Wally sees interest from Ferretti
Ferretti, the Italian luxury yacht group, is interested in Wally, an Italian peer, reported Italian-language daily Il Corriere della Sera.
The report quoted CEO Alberto Galassi as saying that negotiations have been going on for months and that the deal is very synergic with Ferretti. The deal value is in the region of EUR 25m-EUR 30m, the report said.
Ferretti, owned by Weichai [SHE:000338] of China, could close the deal by the beginning of next year.
Asia Market Update: BoJ’s Suzuki makes first public comments since early Feb; Australia’s Westpac to raise mortgage rates amid higher
General Trend:
-Asian equity markets trade generally higher, Shanghai lags
-Bank of China declines in Hong Kong post earnings
-BoJ board member Suzuki plays down impact of slight yield rise, talks policy side-effects
***Headlines/Economic Data***
Australia/New Zealand
-ASX 200 opened +0.1%
-ASX 200 Financials index +0.8%, REIT +0.7%, Utilities +0.4%; Telecom -1.2%, Energy -0.3%
-(AU) Australia sells A$1.0B v A$1.0B indicated in 2.75% Nov 2029 bonds, avg yield 2.6052%, bid to cover 2.69x
-Westpac [WBC.AU]: Raises standard variable home loan rate by 14bps to 5.38%; Cites increase in wholesale funding costs.
China/Hong Kong
-Shanghai Composite opened -0.1%, Hang Seng flat
- Hang Seng Telecom index +0.6%, Property/Construction +0.5%, Materials +0.4%, Energy +0.4%, Services +0.3%, Consumer Discretionary +0.1%; Info Tech -0.5%, Financials -0.2%, Utilities -0.2%
- (US) Commerce Sec Ross: there was no breakthrough in last week's US-China trade talks; Pres Trump is interested to see how new duties will impact the China talks
- (CN) NDRC: China faces more difficulties in achieving stable and healthy economic development; needs more efforts to achieve growth targets related to consumption, outstanding social financing and disposable income; reiterates to ensure economic growth in 'reasonable' range
- (CN) China PBoC set yuan reference rate: 6.8072 v 6.8052 prior
- (CN) China PBoC Open Market Operation (OMO): Skips OMO v skipped prior (6th straight skip)
- (CN) China Vice Premier Liu reiterates to safeguard the multilateral trade system - Chinese Press
- (CN) Power exchanges in China are planning to introduce private investors - Chinese Press
Japan
-Nikkei 225 opened +0.7%
- TOPIX Marine Transportation index +2.8%, Iron & Steel +0.9%, Electric Appliances +0.9%, Securities +0.5%; Retail Trade -0.5%
- Megabanks outperform amid comments from BoJ’s Suzuki
- (JP) Bank of Japan (BOJ) Board Member Suzuki: Need to continue to monitor impact of low rates on banks
- (JP) Japan Chief Cabinet Sec Suga: Declines comment on Washington Post article about secret meeting between Japan and North Korea
-(JP) Japan Aug Consumer Confidence: 43.3 v 43.3e
South Korea
-Kospi opened +0.1%
- (KR) North Korea letter to US Sec of State Pompeo said to warn that denuclearization talks could fall apart - financial press
- (KR) Follow Up: North Korea letter rejected US demand for nuclear removal - US financial press
Other
- (TH) Thailand Central Bank Chief Veerathai: Relative strength in the Thai Baht currency (THB) 'a concern'; Not under pressure to raise interest rates like other EM countries
- (TW) Taiwan Central Bank Gov to hold capital-flow briefing at 4:20 PM (local time)
North America
-US equity markets ended mixed: Dow +0.1%, S&P500 flat, Nasdaq +0.2%, Russell 2000 flat
-S&P500 Real Estate +1.2%; Communication Services -0.4%, Energy -0.4%, Materials -0.4%
-(US) Weekly API Oil Inventories: Crude: 0M v -5.2M prior
-(US) Senate approves appointment of economist Richard Clarida as Vice Chairman of the Fed Reserve Board of Governors
- (CA) Canada Foreign Min Freeland: 'Very constructive' meeting with USTR Lighthizer; returning tomorrow to continue trade talks
- (CA) Canada said to be prepared to make concessions related to dairy for NAFTA - Canada Press
Europe
- (UK) UK and EU officials said to see mid-November as the new Brexit deal deadline, said to see deal by October as not likely - US financial press
- (UK) UK Aug BRC Shop Price Index Y/Y: +0.1% (first rise in over 5-years) v -0.3% prior
***Levels as of 01:30ET***
- Nikkei 225, +0.2%, ASX 200 +0.7%, Hang Seng +0.1%; Shanghai Composite -0.3%; Kospi +0.2%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 +0.2%; Nasdaq100 +0.3%, Dax +0.1%; FTSE100 +0.3%
- EUR 1.1698-1.1682; JPY 111.33-111.12 ; AUD 0.7351-0.7332 ;NZD 0.6720-0.6703
- Aug Gold -0.3% at $1,210/oz; Sept Crude Oil flat at $68.55/brl; Sept Copper +0.3% at $2.752 /lb
After Hours Summary: TLRY +13%, SCVL +10%, BOX -5% following earnings/guidance, UIS +5% on S&P 600 addition newsAfter Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: TLRY +12.9%, SCVL +10.3%, LCI +4.5%, NCS +2.9%, HPE +1.4% (also announced that Tarek Robbiati has been appointed chief financial officer)
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: CRON +6.8% / CGC +4.1% (following TLRY results), UIS +5.1% (to replace Marriott Vacations in S&P 600), AFMD +2.7% (after closing the day up 247%), DKS +1.7% (ahead of earnings), WTW +1.1% (initiated with Outperform rating and $98 tgt at Oppenheimer)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: BOX -4.9%, TLRD -4.3% (sees Q2 EPS $1.05-1.07 vs $1.02 two analyst estimate; announces retirement of CEO Doug Ewert and appoints Dinesh Lathi Executive Chairman), HRB -1.2%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: EXPR -4.7% (ahead of earnings), ASRT -4.4% (entered into $62 mln settlement agreement with Purdue Pharma for Oxycontin commercialization), ROKU -2% (lower on reports that Amazon plans to launch new video service)
Closing Market Summary: Little ChangedThe S&P 500 (unch) eked out a very narrow victory on Tuesday, closing at a new record high for the third session in a row. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%) and the Russell 2000 (unch) also notched new records, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.1%) finished at its best level since early February.
It was a range-bound day of trading, with the S&P 500 keeping between -0.1% and +0.2%. Seven of eleven sectors finished in the red, but losses were pretty modest. The top-weighted technology sector (+0.2%) was an advancer, helping to mitigate losses from energy (-0.5%), materials (-0.4%), and consumer staples (-0.3%).
As for individual stocks, retail earnings were in focus once again. Best Buy (BBY 77.57, -4.09) tumbled 5.0% after downbeat Q3 guidance overshadowed upbeat Q2 results. Meanwhile, DSW (DSW 32.70, +5.50) spiked 20.2% and Tiffany & Co (TIF 131.07, +1.29) added 1.0% after both companies beat top and bottom line estimates.
Looking at other markets, U.S. Treasuries moved lower, sending yields higher across the curve, with the benchmark 10-yr yield climbing four basis points to 2.88%. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude futures slid 0.4% to $68.58/bbl, and the U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.1% to 94.62, testing its August low.
In Washington, Canada came back to the NAFTA negotiating table on Tuesday after the U.S. and Mexico reached a bilateral trade agreement on Monday. President Trump has warned that he could proceed without Canada, but U.S. officials are optimistic that a deal can be reached by the end of the week.
Reviewing Tuesday's economic data, which included Advanced International Trade in Goods and Advanced Wholesale Inventories for July, the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June, and the Consumer Confidence Index for August:
- The Advance report for International Trade in Goods for July showed a deficit of $72.2 billion, and the Advance report for Wholesale Inventories for July rose 0.7%.
- The Case-Shiller 20-City Index increased 6.3% in June (consensus +6.4%), and the May increase was left unrevised at 6.5%.
- The consumer confidence reading for August increased to 133.4 (consensus 126.5) from the prior month's revised reading of 127.9 (from 127.4).
- The key takeaway from the report is that the high confidence levels should support solid consumer spending in the near term, particularly since consumers have a better outlook for their short-term income prospects.
Looking ahead, investors will receive the second estimate of Q2 GDP, July Pending Home Sales, and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index on Wednesday.
- Nasdaq Composite +16.3% YTD
- Russell 2000 +12.6% YTD
- S&P 500 +8.4% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average +5.4% YTD