Early Look

Friday, November 22, 2024

U.S. futures slipped on Friday ahead of a business activity survey and consumer confidence data while increasing geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia remain a concern, however markets remain on track for weekly advances. The benchmark S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials closed at one-week highs following better NVDA results while the Smallcap Russell 2000 outperformed. The Euro slides -0.5% to 1.042 against the US dollar (hit lows of 1.034) after Euro zone business activity slumped this month as the preliminary composite Euro zone Purchasing Managers’ Index, compiled by S&P Global, sank to a 10-month low of 48.1 in November. Gold futures rise over 1% back above $2,700 an ounce as safe-haven demand outweighs a stronger U.S. dollar and is on track for biggest weekly gains since October of last year, bouncing after nearly three weeks of declines and reversing last week’s drop entirely. The growing tensions around the Russia-Ukraine war have bought gold firmly back into investor focus, alongside pressure in equity markets.  In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index gained 257 points to 38,283, the Shanghai Index tumbled -3% or 103 points to 3,267, and the Hang Seng Index dropped -371 points to 19,229. In Europe, the German DAX is down -22 points to 19,123, while the FTSE 100 is up 53 points to 8,203. China shares posted their worst daily return since early October. The governor of Texas Greg Abbot ordered state agencies to stop investing in China and sell assets there as soon as possible, citing financial and security risks, a sign of rising U.S.-China tensions starting to impact global capital flows.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 461.88 points, or 1.06%, to 43,870.35.
• The Nasdaq Composite edged higher 6.28 points, or 0.03%, to 18,972.42.
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 38.49 points, or 1.65% to 2,264.02

• 9:45 AM ET S&P Global Services PMI, Nov-flash…est. 48.8
• 9:45 AM ET S&P Global Composite, Nov-flash…est. 55.2
• 10:00 AM ET                University of Michigan Confidence, Nov- final…est. 73.7
• 10:00 AM ET                University of Michigan 1yr and 5-yr inflation expectations
• 1:00 PM ET                   Baker Hughes Weekly rig count data

• Gap Stories (GAP) Q3 EPS $0.72 vs est. $0.58 on sales $3.8B vs est. $3.812B, comps +1%, gr mgn 42.7%; guides FY sales +1.5-2.0% vs prior up slightly and est. +0.45%, gr mgn approx +220bps, op exp approx $5.1B.
• Natural Grocers (NGVC) Q4 EPS $0.39, adj EBITDA $22.6Mm on sales $322.7Mm; guides FY25 daily avg same-store sales +4-6% and EPS $1.52-1.60; raises quarterly dividend to 20% 12c per share.
• Ross Stores (ROST) Q3 EPS $1.48 vs est. $1.40 on sales $5.071B vs est. $5.146B, comps +1%; sees Q4 comps +2-3%, EPS $1.57-1.64 vs est. $1.67; sees FY EPS $6.10-6.17 vs est. $6.13; Q3 operating margin 11.9%, est. 11.2%.

• Mueller Industries Inc. (MLI) will replace Texas Pacific Land (TPL) in the S&P MidCap 400, and Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (AESI) will replace Mueller Industries in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the opening of trading on Tuesday, November 26.
• Texas Pacific Land Corp. (TPL) will replace Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) in the S&P 500 effective prior to the opening of trading on Tuesday, November 26.

• CBRE Group (CBRE) announces expanded $5B stock buyback authorization.
• Intuit (INTU) Q1 adj EPS $2.50 vs est. $2.35 on revs $3.283B vs est. $3.139B; guides Q2 revs $3.812-3.845B vs est. $3.869B and adj EPS $2.55-2.61 vs est. $3.20; reiterates FY guide for revs $18.16-18.347B vs est. $18.263B and adj EPS $19.16-19.36 vs est. $19.33.
• Reddit (RDDT) shares fall after Advance Magazine Publishers Inc., the arm of the Newhouse family publishing empire that owns Conde Nast, is offering 7.8 million shares for $145.38 to $148.54 each, which would be valued at as much as $1.2 billion. https://tinyurl.com/4xz55fxf
• SL Green Realty Corp (SLG) files mixed securities shelf.

• NetApp Inc. (NTAP) Q2 adj EPS $1.87 vs. consensus $1.78; Q2 revs $1.66B vs. consensus $1.64B; sees Q3 adjusted EPS $1.85-$1.95 vs. est. $1.85 and revs $1.61B-$1.76B vs. est. $1.67B; raised FY25 adj EPS to $7.20-$7.40 from prior $7.00-$7.20 (est. $7.11), revs to $6.54B-$6.74B from $6.48B-$6.68B and also guides adj operating margin to 28% to 28.5%, from prior 27% to 28%.
• The European Union’s competition watchdog closed an investigation into how Apple (AAPL) treats rival audiobook developers in its App Store. The European Commission said on Friday that it dropped a probe that began in 2020 after a rival developer withdrew its own complaint.
• Warner Music Group (WMG) files mixed securities shelf.