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= Monday, June 14, 2021 =
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Futures Up/Down % Last
Dow 13.00 0.04% 34,370
S&P 500 4.50 0.11% 4,241
Nasdaq 45.75 0.33% 14,031
U.S. stocks futures are looking higher, as the S&P 500 looks to build on last week’s new all-time highs as investors and markets prepare for the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting later this week. The S&P 500 posted its second consecutive record closing high on Friday with investors assessing the Federal Reserve’s stance that inflation spikes will prove to be transitory. For the week, the Dow fell 0.8%, the S&P 500 ticked up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq jumped 1.8%. Looking ahead this week, the big focus remains the Federal Reserve’s June policy decision and press conference Wednesday afternoon hoping to clarify the path forward for monetary policy as investors contemplate the staying power of higher inflation. Currently, the Federal Reserve is conducting these purchases at a rate of $120 billion per month, with this quantitative easing having served as a key tool the Fed used to provide support and liquidity to the economy during the pandemic. A number of key economic data releases are also scheduled for this week, including May retail sales. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury inched up to around 1.464% after hitting a three-month low last Thursday
In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 213 points to 29,161, the Shanghai Index was closed the Hang Seng Index was also closed. In Europe, the German DAX rises over 35 points to 15,730, while the FTSE 100 gains 30 points to 7,170. Crypto assets are looking higher to start the week after Tesla (TSLA) tweeted about Bitcoin: This is inaccurate. Tesla only sold ~10% of holdings to confirm BTC could be liquidated easily without moving market. When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions. Oil prices are higher and gold prices are markedly lower.
Market Closing Prices Yesterday
The S&P 500 Index climbed 8.26 points, or 0.19%, to 4,247.44
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.40 points, or 0.04%, to 34,479.60
The Nasdaq Composite jumped 49.12 points, or 0.35%, to 14,069.42
The Russell 2000 Index advanced 24.40 points, or 1.06% to 2,335.81
Events Calendar for Today
No Major U.S. Economic Data
Earnings Calendar:
Earnings Before the Open: MPAA
Earnings After the Close: ELTP, MMMB, RFIL
Other Key Events:
Citigroup European Healthcare Conference (virtual), 6/14-6/16
European Hematology Association (EHA) Virtual Meeting, 6/9-6/17
FBN Securities Valley tech Tour (virtual), 6/14-6/15
Macro Up/Down Last
Nymex 0.57 71.48
Brent 0.67 73.36
Gold -20.85 1,856.65
EUR/USD 0.0004 1.2113
JPY/USD 0.04 109.70
10-Year Note +0.002 1.464%
World News
G7 will donate 1 bln doses by next year, leaders agreed to language condemning Russia for destabilizing behavior, called on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, will carry on talks on recent finance ministers agreement on tax
NATO leaders are expected to brand China a security risk to the Western alliance on Monday, a day after the Group of Seven rich nations issued a statement on human rights in China and Taiwan that Beijing said slandered its reputation. With allied leaders also raising concerns about Russia’s recent military build-up near Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described the summit, the first Joe Biden will attend as U.S. president, as a “pivotal moment” – Reuters
Sector News Breakdown
Consumer
Tesla Inc ($TSLA) CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday that the electric car marker will resume allowing bitcoin transactions when miners who verify transactions use more renewable energy. “When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions,” he said in a tweet.
Energy, Industrials and Materials
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS/A) is reviewing its holdings in the largest U.S. oil field for a potential sale, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The sale could be for part or all of Shell’s position in the U.S. Permian Basin, which accounted for around 6% of the Anglo-Dutch company’s total oil and gas output last year. The holdings could be worth more than $10 billion
Petrobras ($PBR) says it plans to sell its remaining 37.5% stake in fuel distributor BR Distribuidora in a follow-on public offering
Lumber futures posted their biggest-ever weekly loss, extending a tumble from all-time highs reached last month as sawmills ramp up output and buyers hold off on purchases. Prices fell 18% this week, and has now dropped almost 40% from the record high reached on May 10
Iran said it has reached a broad agreement with the U.S. over the lifting of sanctions on its industrial sectors, including energy, but warned there was “very little time left” for world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal
Financials
Equinix Inc ($EQIX) said it signed agreements for additional joint ventures with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC to add $3.9 billion to expand a data center program. As per the terms, GIC will own an 80% equity interest in future joint ventures, and Equinix will hold the remaining 20% equity interest.
Washington Prime Group ($WPG) announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code
Healthcare
Novavax ($NVAX) rises after reporting ate-stage trial data showing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate is more than 90% effective against a variety of variants of the virus as the study puts NVAX on track for filing for U.S. emergency authorization. Novavax on Friday said its vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, showed immune response and protection against the highly contagious coronavirus variant originally identified in South Africa
Crispr Therapeutics ($CRSP) upgraded to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $132 up from $55 at Citigroup
Cano Health ($CANO) has acquired University Health Care and its affiliates for $600M, with $540M in cash and $60M in equity.
Entasis Therapeutics ($ETTX) revealed in an SEC filing its biggest shareholder Innoviva Inc. ($INVA) acquired ~6.27 mln shares at an avg price of $2 per share for total amount of ~$12.54M
Alzheimer industry talked about in Barron’s saying Eli Lilly’s ($LLY) donanemab is one contender with Biogen’s ($BIIB) recently approved drug this week. Gantenerumab, from Roche Holding ($RHHBY), is another. Biogen and Japan’s Eisai ($ESALY), have a third, known as BAN2401.
The European Medicines Agency ($EMA) has detected a rare new side effect called capillary leak syndrome following the vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca ($AZN), known as Vaxzevria in the region.
Technology, Media & Telecom
Alphabet Inc’s ($GOOGL) has unveiled an option for small businesses to upgrade their Gmail accounts for greater calendaring, video chat and email newsletter functionalities. Google Workspace Individua starts at $7.99 monthly and includes a temporary $2 discount
Qualcomm ($QCOM) said it would be willing to invest in ARM Holdings if Nvidia’s ($NVDA) planned $40B acquisition of the Softbank-owned chipmaker isn’t able to be completed due to antitrust concerns.
Barron’s noted the shortage of semiconductors has given investors a new appreciation of their importance. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) sits at the nexus of the global chip renaissance. TSMC shares are down 15% since mid-February but investors should avoid the temptation to buy the dip — for now.
