President Trump is expected to announce tariffs specifically targeting China today
U.S. stocks are set to continue their slide from yesterday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures signaling a triple-digit drop. Wall Street is awaiting the White House's plan for tariffs on China, which will be announced later in the session. This comes just a day after trade concerns erased stocks' brief rally following the Fed announcement. Investors are also digesting a surprise rise in weekly jobless claims, which came in at 229,000, compared to 225,000 expected.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Put traders have pounced on this drug stock's major losing streak.
- A big pre-earnings bull note for Micron stock.
- The Facebook (FB) options stats that just peaked.
- Plus, another BlackBerry deal; Pandora stock jumps; and a rallying retailer.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 826,165 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 510,571 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio slipped to 0.62, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.62.
- BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB) just made another deal, this time with Jaguar Land Rover. Specifically, BlackBerry will license its security software in the automaker's vehicles. This comes just two days after BB inked a partnership with Microsoft.
- Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) is 5.9% higher in electronic trading, thanks to a two-notch upgrade to "strong buy" from "market perform" at Raymond James, which set an $8 price target -- well above last night's settlement of $4.90. The move was prompted by Pandora's announcement yesterday that it's buying advertising tech company AdsWizz.
- Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) is set for an 11.2% surge at the open, after the retailer reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, largely driven by strong e-commerce sales in China. In response, Jefferies and Telsey Advisory raised their respective price targets to $17 and $18. GES stock closed yesterday at $15.52, up nearly 42% year-over-year.
- Markit's flash composite purchasing managers index (PMI) will be released today. Nike (NKE), Accenture (ACN), Conagra (CAG), and KB Home (KBH) are on tap to report earnings.
Global Markets Struggle Amid Trade Talks
Asian markets varied today, as investors braced for President Trump's expected announcement of tariffs targeting Chinese imports later today. China's Shanghai Composite gave back 0.5%, with big caps coming under pressure after the People's Bank of China raised the interest rate on seven-day reverse repos. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 1.1% due to a tech sell-off. Japan's Nikkei, however, added 1% on strength in the mining and oil sectors. South Korea's Kospi was another winner on oil stock gains, closing up 0.4%.
Stocks in Europe are lower at midday, as trade-war concerns rattled investors. Tech stocks were among the biggest decliners, with traders eyeing Facebook's ongoing scandal and a 9% post-earnings plunge from United Internet in Frankfurt. The French CAC 40 is down 1.3% at last check, while the German DAX is nursing a 1.1% loss. London's FTSE 100 is down 1%, after the Bank of England left interest rates steady.