Today’s Big Picture Asia-Pacific equity markets finished the day ahead except for India’s SENSEX, which fell 0.86% on weakness in Technology names.Japan’s Nikkei closed close to flat, eking out a 0.07% gain, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.17%, both Taiwan’s TAIEX and Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries rose just over 0.20%, and China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 1.42%.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended today 1.68% higher led by Consumer Services, and Energy Minerals names.Major European markets are up in midday trading and U.S.futures point to a mixed open, and interestingly, at least at the time of writing, the CBOE Volatility index is higher along with S&P 500 and Dow futures while Nasdaq 100 contracts are lower.
The March quarter earnings season shifts into a higher gear this week as the number of companies reporting their quarterly results more than doubles to almost 270.Included in that figure are 60 S&P 500 companies and six Dow 30 components.The familiar pattern of those reports being loaded in the back half of the week continues to hold.Expectations for S&P 500 earnings moved lower throughout the March quarter, but reports this week will start to tell us if more cuts to earnings expectations are needed and if so to what degree.
Meanwhile, with Fed officials indicating there is no intention to back off on their inflation-busting efforts, market watchers have a renewed focus on the vector and velocity of the economy.
While we start the week off slow, all eyes will be on signals for the economy received late this week via the Flash April PMI data.
Data Download International Economy
Poland and Hungary have banned imports of grain from Ukraine, as well as its transit through their countries, despite a warning from the EU that the unilateral actions would go against the bloc’s trade policies.
Domestic Economy
At 8:30 AM, the April Empire State Manufacturing data will be published, and the headline figure is expected to improve to -19 from March’s -24.6 reading.
At 10 AM ET, the NABH Housing Market Index for April will be published and the consensus view has it ticking higher to 45 vs.44 the prior month.
The median asking rent in the U.S.
fell 0.4% to $1,937 in March from a year earlier — the first annual drop since the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 – according to data published by Redfin ( RDFN ) .
Markets
Friday saw sectors end the day largely down except for Consumer Discretionary (0.13%), Energy (0.18%), and Financials which posted a healthy 0.98% gain.Real Estate (-1.72%) and Utilities (-1.12%) provided the largest drag on returns.Overall, the broad indexes were lower as the S&P 500 declined 0.21%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.35%, the Dow dropped 0.42%, and the Russell 2000 closed down 0.86%.Nvidia ( NVDA ) gained 1.11% following the launch of the latest graphics card and on speculation that the current Artificial Intelligence race will be beneficial to shareholders.
Here’s how the major market indicators stack up year-to-date:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 2.23% S&P 500: 7.77% Nasdaq Composite: 15.83% Russell 2000: 1.13% Bitcoin (BTC-USD): 83.42% Ether (ETH-USD): 75.28% Stocks to Watch Before U.S.equity markets begin trading today, Charles Schwab ( SCHW ) and State Street ( STT ) will be among the companies reporting quarterly results.
Merck ( MRK ) agreed to acquire Prometheus Biosciences ( RXDX ) , a clinical-stage biotech focused on immunology, for $200.00 per share in cash, indicating a total equity value of ~$10.8 billion.
Bloomberg reports that at its upcoming WWDC 2023 event, Apple ( AAPL ) will introduce the Reality headset, a new xrOS operating system, and software development kit, new MacBooks, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, and a major watchOS 10 update.
General Motors ( GM ) is ditching Apple’s CarPlay in favor of a similar app made by Alphabet’s ( GOOGL ) Google for Android phones.
Reports indicate Barclays ( BCS ) will cut more than 100 roles in its investment bank, with the layoffs not confined to a single country or function.
Japanese gaming company Sega ( SGAMY ) announced it made a 706 million euro ($776 million) offer for Rovio Entertainment Oyj ( ROVVF ) , the maker of the Angry Birds.
ZeroFox ( ZFOX ) announced a definitive agreement to acquire LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, Inc., a leader in external attack surface management and global threat intelligence.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set for its maiden launch of Starship Super Heavy spacecraft today at 9 AM ET.
Amid surging sales for EVs, Panasonic ( PCRFY ) is considering building a battery plant in Oklahoma, its third in the U.S., which could cost up to $4 billion and create up to 4,000 jobs.
After Today’s Market Close
Equity Lifestyle Partners (ESL), JB Hunt (JBHT), and Pinnacle Financial (PNFG) are slated to report their quarterly results after equities stop trading.Those looking for more on which companies are reporting when should head on over to Nasdaq’s Earnings Calendar .
On the Horizon Tuesday, April 18
China: 1Q 2023 GDP China: Industrial Production, Retail Sales – March Eurozone: ZEW Economic Sentiment – April US: Housing Starts & Building Permits – March Wednesday, April 19
Japan: Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization – February UK: Car Registration, Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index – March Eurozone: Consumer Price Index – March US: Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications US: Weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories US: Fed Beige Book Thursday, April 20
Eurozone: Consumer Confidence US: Weekly Initial & Continuing Jobless Claims (8:30 AM ET) US: Philadelphia Fed Index – April (8:30 AM ET) US: Existing Home Sales – March (10:00 AM ET) US: Leading Indicators – March (10:00 AM ET) US: Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories Friday, April 21
Japan: Consumer Price Index Japan: Flash Manufacturing & Services PMI – April Eurozone: Flash Manufacturing & Services PMI – April UK: Retail Sales – March US: Flash Manufacturing & Services PMI – April Thought for the Day “You can’t unscramble eggs.” ~ John Pierpont Morgan
Disclosures Apple (AAPL) is a constituent of the Tematica Research Thematic Dividend All-Stars Index The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc..
