MARKET WRAPS
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- How Can Spending Be Up When People Feel Down?
- Banking Crisis Plays Out at America's Smallest Lenders
- The Bud Light Boycott Was Just the Beginning of a Crazy Year
for Beer
Opening Call:
Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday, indicating the
S&P 500 will open a fraction shy of a fresh record amid
lingering optimism that borrowing costs will fall in 2024.
"Aside from the customary Santa seasonality, any gains witnessed
for the remainder of this week may be attributed to the notable
increase in the probability of a soft landing, as indicated by the
latest round of high-impact macroeconomic data from the United
States," SPI Asset Management said.
That bullish narrative was being additionally supported by a
mostly positive return to trading by markets that were closed for
Christmas break, such as the U.K., Germany, Australia and Hong
Kong.
Hong Kong and mainland China markets were also buoyed by a
rebound for gaming stocks after Beijing appeared to take a more
conciliatory tone towards the sector.
Premarket Movers
Apple was slightly lower in premarket trading. Shares fell
Tuesday for a fourth-straight session after the Biden
administration declined to overturn a recent ruling that bans Apple
from selling several models of the Apple Watch in the U.S. because
of a patent-infringement issue.
Coherus BioSciences was up 34% after the company received
approval from the FDA for its on-body injector of cancer drug
Udenyca.
Intel extended gains, rising 0.6% in premarket trading, after
jumping 5.2% on Tuesday and closing as the best performer in the
S&P 500. The company said it would invest $25 billion in Israel
to expand its wafer fabrication site after receiving $3.2 billion
from the Israeli government.
Shares of NetEase rose 12% and Tencent Holdings rose 4% in Hong
Kong trading after tumbling last week following proposed tougher
new rules on gaming by Chinese regulators. U.S.-listed shares of
NetEase fell 4% in premarket trading.
Tesla shares rose 0.3%. A Bloomberg report said the company was
preparing to launch a revamped version of its popular Model Y SUV
from its Shanghai plant. Tesla rose 1.6% on Tuesday.
Energy:
Oil prices edged lower with trading muted through the festive
period.
Major shipping firms including Maersk and MSC are returning to
shipping routes through the Red Sea, despite the ongoing fighting
in the Middle East. Prices climbed on Tuesday over worries that
exports through the region would be constrained by the
hostilities.
Metals:
Metal prices were rising, with increasing Chinese earnings
helping to boost prices in muted trading.
Data from China showed that Chinese industrial profits rose
29.5% from a year earlier in November -a sign that the government's
stimulus efforts are helping the country's economy.
Meanwhile, worries over the wider global economy helped boost
gold prices, given its role as a safe-haven asset.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Boart Longyear Agrees to Takeover by American Industrial
Partners
Drilling services company Boart Longyear has agreed to a
takeover by American Industrial Partners Capital Fund VIII in a
deal that values its stock at around US$371 million.
The Utah-based, Australia-listed company said its directors
unanimously recommend the takeover and that its five largest
shareholders-who in aggregate control almost 99% of Boart
Longyear's common shares-have agreed to vote in favor of the
deal.
How China Manages Its Currency-and Why That Matters
China's approach to its currency is a mix of bold ambition and
fear of dollar strength.
The yuan has lost more than 3% of its value against the
greenback this year and was doing even worse before the dollar
slipped against most global currencies in November. The yuan traded
around 16-year lows against the dollar in September. A dollar now
buys around 7.15 yuan.
China Imposes Sanctions on U.S. Data Firm
China's government hit back at U.S. criticism of its
human-rights record on Tuesday by imposing sanctions on a Los
Angeles firm and two analysts involved in scouring the country's
supply chain for abuses.
Beijing said the actions under its Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law
will be applied to Kharon, a research and data analytics firm, in
response to its work monitoring Xinjiang, a far western region of
China where the U.S. government, Western media and independent
researchers have documented human-rights abuses against ethnic
minorities, including primarily Muslim Uyghurs.
Joe Lieberman's Campaign for Third-Party Ticket Draws Ire of
Democrats-Again
For decades, Joe Lieberman has been sticking his finger in the
eye of the Democratic Party. But that is not, the former
Connecticut senator vows, what he is up to now.
"Right now, looking at the polling, it's not No Labels that's
going to re-elect Donald Trump," Lieberman said, unwrapping a cough
drop at his desk in his Manhattan law office on a chilly recent
morning. "Right now, it looks like it's Joe Biden who's going to
re-elect Donald Trump."
Israel Widens Discussions on Egyptian Peace Proposal
Israel's war cabinet took an Egyptian proposal to end the war
with Hamas to a wider group of ministers as domestic pressure grows
to secure the release of hostages and regional powers look for a
solution to end the fighting in Gaza.
The planned presentation to the 14-member security cabinet on
Tuesday night came alongside a broader briefing to the group on
hostage-release efforts and other issues related to the war's
progress, according to a person familiar with the meeting's
agenda.
Write to ina.kreutz@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
Nothing major scheduled
Economic Calendar (ET):
Nothing scheduled
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
00:30/JPN: Nov Detailed Import & Export Statistics
05:00/JPN: Nov Construction Orders
05:00/JPN: Nov Housing Starts
13:55/US: 12/23 Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index
15:00/US: Dec Richmond Fed Business Activity Survey
21:30/US: 12/22 API Weekly Statistical Bulletin
23:50/JPN: Nov Preliminary Retail Sales
23:50/JPN: Nov Preliminary Industrial Production
All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Wednesday
Barnwell Industries (BRN) is expected to report for 4Q.
Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS
AlloVir Cut to Underperform From Buy by B of A Securities
Daseke Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by Northland
Capital Markets
Karuna Therapeutics Cut to Neutral From Buy by HC Wainwright
& Co.
RayzeBio Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by William
Blair
United Parcel Service Cut to Neutral From Outperform by Daiwa
Capital
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal
newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 27, 2023 06:15 ET (11:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.