock upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Guggenheim earlier. The brokerage firm also boosted its FB price target to $200 from $175 -- a 15.2% premium to last night's close at $173.54. The equity is 1.8% higher in pre-market trading.
- Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell to a 49-year low of 202,000 last week. The Fed's balance sheet and speeches from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and New York Fed President John Williams are also expected. Duluth Holdings (DLTH) will report earnings.
Airline Stocks Outperformed in China
Most Asian markets ended modestly higher today, led by mainland China stocks on reports that the U.S. and Beijing are making progress on the topic of intellectual property. Airlines were also a pocket of strength, after the State Council vowed to cut infrastructure levies beginning July 1. China's Shanghai Composite closed up 0.9%, while South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei eked out a 0.05% gain. Hong Kong's Hang Seng diverged from the pack, closing down 0.2% as traders took a cautious approach ahead of a long holiday weekend.
European equity benchmarks are wobbling around breakeven this morning. Basic resources stocks are giving back some of their recent gains driven by U.S.-China trade optimism as traders await new developments between the two countries. Meanwhile, Commerzbank is on the upswing in Frankfurt, up 3.2% after the Financial Times reported that Italy's UniCredit could be prepared to make a bid for the German lender if its talks with Deutsche Bank fall apart. At last check, Germany's DAX is up 0.2%, the French CAC 40 is off 0.3%, and London's FTSE 100 is 0.6% lower.