This week’s trading was predominately focused on headlines out of Beijing. Investor sentiment was buoyed by apparent progress made in trade talks culminating in positive overtures from both President Trump and President Xi. Separately, President Trump ultimately signed on to a border funding agreement hashed out on Capitol Hill, avoiding another shutdown, but he also declared a national emergency pledging to come up with roughly $8B in wall funding from various government resources.
Earnings season chugged along into the latter innings and overall managements remained reluctant to go out on a limb in terms of FY19 forecasts given macro uncertainties. Treasury yields moved up during the first few trading sessions with the positive trade vibes largely propelling risk-on flows out of bonds, only to come under some modest pressure after a very poor, delayed December US retail sales report.
For the week, the S&P gained 2.5%, the DJIA added 3.1%, and the Nasdaq rose 2.4%. In corporate news this week, Coca-Cola shares experienced their worse day in a decade after the company guided slowing organic revenue and flat comparable earnings in the coming year, affected by FX headwinds and structural items. Investors reacted positively after Nvidia's FY forecasts came in better than expected. Newell Brands’ outlook disappointed the market again, as the consumer goods firm pointed to tariffs, commodity inflation, and FX volatility as particular hurdles. EA surged after it announced its new ‘Apex Legends’ free-to-play game surpassed 25M users, growing faster than rival game Fortnite. Toy makers Mattel and Hasbro saw shares slide sharply on Friday as they both gave strategy updates that indicated they continue to struggle in the post-Toys R Us world. Mortgage software developer Ellie Mae agreed to be acquired by PE firm Thoma Bravo for $99/share in a $3.7B all-cash deal.
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- SEM PL : Semapa Full Year Net Income EU132.6 Mln