US STOCKS-Wall St to open higher as Xi soothes trade war fears - Reuters News
10-Apr-2018 08:48:18 PM
• Verifone stock most traded premarket, up 53 pct
• Facebook CEO to testify before U.S. lawmakers
• Futures up: Dow 1.24 pct, S&P 500 1.12 pct, Nasdaq 1.37 pct
Adds quote, updates prices
By Sweta Singh
April 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open higher on Tuesday after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to cut import tariffs, soothing investor concerns about rising U.S.-China trade tensions.
In his first public comments since the trade dispute with the Trump administration started, Jinping vowed to open the country's economy and said China would raise the foreign ownership limit in automobile, shipbuilding and aircraft sectors "as soon as possible".
His comments buoyed global markets, which have been under pressure as China and the United States threatened each other with billion in tariffs and investors feared that protectionist measures would hit global economic growth.
Energy stocks gained as oil broke above $70 a barrel on easing trade war fears between the world's two largest economies.
"The expectation was this could have gone one of two ways: he could have been aggressive about U.S. tariffs or been conciliatory and it feels like he's more conciliatory," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.
Shares of major U.S. automakers such as General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Tesla were up between 2 percent and 4 percent premarket following Xi's comments.
U.S. stocks will face a major test in coming weeks as first-quarter earnings pour in. Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will kick off the earnings season with their results on Friday.
Analysts expect quarterly profits for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.5 percent from a year ago, which would be the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The so-called FANG stocks - Facebook Inc, Amazon.com, Netflix Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google - were up between 1.2 percent and 3 percent ahead of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The CEO is expected to strike a conciliatory tone in an attempt to blunt possible regulatory fallout from the privacy scandal engulfing his social network.
On Monday, stocks pared gains late in the session following a report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the office of President Donald Trump's lawyer.
At 8:44 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 297 points, or 1.24 percent, with 90,792 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis were up 29.25 points, or 1.12 percent, with 307,025 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 89 points, or 1.37 percent, on volume of 103,947 contracts.
Among stocks, shares of Nvidia rose 4 percent premarket after Morgan Stanley raised the stock to "overweight".
Verifone Systems shares, which were the most traded premarket, rose 53 percent after the company agreed to be taken private for $2.28 billion.
(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
US STOCKS-Futures rise as Xi cools trade war fears - Reuters News
10-Apr-2018 07:18:34 PM
• Futures up: Dow 1.14 pct, S&P 500 1.11 pct, Nasdaq 1.47 pct
By Sweta Singh
April 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose more than a percent on Tuesday after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to cut import tariffs, soothing investor concerns about rising U.S.-China trade tensions.
In his first public comments since the trade dispute with the Trump administration started, Jinping vowed to open the country's economy and said China would raise the foreign ownership limit in automobile, shipbuilding and aircraft sectors "as soon as possible".
His comments buoyed global markets, which have been under pressure as China and the United States threatened each other with billion in tariffs and investors feared that protectionist measures would hit global economic growth.
Shares of major U.S. automakers such as General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Tesla were up between 2 percent and 4 percent premarket following Xi's comments.
U.S. stocks will also face a major test in coming weeks as first-quarter earnings pour in. Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will kick off the earnings season with their results on Friday.
Analysts expect quarterly profits for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.5 percent from a year ago, which would be the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Investors will keep a close eye on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The CEO is expected to strike a conciliatory tone in an attempt to blunt possible regulatory fallout from the privacy scandal engulfing his social network.
On Monday, stocks pared gains late in the session following a report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the office of President Donald Trump's lawyer.
At 7:11 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 274 points, or 1.14 percent, with 79,089 contracts changing hands.
S&P 500 e-minis were up 29 points, or 1.11 percent, with 261,980 contracts traded.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 95.25 points, or 1.47 percent, on volume of 89,430 contracts.
Among stocks, shares of Nvidia rose 4 percent premarket after Morgan Stanley raised the stock to "overweight".
Verifone Systems shares were up 51.7 percent after the company agreed to be taken private for $2.28 billion.
(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
UPDATE 6-Oil breaks above $70 a barrel as shadow of trade war recedes - Reuters News
10-Apr-2018 07:40:34 PM
• Dispute between top two oil consumers has rattled markets
• China promises to open economy further, cut import tariffs
• Oil prices generally helped by OPEC-led supply restraint
Updates prices
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - Oil broke above $70 a barrel on Tuesday, extending strong gains from the previous day, as investors grew more optimistic that a trade dispute between the United States and China may be resolved without greater damage to the global economy.
Brent crude futures were up $1.39 at $70.04 a barrel by 1131 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.23 to $64.65 a barrel.
The oil price has risen by nearly 4.5 percent in the last two trading days.
President Xi Jinping on Tuesday promised to open China's economy further and lower import tariffs, in a speech that struck a conciliatory tone on the trade tensions between China and the United States.
Equities and industrial commodities rose, while perceived safe-havens such as gold and U.S. Treasuries came under pressure, reflecting confidence among traders and investors that a trade war is increasingly unlikely.
"It's not so much 'risk on/risk off', as it is 'trade war on/trade war off' and, at the moment, we're 'trade-war off'," London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler said.
"There's a lot of political motivation in the tariffs in the United States, but ultimately, they won't want a trade war, there is a general desire to boost the U.S. economy."
Concerns of a prolonged trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies and uncertainty over the supply and demand balance of global oil markets have made for volatile trading in the last few weeks.
Oil briefly rose above $70 two weeks ago, after Saudi Arabia vowed it would keep an agreement in place to limit supply into next year. But the U.S. decision to impose tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods a week later sent the price to a two-week low.
Oil markets have been supported by healthy demand and supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
However, soaring U.S. crude production, which has jumped by a quarter since mid-2016, threatens to undermine OPEC's efforts.
The American Petroleum Institute will publish storage data later on Tuesday while the U.S. Energy Information Administration releases its monthly report on U.S. production.
"Today's monthly report from the EIA is likely to confirm that the supply situation is set to ease, primarily on the back of growing non-OPEC production," Commerzbank said in a note.
"It is doubtful whether this will pressure the price, however, as the most recent price drivers were for the most part not fundamental in nature."
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Dale Hudson and Jason Neely)
PRECIOUS-Gold edges higher on weaker dollar, geopolitical rumblings - Reuters News
10-Apr-2018 09:07:47 PM
• Dollar dips to two-week lows
• Platinum retreats back to discount to palladium
(Adds weaker dollar, comments on PGMs)
By Eric Onstad
LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - Gold prices crept higher on Tuesday as the dollar weakened and as investors awaited potential U.S. action against the suspected use of chemical weapons in Syria.
"Geopolitics is taking the main driving seat this week, so gold has potentially got some room for the upside," said Jonathan Butler, commodities analyst at Mitsubishi in London.
"A lot will hinge on what is happening geopolitically between Russia, Syria, Iran and all sorts of other countries that could be potentially drawn into this."
Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,337.16 an ounce at 1250 GMT, having risen to a near one-week high of $1,338.12 earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures added 0.03 percent to $1,340.50 an ounce.
If gold breaks through resistance of $1,340, it could move back to the late March highs just under $1,360, Butler added.
Trump on Monday promised quick, forceful action in response to a deadly suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, appearing to suggest a potential military response.
Gold is often seen as an alternative investment during times of political and financial uncertainty.
Gold also got a boost as the dollar index dipped to a two-week low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday after Chinese President Xi Jinping's promise to cut import tariffs eased concerns about a trade conflict.
Xi promised to open the country's economy further and lower import tariffs on products including cars. His comments spurred a rally in global equity markets.
Markets are looking ahead to this week's Federal Reserve's minutes on its last policy meeting and U.S. CPI data for cues on the pace of interest rate hikes this year.
In other precious metals, silver gained 0.9 percent to $16.59 an ounce.
Platinum fell 0.3 percent to $928.74 an ounce, after gaining about 2 percent in the previous session, the most in nearly two months.
Palladium rose 1.6 percent to $944 an ounce. The auto catalyst metal gained over 3 percent on Monday, its biggest daily percentage rise since Jan. 12.
Platinum fell back to a discount to sister metal palladium on Tuesday after rising to a premium last Thursday. Last September, palladium gained the upper hand over platinum for the first time in 16 years.
"We are not convinced the platinum-palladium ratio can hold consistently above parity this year as strong trends in the auto sector which have weighed on the ratio remain in place," UBS analyst Joni Teves said in a note.
Diesel vehicles use mostly platinum in catalytic converters while petrol cars largely use palladium, but diesel sales in Europe's largest car markets have been falling.
(Additional reporting by Swati Verma and Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru
Editing by Keith Weir and Alexandra Hudson)
CBOT Trends-Wheat down 3-4 cents, corn steady-down 1, soybeans up 2-3 - Reuters News
10-Apr-2018 09:29:27 PM
CHICAGO, April 10 (Reuters) - Following are U.S. trade expectations for the resumption of the grain and soy complex trading at the Chicago Board of Trade at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) on Tuesday.
NOTE: Trade awaits the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's monthly supply/demand report at 11 a.m. CDT (1600 GMT).
WHEAT - Down 3 to 4 cents per bushel
• Lower on technical selling and profit-taking one day after the CBOT May contract notched a near one-month high on worries about poor weather in the U.S. Plains wheat belt.
• The USDA late Monday rated 30 percent of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, down from 32 percent a week earlier and 53 percent a year ago.
• CBOT May soft red winter wheat last traded down 3 cents at $4.87-3/4 per bushel. K.C. May hard red winter wheat was last down 5-1/4 cents at $5.17-1/2 and MGEX May spring wheat was last down 1-3/4 cents at $6.24-3/4.
CORN - Steady to down 1 cent per bushel
• Steady to lower on positioning ahead of the USDA's monthly supply/demand reports.
• The USDA late Monday said the U.S. corn crop was 2 percent planted by Sunday, in line with trade expectations but down from 3 percent a year ago.
• Brazilian government supply agency Conab raised its estimate of the country's 2017/18 corn crop to 88.61 million tonnes, from its previous monthly forecast of 87.28 million.
• CBOT May corn last traded down 1 cent at $3.89-3/4 a bushel.
SOYBEANS - Up 2 to 3 cents per bushel
• Higher on technical buying and positioning ahead of the USDA's supply/demand report, along with signs of fresh export demand.
• The USDA said private exporters sold 120,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to Argentina, a country that is normally a major global soy supplier, for delivery in the 2018/19 marketing year.
• The USDA also said private exporters sold 132,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China for 2018/19 delivery and another 279,000 tonnes to unknown destinations for 2017/18 delivery.
• Brazilian government supply agency Conab raised its estimate of the country's 2017/18 soybean crop to 114.96 million tonnes, from 113.02 million last month.
• CBOT May soybeans last traded up 3-1/4 cents at $10.50-1/4 per bushel.
(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen)
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