Early Look

Monday, March 25, 2024

After another record setting performance last Friday for U.S. stocks, overnight futures are pulling back slightly with the VIX +4% and oil futures bouncing on escalating geopolitical unrest following the Moscow concert hall attack on Friday that killed at least 137 people. Chip stocks INTC and AMD looking lower after the Financial Times reported China seeks to limit the use of US-made microprocessors and servers in government computers. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 2.29%, the Nasdaq rose 2.85%, and the Dow climbed 1.96%. The S&P 500 500 index now sits about 27% above its Oct. 27 low, after posting their biggest weekly gains in months just days after Fed Chair Powell kept three rate cuts on the table for this year but spelled out a cautious path out of restrictive monetary policy territory. So what could possibly slow this market at this point after higher inflation readings in the last two months (CPI, PPI), central banks overlooking it, a hot economy as house prices and jobs remain strong? Perhaps that stocks are expensive as @FactSet noted overnight “the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for $SPX of 25.9 is above the 5-year average (23.0) and above the 10-year average (21.2).” In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index declined -474 points to 40,414, the Shanghai Index fell -21 points to 3,026, and the Hang Seng Index fell -25 points to 16,473. In Europe, the German DAX is down -3 points to 18,202, while the FTSE 100 drops -25 point to 7,905. Markets look to more US economic data later this week including inflation reports.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -305.47 points, or 0.77%, to 39,475.90.
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 26.98 points, or 0.16%, to 16,428.82.
• The Russell 2000 Index declined -26.56 points, or 1.27% to 2,072.00.

• 8:30 AM ET                  National Activity Index for February
• 10:00 AM ET                New Home Sales M/M for February
• 10:30 AM ET                Dallas Fed Manufacturing for March
• 1:00 PM ET                   U.S. Treasury to sell $66B 2-year notes.

• Earnings After the Close: BZFD HLGN LUCD REKTR SMTI

• Optical Fiber Communication Conference, 3/24-3/26, in San Diego, CA

• Nissan Motor (NSANY) said it would launch 30 new models over the next three years and aim to raise its global sales by 1 million vehicles while cutting costs to improve profitability; said it would target an operating profit margin of over 6% by end of the financial year to March 2027 and total shareholder returns of more than 30%.
• United Airlines (UAL) shares slip early after reports the FAA is stepping up scrutiny of United Airlines following a spate of safety issues in recent weeks. The FAA will review some of United’s processes, manuals, and facilities in the coming weeks according to reports.

• Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) said it will receive up to $575 million in U.S. funding for decarbonization investments at two of the steel producer’s sites including its Middletown Works Facility in Middletown, Ohio and at its facility in Butler, Pa.
• Nutrien (NTR) files mixed securities shelf.
• Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. (SWX) is moving forward with the carve-out of its infrastructure services business about two years after announcing the split, following a spat with billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn.

• Masimo Corporation (MASI) board of directors authorizes management to evaluate separation of consumer business which will include its consumer audio and consumer health products while retaining its professional healthcare and Telehealth products.
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) is buying Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to $1.03 billion euros ($1.11 billion) as it moves to strengthen its pipeline of drugs to treat cardiovascular disease and expand into areas outside of its core diabetes and weight-loss market.
• Nkarta Inc (NKTX) pricing of an underwritten offering of 21M shares of common stock at a price of $10.00 per share.

• The European Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act into Alphabet’s (GOOGL) rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s (AAPL) rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta’s (META) "pay or consent model".
• Disney (DIS) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays and raised tgt to $135 from $95.