TikTok Ban, U.S.-China Tensions Send Stock Futures Lower

Promising jobs data kept some of these losses in check

Deputy Editor
Aug 7, 2020 at 9:22 AM
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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell this morning, last seen down a little over 70 points, in the wake of an overnight executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding "the threat posed" by Chinese-owned mobile apps. Specifically, any transaction with ByteDance and Tencent (TME) -- TikTok's and WeChat's parent companies, respectively -- will be banned in 45 days.

Elsewhere, futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are lower as well, as the latter secured yet another record-high close. Keeping some of these losses in check is nonfarm payrolls data, which increased by 1.76 million, while the unemployment rate fell to 10.2% -- both of which were better than Wall Street expected. 

Continue reading for more on today's market, including: 

  • Godaddy stock was blasted with bull notes yesterday.
  • What you need to know about call and long call options
  • Plus, Tripadvisor stock brushes off Q2 miss; ICE is acquiring Ellie Mae; and Zillow Group is surging on a plethora of bull notes. 

Futures Chart August 7

5 Things You Need to Know Today

  1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw over 2 million call contracts traded on Thursday, and 847,565 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.42, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.46.
  2. The shares of TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) are up 2.9% ahead of the bell, after the company reported wider-than-expected losses in the second quarter, but revenue that beat Wall Street's estimates. Plus, the company reported improving travel demands over the past four months. 
  3. New York Stock Exchange owner, Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) announced it will purchase mortgage technology platform provider Ellie Mae for $11 billion. The deal will include assumed debt, and resulted in shares of ICE dropping 2.5% before the market open.
  4. Real estate concern Zillow Group Inc (NASDAQ:ZG) reported better-than-expected second-quarter profits and revenue. As a result, the stock is surging ahead of the open, last seen up 13.1%; and analysts no less than 10 analysts chimed in with price-target hikes. 
  5. The data lined up for today includes nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate, and consumer credit. Canadian Solar (CSIQ) will round out the week's earnings frenzy. 

Buzz Chart Aug 7

Asian Markets Lower as U.S.-China Tensions Continue to Flare; European Stocks Mixed 

Stocks in Asia were mostly lower after today’s session, with tensions once again heating up between the U.S. and China over President Trump's overnight ban on several Chinese-owned apps. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the pullback, dropping 1.6%. Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1%, and Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.4%. Meanwhile, today’s only winner, the Kospi in South Korea, finished the day with a 0.4% win.

In Europe, shares are a mixed bag, with investors eyeing the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data as a taste of how the country’s economy is faring. The French CAC 40 is down 0.3%, after France’s June trade balance came in at -7.96 billion euros in June. In Germany, the industrial output climbed 8.9% in June, boosted by a rise in exports mostly to China, sending the DAX is up 0.06%, at last check. Lastly, London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.07%.

 

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