Disney sweetened its buyout bid for Fox assets
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are pointed higher for the first time this week, as trade tensions between the U.S. and China take a back seat to equity moves. This morning, Disney (DIS) upped its bid for Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) assets to $71.3 billion in cash and stock, topping Comcast's $65 billion all-cash offer. Fox shares are up 6.9% ahead of the bell.
Additionally, news broke late Tuesday that General Electric (GE) will be replaced on the Dow by Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA) before the open on June 26, ending the conglomerate's 110-year presence on the index. WBA has added more than 3% in electronic trading.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 597,572 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.59, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.57.
- Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) are down 3.8% in pre-market trading after Tuesday night's earnings results, with the company's soft current-quarter profit forecast sparking a Wedbush downgrade to "neutral" from "outperform." The brokerage firm also cut its price target to $49 from $55, while Barclays slashed its price target on ORCL to $58 from $60. Today's early losses continue a post-earnings losing streak for the software giant.
- Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) is nearly 4% lower in electronic trading, after announcing it will close 150 U.S. stores in response to weakening sales growth. The stock has received downgrades from Morgan Stanley and Telsey Advisory Group along with eight price-target cuts. SBUX stock has been underwhelming on the charts of late, and closed Tuesday squarely at its year-to-date breakeven price of $57.43.
- FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) is flat in pre-market trading, as traders weigh a fiscal fourth-quarter profit beat against a tepid full-year earnings forecast. The stock has received two price-target hikes this morning, after dropping 2% yesterday amid trade-war concerns.
- Today's economic calendar features the MBA mortgage index, existing home sales, and the weekly crude inventories report. Micron Technology (MU), Actuant (ATU), and American Outdoor Brands (AOBC) are scheduled to unveil quarterly earnings.
European Markets Rebound on Grocery Strength
Stocks in Asia traded cautiously higher today, rebounding from Tuesday’s substantial pullback. In China, investors reacted to upbeat comments from People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang, who said he’s “full of confidence” regarding the Chinese stock market. As such, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.8%, with shares of tech giant ZTE soaring during the session. Equities in Japan performed even better, as the Nikkei rose 1.2%, while the Kospi added 1% in South Korea.
European stocks are also bouncing back. Retailers are some of the best performers thus far, thanks mostly to strong annual results from Belgian grocery chain Colruyt. British online supermarket Ocado also saw its shares rise after a bullish analyst note. Looking at the indexes, London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.8% so far, and France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX are both sporting gains of 0.2%.