President Trump said U.S.-China trade talks are progressing
Wall Street bounced back yesterday from its early week drubbing, and Dow futures are pointed confidently higher once more today. The latest U.S.-China trade headline is powering this morning's surge, after Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman, Gao Feng, confirmed both sides are communicating with each other. However, additional details were scant ahead of the Dec. 15 deadline for the U.S. to hike tariffs on Chinese goods, although President Donald Trump did remark yesterday that talks were "going very well." Elsewhere, weekly jobless claims fell by 10,000 last week to a seven-month low, while the U.S. trade deficit fell 7.6% in October to its lowest level since May 2018.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Bulls blasted rallying JetBlue stock yesterday.
- Analysts are betting big on this Dow stock.
- Plus, Goldman says "buy" Nike; Slack jumps on revenue beat; and a C-suite shake-up at United Airlines.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 883,050 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 478,525 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.54, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.59.
- Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) stock is up 2.3% in electronic trading, after Goldman Sachs upgraded the shoe retailer to "buy" from "neutral," and added it to its conviction list. The analyst in coverage thinks Nike is on the verge of "sharp acceleration" in earnings growth, in part due to China revenues. NKE is set to open a chip-shot away from its Oct. 21 record high of $96.87.
- Slack Technologies Inc (NYSE:WORK) stock is up 4.8% ahead of the bell, after the software company reported a third-quarter adjusted loss that was slimmer than expected. Revenue also topped forecasts, although Credit Suisse trimmed its price target to $27 from $35. WORK is down 44% in 2019.
- The shares of United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) are up 0.9% in electronic trading, after the company announced CEO Oscar Munoz will step down in 2020, to be replaced by President Scott Kirby. Munoz will transition to the executive chairman role. The airline stock is holding above its year-to-date breakeven point, with its 80-day moving average emerging as additional support.
- Today's economic calendar features factory orders. Earnings from American Outdoor Brands (AOBC), Cloudera (CLDR), DocuSign (DOCU), Dollar General (DG), Kroger (KR), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Zoom Video Communications (ZM), and Zumiez (ZUMZ) will be released.
Asian Markets Mostly Higher; European Stocks Mixed at Midday
It was a bullish session for most of the major stock indexes in Asia. The Shanghai Composite in China added 0.7% to test the 2,900 level, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong saw similar upside, finishing with a 0.6% gain. Japan’s Nikkei joined in with the winners, rising 0.7%, while South Korea’s Kospi was the odd one out, dropping 0.4%.
It’s shaping up to be a mixed session in Europe. London’s FTSE 100 was last seen in negative territory, dipping 0.2%, while the German DAX is hovering near breakeven. In France, the CAC 40 is up 0.7%, on pace for another day of sharp gains after bouncing from the $5,700 level on Tuesday.