Archives of “May 2019” month

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US Major indices move higher today led by tech/high flying stocks

  
Analysis, US Market

Nasdaq up over 1%. Other indices solid but more modest gains.

The major indices are closing higher with the tech heavy Nasdaq leading the way.
The final numbers are showing:
  • S&P index rose 16.77 points or 0.59% at 2851.16
  • Nasdaq index rose 87.654 points or 1.13% at 7822.14
  • Dow rose 116.92 points or 0.46% at 25648.90
Nasdaq up over 1%. Other indices solid but more modest gains.
Some winners today are centered on the more high flying stocks:
  • Lyft, +6.97%
  • Alphabet, +4.08%
  • Facebook, 3.07%
  • Twitter, 2.76%
  • Netflix, +2.71%
  • Adobe, 1.82%
  • Amazon, 1.69%
  • Alibaba, 1.58%
  • Microsoft, 1.41%
  • Apple, +1.20%
Losers are mostly financials:
  • Charles Schwab, -3.59%
  • Nvidia, -1.52%
  • Wells Fargo, -1.40%
  • Bank of America, -1.12%
  • PNC Financial, -0.82%
  • Citigroup, -0.57%
  • JP Morgan -0.38%
  • Morgan Stanley, -0.27%

European shares recover and are closing higher on the day

  
Analysis, Global Indices

German Dax up 0.9%.

The European shares recovered from losing levels earlier and are closing higher on the day. A report that Pres. Trump would delay an auto tariff decision helped to reverse the negative flows.
The provisional closes are showing:
  • German DAX, +0.9%
  • France’s, +0.4%
  • Britain FTSE, +0.6%
  • Spain’s Ibex, +0.5%
  • Italy’s FTSE MIB, the index ended down -0.2% on political concerns

US weekly crude oil inventories +5431K vs -1200K expected

  
Analysis, Crude

Weekly oil inventories from the EIA

  • Prior was -3963K
  • Gasoline -1123K vs -350K exp
  • Distillates +84K vs -719K exp
  • Cushing +1805K
From the API report late yesterday:
  • Crude +8600K
  • Cushing +1200K
  • Gasoline +567K
  • Distillates +2200K
The report is negative for oil but not nearly as bad as the API numbers had indicated. The closure of the Houston shipping channel on the weekend worked in mysterious ways.

Trump to delay decision on auto tariff imports for up to six months – report

  
  Analysis

Bloomberg report, citing sources

Bloomberg report, citing sources
The decision was due Friday and would have opened another front in the trade war. It was a major worry for European policymakers in particular.
Top US officials discussed the tariffs at a meeting yesterday, according to the report. The idea is to let Japan and EU trade negotiations play out first.
US stocks have wiped out gains on the headlines and USD/JPY jumped to 109.54. The euro is the main beneficiary as EUR/USD climbs 40 pips to 1.2121 and EUR/JPY rallies into positive territory.
The negative spin here is that Trump must believe the battle with China will be a prolonged one and that he doesn’t want to fight on two fronts.
Update: CNBC is out with a similar report:
“The White House faces a May 18 deadline to decide whether to slap duties on car and auto part imports. By law, the administration has another 180 days to come to a decision as long as it is negotiating with its counterparts. Trump sees the tariffs as a way to gain leverage over trading partners such as the European Union and Japan during trade talks.”
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