Monday, July 12, 2021
Futures Up/Down % Last
Dow -182.00 0.52% 34,569
S&P 500 -12.25 0.29% 4,347
Nasdaq 34.50 0.23% 14,845
Stock futures looking mixed to start the week as the Nasdaq Comp is pointing higher while the Dow and S&P 500 look to open lower as investors turn their attention to second-quarter earnings season starting this week in order to gauge whether corporate profitability can support equity valuations. In corporate news, Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) announced that VSS Unity “successfully” reached space, completing the company’s fourth rocket-powered spaceflight, and sending shares higher. Items to watch during the week outside of earnings include the latest figures on inflation and growth. The June consumer price index will be published tomorrow, while the producer price reading will be announced on Wednesday. Also, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is also due to give his semiannual monetary policy report before the U.S. House and Senate on Wednesday and Thursday
Stocks posted big gains on Friday, helping major averages close out the week in positive territory as the S&P 500 rose 0.36% the last 5-days, the Dow added 0.24%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.43% as top indices major averages cement their third-straight weekly gain. The big news last week was the precipitous drop in Treasury yields, dropping 8-straight days before having its streak snapped Friday, a day after the 10-year hit 5-month lows of 1.25%. All three indexes are heading toward closing highs, just a few days after notching the worst daily drop since June 18th mid-week. The declines had been at least partly inspired by worries about the economic recovery amid the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19.
In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index surged over 600 points or 2.25% to settle at 28,569. the Shanghai Index climbed 23 points to 3,547 and the Hang Seng Index advanced 170 points to 27,515. In Europe, the German DAX is down roughly -25 points to 15,660, while the FTSE 100 is looking lower about -50 points to 7,075. Mainland China stocks gain even after Beijing tightens rules for foreign IPOs and Washington adds Chinese firms to its economic blacklist
Market Closing Prices Yesterday
The S&P 500 Index gained 48.73 points, or 1.13%, to 4,369.55
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 448.26 points, or 1.30%, to 34,870.16
The Nasdaq Composite jumped 142.12 points, or 0.98%, to 14,701.92
The Russell 2000 Index advanced 48.32 points, or 2.17% to 2,280.00
Earnings Calendar:
Earnings Before the Open: none
Earnings After the Close: $SLP, $VOXX
Other Key Events:
China Imports, Export and Trade Balance data for June
Macro Up/Down Last
Nymex -1.12 73.44
Brent -1.07 74.48
Gold -7.75 1,800.55
EUR/USD -0.0022 1.1854
JPY/USD -0.03 110.11
10-Year Note -0.02 1.336%
Sector News Breakdown
Consumer
Didi Global Inc ($DIDI) shares fall -4%; on Monday confirmed the country’s cyberspace administration notified app stores to remove the ride hailing company’s 25 apps and said the move could impact its China revenue
Malibu Boats ($MBUU) mentioned favorably in Barron’s saying the stock is looking ready to power through, noting buying a boat this summer has been futile for many shoppers as dealers have been sold out for months. Says even if sales cool off, Malibu should sustain growth, bolstered by market-leading brands, lean manufacturing, and innovative technologies fueling demand
Energy, Industrials and Materials
Virgin Galactic’s ($SPCE) VSS Unity successfully completed its flight into space with company founder Richard Branson on board, making him the second-oldest person to fly in space, and beating out Amazon ($AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos, who’s scheduled to fly in Blue Origin’s New Shepard ship on July 20.
Stephen R. Rizzone to retire as president and CEO of Energous Corporation ($WATT); has also relinquished his seat on company’s board of directors; CEO search has been initiated and both internal and external candidates are being considered
Tudor Perini ($TPC) subsidiary Lunda Construction Team awarded $220 Million I-70 Missouri River Bridge design-build project
Credit Suisse analyst expects steel stocks to stay hot on the view that their upcycle will linger according to Barron’s, noting that may be good news for United States Steel ($X), Cleveland-Cliffs ($CLF), Steel Dynamics ($STLD), Graftech International ($EAF) and Nucor ($NUE)
Financials
Citigroup ($C) a positive mention in Barron’s ahead of earnings this week for the large cap banks saying JPMorgan ($JPM), Goldman Sachs ($GS), and others are expected to report, but investors shouldn’t get their hopes up. Says few are as cheap as Citigroup (C$)
Through a wholly-owned subsidiary NBTC Limited, The9 Limited ($NCTY) has signed a cryptocurrency mining hosting agreement with Russian company BitRiver
Healthcare
AstraZeneca ($AZN) mentioned positively in Barron’s saying investors should remember that AstraZeneca is not just a vaccine company, it has a strong pipeline, a growing number of $1 billion blockbuster drugs and, with EU and U.S. approval of its acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN), a promising new rare-diseases division
Celldex Therapeutics ($CLDX) updated early-stage trial data for CDX-0159, indicating 95% complete response following a single dose in patients with two most common forms of chronic inducible urticaria, a skin condition
FDA chief Janet Woodcock has called for a federal investigation into the approval of Biogen’s ($BIIB) controversial Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm, asking the independent Office of Inspector General to look into how regulatory staffers interacted with Biogen leading up to the June 7 approval of the drug – WSJ
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. ($SVA) said it will provide up to 380 million doses of its CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine through Covax, a facility for supplying vaccines to poorer nations, as part of an advance purchase agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Technology, Media & Telecom
Some Chinese stocks are starting to look like bargain after a wave of regulatory measures has created the type of uncertainty that draws bargain hunters, according to Barron’s Technology giants like Alibaba Group ($BABA), whose shares are down 11% this year, are popping up on value managers’ radars but caution is warranted, especially for investors in U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies saying volatility is likely, with investors recalibrating growth expectations as Beijing rolls out new rules, and reviews past deals, the publication says
AMC Entertainment ($AMC), Cinemark ($CNK): Walt Disney Co.’s ($DIS) “Black Widow” grossed $80 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to preliminary studio estimates, building on the recent success of the latest “Fast & Furious” film, “F9: The Fast Saga,” two weeks ago which grossed $70 million in its opening weekend.
IMAX Corporation ($IMAX) soared to a $12 million debut for Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow,” reaching its highest grossing opening weekend of the pandemic era in 11 markets worldwide, including North America
China’s market regulator on Saturday said it decided to block Tencent Holdings ($TCEHY) plan to merge the country’s top two videogame streaming sites, Huya ($HUYA) and DouYu ($DOYU) on antitrust grounds. The State Administration of Market Regulation said the decision was made after reviewing additional concessions proposed by Tencent for the merger
Charter Communications ($CHTR) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein
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