Stocks were set to open higher Wednesday as favorable progress towards US-China trade relations lifted Dow futures more than 100 points higher in pre-market activity. In an effort to thwart a trade war between the world's two largest economies, China offered to boost imports of US goods while the US finalized a deal that would allow ZTE Corp to buy from US suppliers.
April's trade deficit resulted in a seven-month low of $46.2 billion on record exports. This beats the consensus estimate for a $49.0 billion deficit, and is the second consecutive month the deficit has narrowed.
Wednesday's other economic data was not as bullish as nonfarm productivity for Q1 was revised down to +0.4% from +0.7%, while unit labor costs rose slightly to 2.9% from 2.7%, initially.
Overseas markets were predominately higher with the exception of the Euro-Stoxx which came under pressure amid speculation that the European Central Bank was orchestrating an end to its bond-buying program. ECB chief economist Peter Praet confirmed that the June 14 meeting will be "live" as members debate when to end its quantitative easing. Followed by a succession of hawkish remarks from other members of the ECB, the euro raced up to a two-week high while equities relinquished early gains.
In related markets, the dollar is lower against most of the major currencies except the Japanese yen; gold is unchanged, oil futures are down; Treasury yields are more than 3 basis points higher.
-Dow Jones Industrial up 0.50%
-S&P 500 futures up 0.17%
-Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.07%
SENTIMENT
Nikkei up 0.38%
Hang Seng up 0.53%
Shanghai Composite up 0.05%
FTSE-100 up 0.38%
DAX-30 up 0.40%
PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH
(+) Large cap tech: Higher
(+) Chip stocks: Higher
(+) Software stocks: Higher
(+) Hardware stocks: Higher
(+) Internet stocks: Higher
(+) Oil stocks: Higher
(+) Biotech stocks: Higher
(+) Drug stocks: Higher
(+) Financial stocks: Higher
(+/-) Retail stocks: Mixed
(+) Industrial stocks: Higher
(+/-) Airlines: Mixed
(+/-) Autos: Mixed
UPSIDE MOVERS:
(+) AXON (+90.29%) Acquired worldwide rights to commercialize Parkinson's disease treatment
(+) VBLT (+27.91%) Presented positive data on MOSPD2 program in oncology and inflammation
(+) NCS (+6.70%) Reported better-than-expected Q2 results
DOWNSIDE MOVERS:
(-) AMBA (-10.51%) Q1 results down from year ago, Q2 sales guidance set below street expectations
(-) IMGN (-4.88%) Announced 12 million share offering
(-) MARK (-2.91%) Filed $50 million mixed shelf registration
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Copyright (C) 2016 MTNewswires.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
