OPENING CALL
Stock futures rose slightly on Tuesday as the week started on a hopeful note after the de-escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran.
Tesla's earnings will be in the spotlight, as well as a slew of other household names that are also set to put out earnings.
Tesla is set to post earnings after the market close, and its results will draw even more attention than usual given the stock's rocky performance this year.
Investors also awaited data on manufacturing and services, as well as new home sales.
Economists expect the purchasing managers indexes for April will come in stronger than for March, which will factor into views on how long the Federal Reserve will wait before cutting interest rates.
Overseas Markets
European stocks climbed, lifted by strong earnings from Novartis and SAP. Meantime, eurozone PMI data showed a rise in services activity and weakness in manufacturing. Plus, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index hit an all-time high.
Stocks to Watch
The FTC said it would block Tapestry's $8.5 billion acquisition of rival Capri, because the combined firm would have too much power in the luxury handbag market.
Premarket Movers
Calix was falling 17% after it guided for lower-than-expected revenue in the second quarter.
JD Sports said it would buy Hibbett in a deal that values the American sporting-goods company at $1.08 billion. Hibbett's shares rose roughly 18%.
Nucor posted first-quarter earnings that fell from a year earlier and the company said it expected second-quarter profit to fall on a sequential basis because of decreased earnings from its steel mills segment. The stock fell 6.6%.
SAP reported first-quarter revenue that topped analysts' forecasts but adjusted profit that missed. U.S.-listed shares were up 3.7%.
Tesla rose 0.7% after falling 3.4% on Monday and finishing lower for a seventh-straight session. Heading into its earnings report after the closing bell Tuesday, Tesla shares have fallen 43% this year.
Post Close Movers
Cadence Design Systems' outlook for the second quarter came in below Wall Street's expectations. Shares fell 6%.
Cleveland-Cliffs reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of 18 cents a share, below estimates of 22 cents, and revenue of $5.2 billion that missed expectations of $5.34 billion. Shares fell 2.8%.
Oportun Financial made two appointments in connection with its board of directors as part of an agreement with Findell Capital Management. Shares rose 13%.
Watch For:
New Home Sales for March; Earnings from Canadian National Railway, GE Aerospace, General Motors, PepsiCo, RTX, Tesla, United Parcel Service, Visa
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- Blackstone's Beleaguered Real-Estate Fund Stems Exodus
- Cathie Wood's Popular ARK Funds Are Sinking Fast
- Turning a Vault Into a Bomb Shelter: How Citigroup Has Kept Its Bank Running Inside Ukraine
MARKET WRAPS
Forex:
The euro could get temporary support against the dollar if markets position for fewer interest-rate cuts by the European Central Bank, KBC said.
Bank of Portugal governor Mario Centeno's comment on Monday in an interview with Econostream that the ECB could cut its policy rate by a cumulative 100 basis points this year "seems very unrealistic," KBC said.
Room for repositioning in the other direction--fewer rate cuts--could temporarily limit the downside in EUR/USD.
Bonds:
The dollar and Treasury yields are consolidating their recent rise as market attention turns to this week's Treasury auctions, MUFG said.
"After the recent adjustment higher in U.S. yields, market participants will be watching closely to see how the Treasury market absorbs a combined $183 billion of two-, five- and seven-year bond sales scheduled for this week," it said.
Energy:
Oil prices were broadly stable after recouping some of the losses posted in the previous session as fears of an all-out war between Israel and Iran faded.
Despite this, geopolitical risks in the region remain high and traders still see the oil market growing tighter in the coming months.
"We continue to see the oil market as undersupplied, and expect inventories to point lower again over the coming weeks," UBS said.
Meanwhile, investors await the release of U.S. GDP figures and PCE data this week for more cues on the timeline of interest-rate cuts.
Metals:
Gold future prices tumbled as tensions between Israel and Iran eased and safe haven demand melted away.
Given positioning and recent price action, the risk of gold prices correcting down remains elevated near-term, but geopolitics remains a bullish wildcard, JPMorgan said.
JPMorgan forecast gold prices ending 2024 averaging $2,500 an ounce in the fourth quarter, with further upside next year.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
AB Foods Eyes Further Profit Growth as Primark Margins Rise
Primark owner Associated British Foods raised its dividend and said it expects a significant rise in full-year profit after its budget retailer delivered robust margins and higher earnings.
The British conglomerate said on Tuesday that is on track to deliver significant growth in both profitability and cash generation ahead of expectations at the start of this financial year.
Chinese Bubble Tea Maker Slides on Hong Kong's Largest Listing This Year
Shares of Chinese bubble tea maker Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial slumped in their trading debut in Hong Kong as investors balked at the financial hub's biggest listing so far this year.
Shares of the Chinese tea chain were down as much as 38% on Tuesday and were last 32% lower at 11.90 Hong Kong dollars.
Archer Daniels Midland CFO to Resign Amid DOJ Investigation
Archer Daniels Midland's Chief Financial Officer, Vikram Luthar, will resign later this year as the company faces an investigation by the Justice Department amid scrutiny over its accounting practices.
The agriculture company said in a filing that it and Luthar on Friday entered into an agreement in which the finance chief will resign effective Sept. 30 unless an earlier date is mutually agreed upon, according to a securities filing. He will be able to assist and provide transition support as needed, as a non-executive employee, until his resignation is effective.
ECB Will Consider Fed's Progress When Deciding on Rate Cuts, De Guindos Says
The European Central Bank will take account of the Federal Reserve's progress in lowering inflation when it decides the pace of cuts to its key interest rate after a first move in June, its vice president said in an interview published Tuesday.
The ECB has signaled that it will lower its key rate in June, but the Federal Reserve recently indicated that it is likely to move later in the year as U.S. inflation remains higher than anticipated. That divergence could weaken the euro and push prices of imported goods and services higher, feeding inflation in the eurozone.
Driebusch's Take: String of Successful IPOs Suggest Risk Tolerance is Rebounding
Cybersecurity software company Rubrik is listing its shares in a long-awaited IPO this week. It's the latest in a string of high-profile initial public offerings, most of which have gone surprisingly smoothly, begging the question: Has investor risk-tolerance finally recovered?
So far this year, traditional IPOs in the U.S. have raised roughly $10.5 billion, more than triple the total raised in the same period in 2022 and 2023, according to Dealogic. These IPOs have been on average bigger than the past two years and they have performed well, Dealogic data show.
Supreme Court Turns to Emergency Abortions as Dobbs Fallout Continues
Dr. Alison Edelman, an obstetrician in Portland, Ore., said her hospital receives pregnant patients sent from Idaho with dangerously high blood pressure and other serious conditions that can deteriorate in a matter of minutes.
Idaho doctors, she said, seek to make such transfers because they are unable to provide the patients an abortion if they need one, in light of a state ban on the procedure-punishable by two to five years in prison-with narrow exceptions, including if a woman's life is in danger. Many doctors say that exception isn't easy to apply.
U.S. Takes Aim at Chinese Banks Aiding Russia War Effort
The U.S. is drafting sanctions that threaten to cut some Chinese banks off from the global financial system, arming Washington's top envoy with diplomatic leverage that officials hope will stop Beijing's commercial support of Russia's military production, according to people familiar with the matter.
But as Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Beijing on Tuesday, the question is whether even the threat of the U.S. using one of its most potent tools of financial coercion can put a dent in complex and burgeoning trade between Beijing and Moscow that has allowed the Kremlin to rebuild a military badly mauled by more than two years of fighting in Ukraine.
Israel Moves Closer to Rafah Invasion as Iran Crisis Wanes
TEL AVIV-As tensions with Iran ease, Israel's military is gearing up to complete what it says is unfinished business: Uprooting Hamas from its last stronghold in the Gazan city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are taking shelter.
Israeli leaders say they intend to go ahead despite vocal opposition from the country's most important ally, the U.S., which has warned that a full-scale move on the enclave could cause widespread civilian casualties and disrupt humanitarian-aid efforts aimed at preventing famine.
Write to ina.kreutz@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
Canadian Ntnl Rlwy 1Q
First Quantum Min. 1Q
Wst Fraser Timber 1Q
Economic Indicators (ET):
Nothing scheduled
Stocks to Watch:
Winpak 1Q EPS 55c; 1Q Rev $27.8M; Sees Sales Volume Up 3%-5% for Remainder of 2024
Expected Major Events for Tuesday
00:30/JPN: Apr Japan Flash Manufacturing PMI
05:00/JPN: Mar Supermarket sales
06:00/UK: Mar Public sector finances
07:15/FRA: Apr France Flash PMI
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
04-23-24 0631ET
