Global stock indexes cooled off on US tax reform doubts

Global stock indexes cooled off on Friday as signs that US tax reform could be delayed impeded the market's momentum.

MSCI's global stock index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, declined 0.2 per cent, slipping further from a record level. On Thursday, the global index fell 0.4 per cent following 10 straight days of gains.

The MSCI world index has surged more than 20 per cent so far this year, and some investors believe a pullback is due.

"The pause that the market is currently in is directly related to what's going on from a tax standpoint," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist for Northern Trust Corp.

Adding insult to injury, the pullback in stocks, as well as the softness in high-yield "junk" bonds, did little to support traditional safe havens.

Benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes last fell 20/32 in price to yield 2.4002 per cent. The 30-year bond last fell 48/32 in price to yield 2.8813 percent.

Meanwhile, German government bond yields climbed to their highest in over a week as euro zone bonds were sold across the board for a second consecutive day. The yield on Germany's 10-year government bond, the benchmark for the bloc, hit 0.40 percent for the first time since Oct. 27.
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China's Tencent acquires 12% stake in Snap as shares plunge

Snap Inc said on Wednesday that Chinese tech and media investment firm Tencent Holdings Ltd had taken a 12 per cent stake in the company, a day after the owner of disappearing-messaging app Snapchat was punished by Wall Street for disappointing quarterly results.

Snap's shares fell 16 per cent to $12.67, well below their $17 initial public offering price in March, as investors fretted about Snap's slowing user growth in the latest quarter and viewed Tencent's move as an investment rather than the precursor to a merger.

"(Tencent) buys all sorts of minority investments, and I don't think we can extrapolate that this means they intend to take over the company," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

Snap said it had only received the details of the stake from Tencent this month. Tencent's 145.8 million class A common shares of Snap, worth about $1.7 billion at Wednesday's price, give the Chinese company no voting rights.

Tencent president Martin Lau told Snap his firm is "excited" to deepen its relationship with the firm, Snap said in a regulatory filing. A Snap spokesman declined to comment further.

The Chinese tech company, which owns mobile chat service WeChat, has bought stakes in several companies over the past few years, including electric car maker Tesla Inc and ride services company Lyft Inc. In 2013 it invested in Snap through an affiliate.
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Oil prices steady near 2-year highs as market tightens amid Opec cuts

Oil prices steadied near two-year highs on Thursday as supply cuts by Opec and other major exporters tightened the market and drained inventories.

Benchmark Brent crude was down 20 cents at $60.29 per barrel by 1345 GMT. On Wednesday, Brent reached $61.70, its highest intraday level since July 2015. The contract is up by more than a third from its 2017-lows in June.

US light crude was unchanged at $54.30, almost 30 percent above its 2017-lows in June.

"The upswing in oil prices appears to have ended for the time being," said Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

Some investors had booked profits after the recent price rally, traders said, but the market outlook remained upbeat.

Confidence has been fuelled by an effort this year lead by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia to hold back about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil production to tighten markets.

Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday supply and demand balances were tightening and oil inventories falling, while compliance with the OPEC-led pact to curb supplies had been "excellent".

Overall, oil markets have been slightly undersupplied this year, resulting in inventory drawdowns.
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Wall Street opens flat as investment banks fail to fuel optimism

Wall Street opened flat on Tuesday as upbeat earnings from big investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley failed to fuel the optimism that has led the major indexes to record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.01 points, or 0.07 percent, to 22,971.97. The S&P 500 lost 0.5 points, or 0.01 percent, to 2,557.14. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.44 points, or 0.05 percent, to 6,620.57.
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Technology stocks boost Wall Street to hit fresh records

Major Wall Street indexes hit fresh records at the open on Monday on gains in financial and technology stocks even as investors awaited a barrage of earnings reports this week.

Apple gained 1.05 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Nasdaq and the S&P after KeyBanc upgraded the stock to "overweight".

Financial stocks gained for the first time in four days, led by bank stocks. Reactions to bank results last week were muted on concerns about credit card losses at JPMorgan and Citigroup and weak trading activity across the sector.

Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley report before markets open on Tuesday. Insurer Travelers jumped 2 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Dow.

Video-streaming pioneer Netflix reports third-quarter results after market.

"The market still wants to be optimistic, it wants to continue to move higher from here," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.
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Nasdaq, S&P slip; Dow ticks above 22,647 level, hits new record high

The Nasdaq and the S&P fell on Wednesday as investors likely took profits on tech stocks, the best performing sector in the recent rally, while the Dow touched a record high.

Seven of 11 major S&P indexes were down, led by the information technology and Industrials.
The S&P information technology index, up about 26 per cent this year, was on pace to post its first losses in seven sessions.

"The market has been on a slow drift upward, in anticipation of the earnings season coming and the hopes about tax reform," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City.

"I think you're just seeing some small profit taking in the absence of new news."

The dollar was off seven-week highs on speculation that US President Donald Trump's choice for the next head of the Federal Reserve could be a less hawkish candidate than had previously been expected.

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to address the Community Banking in the 21st Century Research and Policy Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
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Wall Street falls on North Korea comments, tech selloff

US stocks fell sharply in late morning trading on Monday after North Korea accused the United States of declaring war and a selloff in technology stocks accelerated.

North Korea's foreign minister said President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures.

The five tech giants — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet — were down between 3.7 per cent and 1.05 per cent, weighing on the three major indexes.

The S&P technology index slid 1.37 per cent, on track for its worst single-day percentage loss since August 17. The index, however, has climbed 23 per cent so far this year, outperforming the 11.5 per cent gain in the broader S&P index.

"Technology stocks have been outperformers for a while, so it could be a slight amount of profit taking," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
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Oil prices set for biggest third-quarter gain in 13 years

Oil rose was on course for its largest third-quarter gain in 13 years as prices rose on Wednesday after the Iraqi oil minister said that OPEC and its partners are considering extending or deepening output cuts aimed at reducing a global supply glut.

Brent crude futures were up 48 cents at $55.62 a barrel by 1020 GMT, while US. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 54 cents to $50.02.

The oil price is on course for a rise of 15.5 percent this quarter, which would make this year's performance the strongest for the third quarter since 2004.

"An improving macroeconomic backdrop should spur oil demand growth over the next couple of quarters, and if OPEC increases its adherence to production cuts, higher prices will come," ANZ Research said in a note.

"All things being equal, we still expect oil prices to test new highs (for 2017) by the end of the year."

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers are considering a range of options, including an extension of cuts, but it is premature to decide on what to do beyond the agreement's expiry in March, Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi told an energy conference on Tuesday.
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S&P, Dow hit new record highs as North Korea tensions ease

Wall Street hit new life highs after open on Monday lifted by industrials and financials stocks as tensions eased on the Korean peninsula and focus shifted to the Federal Reserve's meeting.

Caterpillar's 1.8 percent rise was the biggest boost on the Dow while the S&P and the Nasdaq were lifted by Nvidia's 3.6 percent increase.

A relatively quiet North Korea and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's comments on "peaceful solution" over the weekend have calmed investors.

However, the tensions could be back in focus with U.S. President Donald Trump set to address world leaders at the United Nations on Tuesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting starting on Tuesday is unlikely to result in an interest rate increase, but investors will focus on how Fed Chair Janet Yellen views recent inflation readings for clues on the timing of further rate hikes.

The central bank is also expected to announce plans to begin unwinding its $4.2 trillion portfolio of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, nearly a decade after the global financial crisis.
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US oil surges to $50 a barrel as demand improves; Dow at new closing high

Rising demand pushed US crude above $50 a barrel on Thursday, while Sterling jumped after the Bank of England said it was likely to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade in coming months.

Energy shares rose on Wall Street and in Europe, but stocks were mixed worldwide. A gauge of global equity indexes fell slightly, as did the S&P 500 in the United States, while major European indexes gained and the Dow set a new closing high.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, rose more than 2 percent before paring gains after a forecast by the International Energy Agency on Wednesday and dollar weakness prompted bullish sentiment in the oil market.

"Anticipation is growing that this could quicken the pace of oil market rebalancing," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics in London.

US crude rose 9 cents to settle at $49.89 a barrel and Brent settled up 31 cents at $55.47.

Brent has climbed more than $10 a barrel over the past three months and is close to where it was at the beginning of the year, roughly trading between $55 and $57 a barrel.
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Wall Street drops as CPI data boosts December rate hike odds

Wall Street's three major indexes opened lower on Thursday, shying away from their record high closes, as an uptick in consumer prices inflation boosted the odds of another interest rate hike this year.

A Labour Department report showed consumer price index (CPI) rose more than expected last month and the gain was the largest in seven months, lifting the year-on-year increase to 1.9 percent from 1.7 percent in July.

Despite the uptick, both CPI and personal consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, remain stuck below the central bank's 2-percent target.

"I don't think they should raise rates in December, but they will, in order to counteract any kind of slowdown in the overall economy," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.

After the data was released, the odds of a hike in December rose to top 50 percent for the first time since July, from 41.3 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The CPI data is the last to be released before the Fed's Sept. 19-20 policy meeting, where it is expected to outline a program to start offloading its $4.2 trillion balance sheet.
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S&P opens at record high as Irma weakens; Apple in focus

The S&P opened at a record high on Tuesday as Irma further weakened to a post-tropical cyclone, and ahead of the highly anticipated launch of the new iPhone.

The weakening of Irma, the second major natural disaster to hit the United States after Hurricane Harvey, allayed concerns about the severity of its financial impact.

"Investors have gained confidence that the worst is over and concerns over Irma's economic impact seem to have disappeared for the moment," said Andre Bakhos, managing director of Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

All eyes will be on Apple as it prepares to unveil the 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone, whose sales will also have repercussions on its rivals and many suppliers.

Apple shares dipped 0.3 percent ahead of the event, scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. ET (1700 GMT).

At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 64.64 points, or 0.29 percent, at 22,122.01 and the S&P 500 was up 6.76 points, or 0.27 percent, at 2,494.87.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 16.20 points, or 0.25 percent, at 6,448.46.
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Apple's iPhone 8 launch: 7 stocks to watch out for today

When Apple Inc unveils new iPhones on Tuesday at its Apple Park “spaceship” campus, there may be important clues for the watchers of seven semiconductor stocks.

Apple exerts a sun-like gravitational pull on the global electronics supply chain, affecting the pricing of commodities like flash memory chips - it consumes 18 percent of global supply. The iPhone maker can make or break small, specialty chip suppliers.

The final tally of semiconductor winners and losers will not be known until the devices ship and analysts rip them apart to examine the circuit boards. That will give insight into matters like the continued battle between Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc to supply so-called modem chips for mobile data.

Even the limited technical information Apple gives on stage tomorrow could shed light on how several other companies are faring. Here are seven stocks to watch during today’s launch.

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Wall Street opens higher as Irma, North Korea fears ebb

Wall Street was sharply higher on Monday morning in a broad rally led by technology and financial stocks, especially insurers, on relief that Irma weakened to a tropical storm and North Korea did not conduct a nuclear test as feared.

Irma pounded heavily populated areas of central Florida over the weekend, but gradually lost strength and was downgraded to a tropical storm in the morning.

Irma had started off a category 5 hurricane and was once ranked as one of the most powerful recorded in the Atlantic. It came on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, whose devastations economists said would dent third-quarter economic growth.

Also boosting risk appetite was North Korea holding a massive celebration on it the founding day on Saturday, instead of another long-range missile launch as the United States and its allies were bracing for.

With the tensions easing, world stocks climbed to a record high, while the dollar edged higher and gold retreated from Friday's 13-month high.

"For now, we're seeing a bit of a relief rally. It does appear that the worst-case scenario for Florida has been evaded," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
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S&P, Dow dip as Irma approaches US; Disney also weighs

The Dow and the S&P were slightly lower in late morning trading on Thursday as investors kept a close watch on Hurricane Irma, which was barreling toward Florida.

Indexes were also weighed down by a 3.1 per cent fall in Walt Disney shares, after the company said its Marvel and Star Wars titles would go exclusively to its planned streaming service.

Irma plowed past the Dominican Republic on Thursday after devastating a string of Caribbean islands and killing at least 11 people as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century took aim at Florida.

"As the hurricane moves, investors are looking for a better grip on the damage that can be done. There are far-reaching implications now that we have back-to-back ones," said Andre Bakhos, managing director of Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas and Louisiana more than a week ago, had claimed 60 lives and caused property damage estimated as high as $180 billion.

Worries about the impact of hurricanes and weak U.S. jobless claims data sent the benchmark 10-year Treasury yields to their lowest since Nov. 10.

What is on investors' minds is that yields continue to move lower. It gives you an indication that people are still a little bit nervous - about North Korea and what the future holds for the (Trump) administration as far as what it is going to accomplish," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in New York.
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Wall Street opens lower as investors remain cautious amid N Korea tensions

Wall Street opened lower on Tuesday as investors remained cautious after North Korea conducted its most powerful nuclear test over the weekend.

North Korea on Sunday conducted its sixth nuclear test, which it said was of an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile, marking a dramatic escalation of the regime's stand-off with the United States and its allies.

The United States blamed North Korea's trading partners on Monday of aiding its nuclear ambitions and the White House declared that "all options to address the North Korean threat are on the table."

"We see no panic in the market just as yet, it feels like it is the calm before the storm and investors are being somewhat cautious," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

Equity markets have shown resilience to geopolitical events surrounding North Korea of late, with initial losses erased relatively quickly.

Safe-haven gold pulled back from a one-year high in its first drop in four days. [GOL/]

At 9:39 a.m. ET (1339 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 99.19 points, or 0.45 percent, at 21,888.37 and the S&P 500 was down 8.52 points, or 0.34 percent, at 2,468.03.
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Global stocks tumble, yen gains after North Korea fires missile over Japan

US stock futures and Asian share markets tumbled on Tuesday, while the yen jumped to four-month highs against the dollar after North Korea fired a missile over northern Japan, setting up a tense start to trading for markets in the region.

S&P mini futures fell as much as 0.85 percent on the news before paring losses to trade 0.5 percent below its close on Monday, when it was little changed.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7 percent to four-month low while South Korea's Kospi shed 0.5 percent, helping to drag down MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan 0.3 percent.

North Korea fired a missile early on Tuesday that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific waters off the northern region of Hokkaido, South Korea and Japan said, in a sharp escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under young leader Kim Jong-Un, the most recent on Saturday, but firing projectiles over mainland Japan is rare.

"North Korea's reckless action is an unprecedented, serious and a grave threat to our nation," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.

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Wall Street climbs as North Korea tension eases, S&P tops with 1.12% rise

Wall Street opened higher on Monday, with broad gains across sectors, as investor sentiment was lifted by easing tensions in the Korean peninsula after key US officials played down the risk of an imminent war with North Korea.

All the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with S&P financial's 1.12 per cent rise leading the gainers.

Global stocks lost nearly $1 trillion last week after President Donald Trump warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, leading to a war of words between Pyongyang and Washington.

However, US officials including National Security Adviser H R McMaster and CIA Director Mike Pompeo played down the risk on Sunday, while South Korea's president said resolving Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions must be done peacefully.

"Feels as though the North Korean tension seems to be abating a bit, with commentary coming out of China and the United States. But the situation seems to have de-escalated in the near term", said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich
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Snap shares wither more as filings show some investors bailing

Snap Inc stock rebounded on Monday from a record low hit earlier in a choppy trading session as big investors report their latest stakes in the beleaguered social media company and as a wave of employees became eligible to sell their shares.

The shares were up 5.2 per cent at $12.44 in morning trading after falling as much as 4.7 per cent to $11.28 shortly after the market opened, their lowest point since their March debut.

Within just 45 minutes of regular trading, volume had already reached half of the stock's daily average for the past 10 days.

Starting on Monday, employees for the first time are allowed to sell their stock following the Snapchat parent's blockbuster initial public offering, potentially increasing the supply of shares in the market and their volatility.

Monday is also the deadline for hedge funds and other institutional investors to report their quarter-end holdings of U.S. equities.
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US-North Korea war of words can derail Wall Street stock rally

Cracks are showing in what has been a virtually non-stop U.S. equity rally after a rapid escalation of tension between North Korea and the United States this week.

Market analysts expect that the pullback in stocks due to the increasingly aggressive tone in exchanges between Washington and Pyongyang will continue, although investors hope that the selling will not escalate to a correction - a decline of 10 per cent or more.

The benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled more than 1 per cent on Thursday, only the third time this year it has fallen that much, while the Nasdaq shed more than 2 per cent.

"Markets are looking for any reason at all for a reset. That reset is being triggered by North Korea geopolitical concern and stretched valuations," said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group in New York. "I do think we could see markets pull back between 1 and 5 per cent."

The S&P is trading near its most expensive valuation level since 2004, as measured by the price-to-12-month forward earnings ratio.
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