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Market Wrap: pre-opening session |
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U.S. market futures are slightly up. On Thursday, U.S. technology stocks rebounded, with the Nasdaq 100 jumping 371 points (+1.51%) to 25,019. The S&P 500 added 53 points (+0.79%) to 6,774, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 65 points (+0.14%) to 47,951.
Investors were relieved to see that U.S. consumer price inflation eased to 2.7% year on year in November, lower than expected.
Micron Technology (MU) jumped 10.21%. The maker of artificial-intelligence-related (AI) memory chips reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and earnings, and issued a strong result outlook.
On the statistical front, U.S. existing home sales are expected to fall 4.8% month on month in November. Also, Canada's retail sales are expected to be up 0.3% month-on-month in November.
European indices are mixed. On the stat front, in Germany, producer prices fell by 2.3% year on year in November, compared with an expected decline of 2.0%, after a 1.8% drop in the previous month. In addition, the GfK leading indicator of consumer confidence came in at -26.9 for January, versus -23 expected and after -23.4 a month earlier (revised from -23.2). In France, producer prices declined by 3.3% year on year in November, compared with an expected fall of 3.5%, after a 0.8% drop in October. Finally, in the UK, retail sales fell by 0.1% month on month in November, versus an expected increase of 0.4% and after a 0.9% decline in October (revised from -1.1%). In addition, the GfK consumer confidence index came in at -17 in December, compared with -18 expected and after -19 in November.
Asian indices closed on the upside. On the economic front, as expected, the Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75%, the highest level since 1995. Also, Japan's core inflation rate held steady at 3.0% year on year in November.
WTI crude oil futures are slightly up, still set for a second straight weekly decline, as a potential supply glut and prospects of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal offset concerns over disruptions from a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers.
Gold edges lower.
Bitcoin is gaining ground, currently trading around 88,000 dollars.
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Nike (NKE), the global athletic footwear and apparel company, plunges after reporting a drop in its gross margin for the second quarter, weighed down by a 17% decline in sales in China during the period.
Oracle (ORCL), a cloud technology company, gains ground as it is part of an investor group set to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations following an agreement with ByteDance. U.S. investors will own 80.1% of the new venture, while ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake.
Nvidia (NVDA), a leading designer of graphics processors, is well oriented after Reuters reported that the U.S. launched a review that could result in the first shipments to China of NVDA's second-most powerful chips.
FedEx (FDX), the global transportation and logistics company, loses some ground despite reporting solid second-quarter earnings and raising its fiscal 2026 outlook, as the company anticipates 175 million dollars in unexpected costs due to the grounding of its MD-11 cargo fleet following a deadly UPS crash last month.
Coty (COTY), the global beauty company, sold its remaining 25.8% stake in the haircare brand Wella to investment fund KKR (KKR) for 750 million dollars. Coty, however, retains rights to a portion of the proceeds from any future sale or IPO.
Lockheed Martin (LMT), a defense and advanced technology company, was downgraded to "neutral" from "overweight" at JPMorgan.
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Paychex (PAYX)
Carnival (CCL)
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The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.61% to 31,441 and the S&P/TSX 60 Index rose 0.74% to 1,848.
Blackberry (BB), the security software company, reported third quarter EPS up to 0.02 dollar, from an LPS of 0.02 dollar a year earlier, on sales down 1.3% to 141.8 million dollars. The company also raised the lower end of its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast.
Lundin Mining (LUN), the mining company, signed a definitive agreement to sell its subsidiary Lundin Mining US which indirectly holds the Eagle mine and Humboldt Mill to Talon Metals in return for 275.2 million Talon shares, representing 18.4% of Talon's issued and outstanding shares. The implied valuation of the share consideration is approximately 83.7 million dollars.
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