Stocks started the day in positive territory following early economic data, including the weekly jobless claims data and retail sales figures, that gave the market a lift at the open. The Nasdaq was the strongest index all day, while the Dow was unable to hold its early gains, though it also kept from making much of a decline either. Yesterday, the FOMC raised interest rates by a quarter point and gave somewhat hawkish commentary, while today the ECB kept interest rates unchanged and made dovish comments. The result of the pair of central banks’ comments caused the financial stocks to get hit and for the yield curve to flatten further. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., retail sales climbed 0.8% in May, and gained 0.9% excluding autos, both of which were better than expected. Initial jobless claims declined 4,000 to 218,000 in the week ended June 9. Import and export prices rose 0.6% in May, both of which were stronger than expected gains. Business inventories rose 0.3% in April with sales up 0.4%, as forecast. In Europe, the ECB announced that it will continue to make net purchases under the asset purchase program at its current monthly pace of EUR30B until the end of September, after which it expects the monthly pace will be reduced to EUR$15B until December, and then ended. The ECB also kept its key interest rates unchanged and said it expects them to remain at their present levels “at least through the summer of 2019 and in any case for as long as necessary” to make sure inflation remains on the expected adjustment path. Meanwhile, CNBC reported that the White House tomorrow plans to roll out tariffs on roughly 800-900 Chinese export products, down from the original list of about 1,300 products published by the U.S. Trade Representative in April. COMPANY NEWS: Comcast (CMCSA) announced last night that it made a “superior proposal” to acquire the businesses that Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) has agreed to sell to Disney (DIS) for $35 per share in cash, which it said represents a premium of approximately 19% to the value of Disney’s all-stock offer. The $35 per share offer reflects a $65B equity value for 21CF, after giving effect to the proposed spinoff of “New Fox,” Comcast stated… Bloomberg reported that Apple (AAPL) is close to a deal to buy distribution rights for the U.S. and some other countries for an animated feature film being produced by Oscar-nominated studio Cartoon Saloon. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Etsy (ETSY), which surged 26% after it revised its transaction fee structure and updated its fiscal 2018 guidance. Also higher was Insys Therapeutics (INSY), which gained 15% after it said its investigational epinephrine nasal spray showed promise in an early clinical trial. Among the notable losers was Tailored Brands (TLRD), which fell 22% after it reported quarterly results and provided a conservative outlook for fiscal 2018. Also lower was Mylan (MYL), which dropped 5% after the company disclosed that the FDA has identified “minor deficiencies” in its application for approval of generic Advair Diskus. INDEXES: The Dow dipped 25.89, or 0.10%, to 25,175.31, the Nasdaq added 65.34, or 0.85%, to 7,761.04, and the S&P 500 gained 7.33, or 0.26%, to 2,782.96.
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