Financial Markets Snapshot: 35 Fresh Stories Telling How is it Going in the Finance World Today

1. U.S. Stock Market:

“U.S. equities traded higher on Friday as concerns about Donald Trump’s presidency recede for the time being. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 173 points, with Boeing and Caterpillar contributing the most gains. The S&P 500 gained 0.88 percent, with industrials leading advancers, as shares of Deere rose more than 7 percent after posting quarterly results that easily beat expectations. The Nasdaq rose 0.76 percent.”

(CNBC)

“U.S. stocks advanced for a second straight session on Friday, cutting into sharp losses for the week, after a drama surrounding the White House abated. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.87% added 20 points, or 0.9%, to 2,385, with all of its 11 main sectors trading higher. The financials, energy and industrials sectors led the gains, all up more than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.83%  gained 170 points, or 0.8%, to 20,833. Caterpillar Inc. CAT, +2.47% and General Electric Co. GE, +2.20%  were leading the gains, up nearly 2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.74%  surged 44 points, or 0.7%, to 6,100, powered by more than 2% gains in U.S. shares of Baidu Inc. BIDU, +3.69%Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +2.68% and Starbucks Corp. SBUX, +2.54%.”

(Market Watch)

“U.S. stocks rallied on Friday as a set of strong corporate earnings lifted investor spirits in a week dominated by uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency. At 12:53 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 172.09 points, or 0.83 percent, at 20,835.11, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 21.68 points, or 0.91 percent, at 2,387.4 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 49.56 points, or 0.82 percent, at 6,104.69.”

(Reuters)

Phongphan/Shutterstock.com

2. U.S. Bond Market:

“U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly on Friday but stayed near one-month lows as investors considered whether allegations against U.S. President Donald Trump would disrupt efforts to cut taxes and increase spending. Bonds gained this week on news that the U.S. Department of Justice will investigate whether Russian interfered with the U.S. election and whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.”

(Reuters)

“The U.S. Treasuries plunged ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member Bullard’s scheduled speech later in the day. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, jumped 1-1/2 basis points to 2.24 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields traded flat at 2.90 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note plunged 2-1/2 basis points to 1.29 percent.”

(EconoTimes)

“As of 9:30 a.m. ET, the 30-year and the two year Treasuries were both up 0.9% from the prior close. The two-year was at 1.28% and the 30 year at 2.90%. The 10-year was at 2.24%, 1 basis point higher than Thursday’s close, and less than 1 percentage point higher than the two-year note — a pretty flat curve.”

(Barron’s)

3. FX Markets:

“The British pound and the euro moved higher against the dollar on Friday, as greenback extended its recent weakness amid turbulence in the White House. The pound GBPUSD, +0.5872% jumped 0.6% to $1.3013, reclaiming the $1.30 level it lost late Thursday during a mini “flash crash.” Sterling fell to as low as $1.2888 in the crash, after pushing through the key $1.30 handle for the first in eight months earlier in the day, thanks to a strong U.K. retail sales report. The euro EURUSD, +0.8286% meanwhile, was higher against the dollar on Friday, rising 0.7% to $1.1148 from $1.1104. The dollar was down slightly against the yen, adding to recent losses against the Japan currency, which is widely viewed as a haven currency. The dollar USDJPY, +0.00% was buying ¥111.30 on Friday, down from ¥111.49 late Thursday in New York, a move of 0.2%. For the week, the yen has advanced 1.8%.”

(Market Watch)

“The dollar was on track to record its worst week against a basket of currencies since July on Friday, having given up almost all the gains made since Donald Trump, now surrounded by political worries, was elected U.S. president last year. The U.S. currency has also suffered from a resurgent euro, which has gained more than 2 percent this week – on track for its best performance since June – and rose 0.7 percent on Friday to hit a six-month high of $1.11745. Against the safe-haven yen, the dollar edged down 0.1 percent to 111.35 JPY=and was on track for its first week of falls in five, with risk appetite having fallen across markets this week.”

(Reuters)

4. Commodities:

“U.S. crude surged above $50 a barrel for the first time in more than three weeks, as a report surfaced that OPEC members are considering cutting production more deeply to tackle a persistent supply glut that has weighed on prices. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for June delivery were more than 2 percent higher at $50.39 a barrel around 10:30 a.m. ET. That put WTI above the key level of $50.22 a barrel, the high for the week of April 24 — just before oil prices broke below a number of technical levels, culminating in a “flash crash” to $43.76.”

(CNBC)

“Gold Today –New York closed at $1,248.90 yesterday after closing at$1,258.70 Wednesday. London opened at $1,248.20 today. Silver Today –Silver closed at $16.61 yesterday after $16.89 at New York’s close Wednesday. LBMA price setting: The LBMA gold price was set today at$1,251.85 from Thursday’s $1,261.35. The gold price in the euro was set at €1,120.68 after yesterday’s €1,135.02. Ahead of the opening of New York the gold price was trading at $1,253.00 and in the euro at €1,121.55. At the same time, the silver price was trading at $16.80.”

(GoldSeek)

“Oil futures moved sharply higher on Friday, as investors showed some optimism about what will come out of next week’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. After settling Thursday at three-week highs, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June CLM7, +2.07% jumped 59 cents, or 1.2%, to $49.93 a barrel. The contract briefly topped $50 a barrel for the first time since April, according to FactSet data. July Brent crude LCON7, +2.04% on London’s ICE Futures exchange also gained 59 cents, or 1.2%, to $53.10 a barrel.”

(Market Watch)

5. Market Movers:

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) BABA 3.16% shares are trading higher by $4.00 at $125.27 in Friday’s session. That is over $10.00 higher than its Thursday morning low at $114.00. That low was made as some investors panicked after Alibaba’s mixed Q1 report, which missed for EPS by $0.02 but beat on sales by $380 million. The stock rebounded to close green on the day by $0.55 at $121.27. There isn’t any relevant news to explain the nearly $3.00 higher opening print of $123.96, which has turned out to be only $0.30 off the low for Friday’s session of $123.66.

(Benzinga)

Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SPWH) reported a first quarter adjusted loss of $0.08 per share after the bell Thursday, compared to the loss of $0.00 per share last year. Sportsman’s Warehouse has been rising steadily since the open of trade Friday and is now up 0.85 at $5.58 on above average volume. The stock has climbed to a 3-month high.

(RTT News)

Shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are up $4.56, or 3.4%, at $137.49, after Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon started coverage of with the equivalent of a Buy rating, and a $165 price target, arguing its market for self-driving cars is just starting, and its market in A.I. could be worth $8.74 billion.

(Barron’s)

Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) earnings were a rare highlight for the retail sector this earnings season, but GlobalData Retail said the numbers were too dependent on the strength of Old Navy as the namesake brand and Banana Republic continue to languish. Gap GPS, -3.45% reported sales of $3.44 billion, about flat with last year and ahead of the $3.39 billion FactSet consensus. Sales at the Gap were $1.16 billion, at Banana Republic, $517.0 million, and at Old Navy, sales totaled $1.56 billion. Gap shares rallied late Thursday after the first-quarter results were announced, but are down 2.3% in Friday trading.

(Market Watch)

Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) plunged 15.6 percent after the athletic footwear and apparel retailer’s latest quarterly profits fell short of analysts’ forecasts. The stock was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, shedding $11 to $59.47.

(Aurora Advertiser)

Shares of Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) DYN 26.31% got a boost, shooting up 23 percent to $8.96 following WSJ report of takeover talks with Vistra Energy Corp (NYSE:VST) VST 1.28%.

(Benzinga)

What happened: Shares of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) soared on Friday following the software company’s first-quarter report. Autodesk beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings by wide margins, and its guidance for the second quarter compared favorably to expectations. Two analyst upgrades added fuel to the fire, pushing Autodesk stock up 15.5% by noon EDT. So what: Autodesk reported first-quarter revenue of $485.7 million, down 5% year over year but more than $15 million above the average analyst estimate. Autodesk is transitioning its business model to subscriptions, with the complete phaseout of license sales set for the second quarter of this year. This move pushes revenue that would otherwise be recognized up front into the future, negatively affecting the top line.

(The Motley Fool)

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) (GE +0.3%) expects to build a repair and service plant for power turbines in Nigeria next year and has invested more than $100M as it seeks to tap growing demand for gas-fired power plants in the country, GE’s top local executive says. Lazarus Angbazo says the plant would be a multi-use facility to support GE clients in the power and oil and gas sectors, adding that the company has invested in some local power plants. GE has made a bid for a $2B railway project to connect Nigeria’s northern cities to the south and could expand its plant to include locomotive assembly, Angbazo says.

(Seeking Alpha)

Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL) gapped open sharply higher Friday morning and is now up 2.32 at $28.53 on above average volume. Lumber Liquidators has been climbing for over a week and has set a new high for the year.

(RTT News)

(Townhall.com)

In early session trading, shares of MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT) have slipped lower. Company stock has moved down -10.12% since the open, landing shares on today’s list of top losers. Investors will be watching to see if the stock can change direction heading into the second half of the session.MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT) is seeing declines so far in today’s trading session.  Shares are moving -10.12% lower on solid volume. The stock has landed on the top loser list for the day according to Finviz data.  TECHNICALS: MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT)‘s stock has performed at 69.14% year to date.  Breaking that down further, it has performed 0.81% for the week, -1.70% for the month, 11.42% over the last quarter, 44.42% for the past half-year and 118.82% for this last year.

(Aiken Advocate)

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) gained 5.89% with the closing price of $21.03. The overall volume in the last trading session was 5.08 million shares. Company Growth Evolution: ROI deals with the invested cash in the company and the return the investor realize on that money based on the net profit of the business. Investors who are keeping close eye on the stock of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) established that the company was able to keep return on investment at 1.47 in the trailing twelve month while Reuters data showed that industry’s average stands at 2.32 and sector’s optimum level is -5.43.

(Stock News Journal)

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) smashed FQ2 estimates. The company oddly pulled back on stock buybacks before the stock soared another 50%. Don’t chase the stock when management pulled back a long time ago. With the stock hanging around $30 about eight months ago, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) pulled back on stock buybacks. The semiconductor equipment company had already seen a big rally so the move seemed logical. Now, the stock trades for nearly $45 providing a 50% gain for investors that kept the stock at $30. So why did the management team signal that the stock had peaked?

(Seeking Alpha)

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO)’s shares are trading at $12.98 with decline of -8.33%. The stock’s price is floating in a range of $12.90 and $13.45 whereas, it’s 52-week High Price is $15.20 with respect to its 52-week Low Price of $7.70. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) floats -13.29% below the 52-week top level and its EPS growth rate was -33.10% over prior 5 years with earnings growth of -64.70% yoy. Mean recommendation on this stock is 2.30. The stock has a 1-year performance up 56.12% and positive at 1.87% in last five trading sessions.

(WallStreetNews24)