Chip Shares Rally as Global Stocks Eke Out Small Gains

By Caitlin Ostroff 

Global stocks posted slight gains Tuesday, while the microchip sector rallied on a brighter earnings outlook.

U.S. futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.2%. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.4%.

In premarket trading, shares of Advance Auto Parts dipped 5.8% after the retailer trimmed its 2019 sales guidance. Rockwell Automation climbed 9.4% after the Milwaukee-based industrial technology company beat forecasts for its adjusted profit. Tyson Foods fell 5.9% after the food company posted fourth-quarter earnings and sales that missed estimates.

Shares of Portland-based brewing company Craft Brew Alliance soared 122% in off-hours trading after Anheuser-Busch offered to buy the remaining shares of the company Monday.

In Europe, German chip maker Infineon Technologies shares gained 6.4% after it reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit despite macroeconomic uncertainty and weakening global auto demand. Shares in U.K. chip specialist Dialog Semiconductor and Netherlands-based ASM International also rose.

Investors will look to President Trump's speech at the Economic Club of New York later today for clues on U.S. trade policy.

"There's cautious optimism that we will get some fairly positive outlooks from President Trump," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. He said markets are hopeful that no tariffs will be placed against European auto makers and are watching to see whether Mr. Trump goes forward with tariffs on Chinese goods, set to go into effect on Dec. 15.

Stocks traded up in Asia, where the Hang Seng rose 0.5% amid ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8%.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed slightly to 1.945% from 1.930% after the long weekend. Bond markets were closed Monday. Yields rise when prices fall.

In currencies, the British pound fell 0.2% against the U.S. dollar, paring back some gains made Monday after Nigel Farage's Brexit Party said it won't contest Conservative-held seats in the December election, decreasing the likelihood of a hung Parliament.

Write to Caitlin Ostroff at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2019 08:34 ET (13:34 GMT)

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