Wake Up Call
- Hello ! Nasdaq 100 index futures rose, lifted by a rally in APPLE shares after iPhone shipments in China rebounded. US data and cautious fedspeak have cooled market bets on the scope for policy easing this year and May’s stock rally has stumbled. Investors are looking to inflation prints and central bank speakers for hints on the timing of interest-rate cuts, particularly the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, due on Friday.
- HERE COMES T+1 - Teething issues may include international investors struggling to source dollars on time and settlement fails, and the new system faces two big immediate tests — tomorrow’s double settlement day and the MSCI rebalancing at the end of the week.
- EU vs US EQUITIES - UBS strategists prefer European equities to their US peers as economic growth is expected to improve on the back of potential interest-rate cuts. Says that “very few” of the bank’s Asian clients have an overweight positioning in European stocks. Stronger economic growth is expected to support stock valuations, even if margin pressure keeps a lid on earnings.
Wall Street Movers
- APPLE +2.4% after new figures showed iPhone sales rebounded in China last month, with shipments increasing 52% amid discounts from retail partners.
- ATLANTICA SUSTAINABLE INFRAS -6.4% to be acquired by ECP-Led Consortium for $22/shr or $2.55bn at a total valuation.
- ATRION +1% NORDSON agrees to buy Atrion for $460/Share in cash or $800mn in total valuation.
- DRAFTKINGS -7% after Illinois senators passed a new budget that includes a tax increase on sports betting operators.
- GAMESTOP jumped, after the videogame-store chain said it had cashed in on the recent surge in its shares to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in fresh funding.
- INDEX CHANGES
--> OCUGEN (OCGN US) will be included in the Russell 3000 Index, according to preliminary Russell reconstruction information posted on the FTSE Russell website. The newly reconstructed index will take effect after the market closes on June 28, 2024
--> SUPER MICRO COMPUTER (SMCI US) & MICROSTRATEGY (MSTR US) look poised to join the FTSE Russell 1000 Index of large-capitalization stocks that saw billions of dollars added to their market values after frenzied rallies this year. - INSMED +185% announced positive topline results from the ASPEN study, a global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study to assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of brensocatib in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.
- US CELLULAR +12% and its parent TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS (+17%), announced an agreement Tuesday in which T-MOBILE US (flat) will buy the UScellular wireless operations and some spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4bn, including about $2bn worth of debt.
- ZSCALER -1.5% following a downgrade to equal weight at Wells Fargo, which says the security software firm faces pressures from increased competition.
At A Glance
- ABBVIE to present new antitumor data from ADC platform
- AMD could rebound back to its long-term upward trajectory as Co’s gaming and industrial businesses stabilize and demand for chips in data centers grows.
- APPLIED MATERIALS The DOC is continuing an investigation into the company’s shipments to Chinese customers, part of a broader effort to ensure that increasingly strict trade restrictions against the Asian nation are effective.
- BIOGEN Leqembi approved for Alzheimer's treatment in South Korea.
- CROWDSTRIKE named a top pick at Morgan Stanley; PT to $422.
- DUPONT DE NEMOURS Citi lifts rating to buy from neutral, based on upside scope from recently announced business separation plans and on recovery potential in its electronics unit.
- ELON MUSK’s XAI has raised $6bn in a Series B funding round backed by venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. Co. plans to build the world's most powerful supercomputer powered by a cluster of Nvidia's H100 GPUs.
- ENERGY TRANSFER to Buy WTG Midstream for $3.25b ; consideration to be comprised of $2.45b in cash and about 50.8m newly issued Energy Transfer common units
- ENERPLUS says its shareholders have voted to approve a takeover of the company by U.S. company Chord Energy Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, Enerplus shareholders will receive 0.10125 shares of Chord common stock and US$1.84 per share in cash for each Enerplus share they hold.Once the deal is complete, Chord shareholders will own about two-thirds of the combined company, while Enerplus shareholders will own one-third.
- J&J says it agreed to buy global rights to a novel, investigational bispecific antibody NM26 from Numab Therapeutics for about $1.25bn in cash.
- MERCK’s phase 3 keynote-522 trial met its overall survival endpoint in patients with high-risk early-stage triple negative breast cancer.
- META and xAI have been vying for a partnership with chatbot-maker Character.ai, the Financial Times reports.
- PAYPAL plans to build an ad sales business around data it generates from tracking the purchases as well as the broader spending behaviors of millions of consumers who use its services;
- TESLA shareholders are being urged by a major proxy advisory firm to reject a proposed $56bn pay package for CEO Elon Musk, in a blow to the EV maker’s board.
- TRANSDIGM to buy raptor scientific for about $655mn in cash.
- VERADIGM reaffirms FY guidance (rev $620mn-$635mn; adj Ebitda $104mn-$113mn) / Co. may explore potential strategic alternatives that may include sale, merger, strategic business combination or other transaction.
- VISTA OUTDOOR rejects MNC’s interest for $37.50/shr as “ MNC’s indication of interest significantly undervalues the Company”.
- WARNER BROS DISCOVERY’s president of international networks, Gerhard Zeiler, paid $830,000 on May 13 for 100,000 shares. “He thinks the stock is undervalued and believes we have a real opportunity to drive shareholder value”.
Key Events
Tuesday
14:00 US FHFA House Price Index MoM
14:55 Fed's Kashkari Gives Panel Remarks
15:00 US Conf. Board Consumer Confidence
15:30 Dallas Fed Manf. Activity
18:05 Fed's Cook Speaks on AI
Wednesday
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
15:00 Richmond Fed Manufact. Index
18:45 Fed's Williams Joins Watertown Community Services Roundtable
19:00 Federal Reserve Releases Beige Book
Thursday
13:30 US GDP Annualized QoQ; Initial Jobless Claims; Wholesale Inventories MoM
15:00 US Pending Home Sales MoM
17:05 Fed's Williams Speaks at Economic Club of New York
22:00 Fed's Logan Speaks in Moderated Q&A
Friday
13:30 PCE deflator; US Personal Income & Spending
14:45 MNI Chicago PMI
Game Of Corporate Actions
DIV EX DATE
- Today : --
- Tomorrow : Constellation Energy ($0.3525); Electronic Arts ($0.19); Everest ($2); Loews ($0.0625); S&P Global ($0.91)
EARNINGS
- Today : --
- Tomorrow : Agilent Technologies; HP ; Salesforce