>>> US Close Dow +1,39% S&P +1,28% Nasdaq +1,71% Russell +1,23%

Closing Market Summary: S&P Nearly Recoups Weekly Decline In Friday Rally

U.S. equities rallied on Friday following the publication of the monthly jobs report, with technology names leading the charge -- including Apple (AAPL 183.83, +6.94), which rallied 3.9% after Warren Buffet revealed his company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B 195.64, +4.03), bought an additional 75 million shares of Apple in the first quarter. The Russell 2000 jumped 1.2%, the S&P 500 advanced 1.3%, the Dow climbed 1.4%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.7%.

Equity indices opened the session modestly lower, but things turned around quickly after the S&P 500 found support at its 200-day moving average. Stocks climbed steadily into the late afternoon, finishing near their best marks of the day. Friday's gains brought the S&P 500 and the Dow within 0.2% of their flat lines for the week and left the Nasdaq with a weekly gain of 1.3%.

The Employment Situation report for April was released on Friday morning, but didn't contain many surprises, reinforcing the notion that the Fed is on course for at least two more rate hikes this year. The report showed a lower-than-expected increase in nonfarm payrolls (164K actual vs 190K Briefing.com consensus), an in-line reading for average hourly earnings (+0.2% actual/consensus), and a lower-than-expected unemployment rate (3.9% actual vs 4.0% consensus).

Gains were broad-based on Friday, with all 11 S&P sectors settling in the green. The top-weighted technology sector (+2.0%) closed at the top of the day's leaderboard, but seven groups in total finished with gains of at least 1.0%. The energy and utilities sectors finished at the back of the pack, but still added 0.4%-0.5% apiece.

Several well-known consumer names rallied after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenues, including Pandora (P 6.89, +1.14), GoPro (GPRO 5.45, +0.49), and Shake Shack (SHAK 55.95, +8.54), which spiked between 9.9% and 19.8%, and CBS (CBS 53.17, +4.43), which climbed 9.1%. However, V.F. Corp (VFC 76.27, -2.19) -- which owns brands like The North Face, Lee, Wrangler, JanSport, and Dickies -- declined 2.8% despite also beating top and bottom line estimates.

U.S. Treasuries saw some intraday movement on Friday, but ended mostly flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note closing unchanged at 2.94%. Meanwhile, WTI crude futures jumped 1.9% to $69.72/bbl, their highest close since November 2014, and the U.S. Dollar Index climbed 0.2% to 92.45 -- a new 2018 high.

In geopolitics, two days of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China ended without a deal, as expected, but the two sides did agree to keep talking.

  • Nasdaq Composite: +4.4% YTD
  • Russell 2000: +2.0% YTD
  • S&P 500: -0.4% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: -1.9% YTD

REuters : Congo government makes no major concessions to major miners -draft -

Congo government makes no major concessions to major miners -draft - Reuters News

04-May-2018 17:04:18

By Aaron Ross

NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has made no substantial concessions to major miners demanding changes to a new mining code they say will discourage investment, according to a draft document seen by Reuters on Friday.

International mining companies including Glencore GLEN.L and Randgold RRS.L at the end of March outlined a proposal that includes a sliding scale for royalty rates on commodities mined in Congo.

In exchange, the government would eliminate a 50 percent tax on windfall profits. (Full Story)

The country mines more than half the world's cobalt - used in batteries for electric vehicles and other electronics - and is Africa's top copper producer.

A 702-page draft of regulations to implement the code, which the mines ministry has circulated among mining companies, retains mention of a windfall tax or "special tax on excess profits".

It kicks in at a rate of 50 percent when commodity prices are 25 percent higher than planned in a bankable feasibility study, drawn up by miners to determine the viability of a project.

It also makes no mention of the stability clause sought by international miners, which in the previous code protected them against changes to the fiscal regime for a decade.

In addition, it provides for the prime minister to designate by decree minerals as "strategic substances," which would be hit with a 10 percent royalty rate. The prime minister's office has said that cobalt will be designated a strategic substance and copper could be too.

Time is running out to negotiate as the deadline for the new regulations to be signed into law is within 90 days of President Joseph Kabila signing the code on March 9. (Full Story)

A spokeswoman for Randgold, which is representing seven of the largest foreign miners in Congo, said she could not comment and that negotiations continued.

>>> US : Events and conferences of interest for next week

Monday
  • Tides Oligonucleotide and Peptide Therapeutics Conference 2018 (May 7th-10th)
    • Scheduled to appear: A,ALNY, ABUS, AZN, BLUE, CRSP, DRNA, DVAX, EDIT, LLY, NTLA, ITRK.GB, IONS, MRK, PTGX, RGLS, SNY, SRPT, TMO, GRA, WAT, WVE, GEN, HR, AMGN, APLS, ARWR, BIIB, BMRN, BMY, GSK, GSK.GB, HOLX, IDRA, JNJ, MGEN, NVO, PTN, PRX, PFE, PRQR (Conference Information)
  • NPE2018: The Plastics Show and Summit (May 7th-11th)NAFTA talks in Washington begin for the week
Tuesday
  • Wells Fargo Industrial and Construction Conference 2018
    • Scheduled to appear: DNOW, ATU, AER, AGCO, AME, AIT, ATR, APTV, ALV, BMS, BRC, CAT, CE, CMI, DWDP, GATX, GNTX, GBX, GEF, GEF.B, HUBB, HUN, IEX, NGVT, KMT, KEX, KOP, LII, MYE, OLN, PPG, REVG, RPM, ST, SLGN, SON, TEL, TEN, TEX, TOWR, TRS, TRN, TSE, TRTN, UNVR, ECOL, WAB, WLK, WLKP, NPO, ESL, FDX, MRC, EMN, ALLE, SWK, R, LYB, AYR, FLY, MNTX, MTSC, ADNT, ATKR, BCO, FMC, CW, HZN, ASV
  • JP Morgan Global China Summit 2018 (May 8-9th)
    • Scheduled to appear: YUMC, ZLAB
  • Among Analyst Days: Red Hat (RHT) Analyst Day
Wednesday
  • Goldman Sachs 3rd Annual Leveraged Finance Conference 2018 (May 9th-11th)
    • Scheduled to appear: S, MRC, SERV, LXU, FOE, HOLX, I, VRX, MTSI, AMKR, ITGR
  • Wells Fargo Securities Research, Economics & Strategy Industrials Conference 2018
  • Three Part Advisors East Coast IDEAS Investor Conference 2018 (May 9-10th)
    • Notable to appear: TTGT, CUBI, CRAI, TESS, LMAT, SHLO, QNST, PCTI, AFH, PHX, CSWC
Thursday
  • China PPI (out overnight)
  • Macquarie Business Services C-Suite Conference
    • Notable to appear: FAST, ADSW, SERV
  • Society of Biological Psychiatry 73rd Annual Meeting 2018 (May 10-12th)
    • Notable to appear: AGN, SAGE
Friday
  • JP Morgan Amsterdam Investor Forum 2018
    • Scheduled to appear: PHG
  • Expocanamo 2018 (May 11-13th)
    • Notable co to appear: HEMP
  • Wounds Canada 2018 Spring Conference (May 11-12th)
    • Notable to appear: SNWV

>>> US Gapping down


Gapping down
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

  • LPNT -30.9%, FLR -16.4%, AMN -9.7%, ANET -9.5%, GOGO -9.3%, WEB -6.7%, CENX -5.8%, BPL -5.8%, AKCA -5.7%, VREX -5.2%, FLT -5%, BTE -4.7%, AIRG -3.6%, HSBC -3.6%, TACO -2.7%, ZAYO -2.7%, (to advance evaluation of REIT conversion), ESL -2.5%, SRPT -2.5%, TSRO -2.3%, EOG -2.1%, HLF -2.1%, HASI -2%, BWEN -2%, JOBS -1.7%, VER -1.5%, SWKS -1.4%, ALRM -1.3%, LOCO -1%, GPRO -1%

M&A news:

  • ALTR -2.2% (acquires CANDI Controls)

Other news:

  • ADVM -9.4% (to commence search for new president and CEO following departure of Amber Salzman, Ph.D. effective May 3, 2018 )
  • IFRX -3.6% (prices primary and secondary offering of common shares)

Analyst comments:

  • SRPT -2.5% (downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer)
  • WWE -1.9% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at The Benchmark Company)
  • INGR -1.1% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup)