Comes in at 29.48bn (ex-TAC) vs. 30.04 bn est.
Shares down on this
Alphabet is more widely known as Google, of course. A is the parent company of G.
Archives of “April 2019” month
rssOil edges higher to end three-day losing streak
Crude finishes up on the day
WTI started the day lower but battled back to finish up 18-cents to $63.48. That’s more than a dollar off the lows.
In the bigger picture, it’s a small bounce after a three-day flush that hit last Tuesday. Look for more OPEC jockeying to spark the next move.
Wall Street edges higher to new record peak
Wall Street equities rose on Monday to new record peaks, as muted inflation and robust consumer spending further support the Federal Reserve’s dovish stance and embolden investors to snap up high-growth stocks.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.1 per cent to close at 2,943 having struck a fresh intraday higher earlier in the session as well, ticking above the previous historic intraday high that was set in September 2018. The benchmark index’s rise was fuelled by a roughly 0.9 per cent increase in financials and communications services that was partially offset by the real estate sector.
The index had first reached a record closing high last week and sentiment was boosted further after stronger-than-expected US growth data for the first three months of 2019.
Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also struck a new high, rising 0.2 per cent to 8,162, having joined the S&P 500 in notching a fresh intraday peak earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average meanwhile, was roughly flat at 26,554.
The dollar held around some of its strongest levels in two years after the data, with the index tracking the world’s reserve currency slipping 0.2 per cent to just under 98 points.
The gains on Wall Street bucked a more muted performance in Europe, where the continent-wide Stoxx 600 index ended the day up less than 0.1 per cent.
Thought For A Day
Kudlow says Trump has not made up mind on higher fuel tax
Fuel tax would be part of infrastructure plan
My guess is that the White House is floating this for a reason. A fuel tax would lower gasoline demand at the margins and that would be a small drag for crude in the bigger picture.
The US has some of the world’s lowest gasoline prices for a developed nation. However it also has larger cars on the road that other developed nations and a well-established anti-tax lobby.
Lagarde says 70% of the global economy is still slowing
Sobering reminder as stocks hit a record high
A bet on stocks right now is a bet that pivots from central banks will spark growth later in the year. For all the strength we’ve had in the past few months, there isn’t much backing from the data so far.
More:
- Low inflation is ‘highly mysterious’
- Says she expects China-US trade deal
- Concerned about the overall level of global debt
European equity close: Small gains to start the week as Spain leads after election
Closing changes in European markets:
- UK FTSE 100 +0.2%
- German DAX +0.1%
- French CAC +0.1%
- Spain IBEX +0.5%
- Italy MIB +0.2%
The general trade on almost any election is to bet on the upside in stock markets. All the fears about change or no-change or whatever always clears once the dust settles.
Charlie Munger… self pity:
US dollar edges higher after PCE report
Dollar generally subdued
The US dollar has ticked higher after the March PCE report.
A few of the elements in the data balance out. Inflation was once-again soft but that was foreshadowed in Friday’s GDP report so it doesn’t come as a big surprise.
In terms of consumers, spending was surprisingly strong but income levels fell well short of what was expected.
So there’s a long list of a pros and cons after the report and the dollar is generally mixed. USD/JPY ticked higher to 111.82 from 111.72 beforehand:
Part of that is a creep higher in Treasury yields. US 10s are up 3 bps to 2.53%. The euro and pound also hit the lows of European trading on the headlines.
On the flipside, the commodity currencies are doing a bit better against the US dollar after the report.
For the next move in the dollar, look to equities and commodity prices.
Visa and Mastercard agree deal with EU to cut foreign card fees
Mastercard and Visa have promised to reduce the fees charged on purchases made in the EU with foreign-issued debit and credit cards, the latest concession in the payment companies’ long-running antitrust battle with Brussels.
Retailers will be charged an average of 40 per cent less on purchases made in the European Economic Area using Mastercard, Maestro, Visa, Visa Electron and V-PAY credit and debit cards issued in countries outside the EEA.
The fees will be reduced for five and a half years and Visa and Mastercard can be fined up to 10 per cent of their global turnover if they fail to meet their commitments.
European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the binding commitments “will reduce the costs borne by retailers,” and when taken with earlier decisions will “lower prices for European retailers to do business, ultimately to the benefit of all consumers”.
Brussels has been investigating various transaction fees charged by the payment companies for over a decade.
The EU enforcer fined Mastercard €570m in January for limiting the ability of retailers and banks to shop around between member states to offer lower fees, thereby restricting competition between banks and raising payment costs for retailers and customers.
In 2009 Mastercard agreed to limit the fees charged on cross-border EU purchases made with European-issued cards — to a maximum of 0.2 per cent of transaction value for debit cards and 0.3 per cent for credit cards.
Visa soon followed suit and in 2015 the EU’s Interchange Fee Regulation made those caps the law.
The two companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.