U.S. index futures show a slight decline in Monday’s pre-market.
This scenario is a response to the recent increase in U.S. interest
rates, the drop in oil prices, and unfavorable economic indicators
from China influencing market movements.
As of 05:59 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) fell 28 points, or
0.08%. S&P 500 futures declined by 0.08% and Nasdaq-100 futures
dropped 0.07%. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds was at
4.466%.
In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude for
January fell 1.71%, to $74.25 per barrel. Brent crude for January
decreased by 1.63%, near $79.27 per barrel. Iron ore with a 62%
concentration, traded on the Dalian exchange, rose 0.36%, priced at
$136.93 per ton.
On the economic agenda this Friday, investors await, at 10:00
AM, the Census Bureau’s report on new home sales. It’s expected
that sales of newly constructed single-family homes will fall to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 700,000 in October, from 759,000
in September. The Dallas Fed will release its November
manufacturing index at 10:30 AM. At 11:00 AM, the government will
hold an auction for two-year Treasuries, and at 13:00 PM, a
five-year Treasury auction will take place.
U.S. retail sales on Black Friday increased by 2.5% from the
previous year, excluding the automotive sector, as reported by
Mastercard SpendingPulse. While online sales grew by 8.5%, in-store
sales increased by 1.1%. American shoppers spent $9.8 billion
online, aligning with Adobe Analytics’ forecasts.
In Europe, with a light agenda, agents await a speech at 09:00
AM by Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank
(ECB), at the European Parliament.
Asian markets closed lower, influenced by concerns about the
Chinese economy, which showed its weakness with a 7.8% drop in
industrial profits in October. In China, the Beijing Stock
Exchange, established two years ago to support small businesses,
adopted a new policy prohibiting major shareholders of listed
companies from selling their shares. Meanwhile, in Japan, the
president of the Central Bank, Kazuo Ueda, stated that the
institution is not sure of sustainably and stably achieving the 2%
inflation target.
U.S. stocks had a weak performance on Friday due to the
Thanksgiving holiday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 reaching
their best closing levels in three months. The Dow rose 0.33% and
the S&P 500 advanced 0.06%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.11%.
Sectors such as airlines and tobacco saw gains, while the computer
hardware market experienced losses.
Investors will be watching Monday’s corporate earnings reports
from Cerence (NASDAQ:CRNC), Anavex Life
Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) before the market opens. After the
close, reports from Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS),
Seadrill (NYSE:SDRL), Grupo
Supervielle (NYSE:SUPV), among others, will be
observed.
This week, Zscaler and
Crowdstrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) are expected to
highlight the focus on cybersecurity following recent corporate
attacks. Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and Dell
Technologies (NYSE:DELL) are expected to report slower
sales growth due to reduced corporate IT spending. Other results,
such as those from Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) and
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), will also reflect the trend
of reduced business and consumer spending. Canadian banks’ profits
will show the impact of higher interest rates and a weaker economy,
with weak loan demand and slowing bank deposit growth.
Wall Street Corporate Highlights for Today
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Walmart
(NYSE:WMT) – On Cyber Monday, record spending of $12 billion is
expected, up 5.4% from last year. Retailers like Amazon and Walmart
offered significant discounts, with expectations of mobile
purchases surpassing desktop for the first time. Late shopping may
boost additional sales.
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) – Alibaba Group has closed
its quantum computing research lab, signaling a possible
continuation of cuts to improve financial results. The company will
donate equipment to Zhejiang University, and about 30 employees may
lose their jobs. The decision comes amid a reform led by Joseph
Tsai and Eddie Wu, raising speculation about additional changes at
the company. Additionally, Jack Ma sparked speculation about his
next ventures by founding “Hangzhou Ma’s Kitchen Food,” a packaged
agricultural products company with an initial capital of $1.4
million. Since his step back following the government crackdown in
2020, Ma has devoted himself to agricultural and educational
activities.
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) – Disney’s “Wish” failed
at the holiday box office, ranking third with $19.5 million, behind
Lions Gate’s “Hunger Games” and Sony’s “Napoleon.” This marks a
decline for Disney, which previously dominated this season.
EQT AB (NYSE:EQT) – Swedish EQT AB acquired a
majority stake in Japanese HR software startup HRBrain Inc. Founder
Hiroki Hori will retain a significant stake. Financial details were
not disclosed. EQT seeks to boost young companies in Japan, aiming
for more similar deals.
HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) – HSBC customers in the UK
reported issues accessing mobile and online banking services on
Friday, with over 4,000 complaints at the peak. The bank confirmed
the outage, attributed to an internal problem, during one of the
busiest shopping days.
UBS (NYSE:UBS) – UBS Asset Management is
focusing on improving its existing infrastructure investments due
to the weak trading environment. They are upgrading wind parks in
Texas and fiber networks in France and Germany. The company is
targeting companies involved in the energy transition and
digitalization.
Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) – Deutsche Bank’s asset
manager DWS hired Dan Robinson to lead alternative credit in EMEA,
targeting growth in private credit. This is part of the company’s
expansion strategy in alternatives and partnerships with regional
German banks.
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) – Warren
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold its stake in India’s Paytm for
approximately $164.70 million through a bulk deal. BH International
Holdings offloaded over 15.6 million shares of the digital payments
company at an average price of 877.29 rupees per share. The sale
follows stake reductions by SoftBank (TG:SFTA) and
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), with the buyer of Paytm’s
shares still unknown.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) –
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group CEO Jun Ohta passed away on
November 25 at 65 due to pancreatic cancer. Japan’s second-largest
bank will soon announce a successor, with Vice President Toru
Nakashima temporarily taking over. Ohta, who led SMFG since April
2019, was also vice-chairman of Keidanren and sought international
expansion in partnership with Jefferies Financial
Group (NYSE:JEF).
Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) – Lloyds Bank,
the UK’s largest high street bank, may cut about 2,500 jobs in a
restructuring, aiming to reduce costs. The move includes
consultations with several employees, with plans to create 120 new
positions, according to a source familiar.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) – Elon Musk will visit
Israel to meet with political leaders and discuss online
anti-Semitism, following controversies at X. He will also explore
the Starlink project to support communications during war.
Additionally, tension between Swedish unions and Tesla escalated
with Hydro Extrusions supporting the demand for a collective work
agreement for Tesla’s mechanics in Sweden. About 50 Hydro workers
stopped, aiming to pressure Tesla to negotiate. Elsewhere, Tesla
plans to invest up to $2 billion to establish a factory in India,
conditional on reducing import taxes to 15% for the first two
years, according to the Economic Times. Tesla is willing to invest
$500 million for 12,000 vehicles and up to $2 billion for 30,000,
awaiting government approval.
Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) – Toyota has the
largest gap between its corporate guidance and analysts’ average
net income projection for the fiscal year on the Topix index. This
reflects optimistic expectations due to the weak yen. Other
companies also have profit forecasts above analysts’ estimates, but
Toyota leads this trend. The automaker raised its profit outlook,
driven by the weak yen and better raw material prices, but still
fell short of analysts’ average projections. Analysts believe
Toyota issues conservative forecasts and is already ahead of its
production plans.
Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) – The
Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, initially backed by Philip
Morris International, will reject future funding from the nicotine
industry to gain credibility in tobacco control, as stated by the
CEO. The foundation, established in 2017 with financial commitment
from PMI, seeks new funders, rebranding its image and identity.
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