Trade-sensitive stocks like Boeing are in the red
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are down triple digits again today, amid lingering concerns about global trade. Specifically, President Donald Trump said he has no plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to the March 1 deadline to come to a trade agreement. As such, trade-sensitive stocks like Boeing (BA) are lower ahead of the bell. Elsewhere, Amazon (AMZN) shares are also in the red in pre-market trading, after CEO Jeff Bezos accused the National Enquirer of blackmail.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- This pharma stock could be on sale.
- The auto stock slammed on a gloomy full-year forecast.
- The technical level to watch for Turtle Beach stock.
- Plus, Coty celebrates an earnings win; Hasbro braces for a hit; and the latest in the Visa-MasterCard bidding war.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.01 million call contracts traded on Thursday, compared to 706,989 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.70, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.63.
- Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) stock is up 24% in pre-market trading, after the O.P.I. parent reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue. The company also forecast a profit in the second half of the year. COTY shares bottomed out at an all-time low of $5.91 on Dec. 26, but today could take out their 80-day moving average for the first time since early 2018.
- Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) shares are headed 3% lower, after the toymaker reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that fell below analysts’ expectations. The company cited the absence of a major Disney princess movie release as it tries to overcome last year's Toys ‘R’ Us shutdown. Prior to today, HAS was rallying off its Dec. 24 bottom, with an 11.1% year-to-date gain.
- The shares of Visa Inc (NYSE:V) are down 0.8% in electronic trading, after the blue chip topped rival MasterCard's (MA) bid for British payment company Earthport. Visa first offered to buy the firm in late December, and a bidding war has since ensued. V stock has added more than 6% in 2019 so far, and recently took out resistance at its 320-day moving average.
- Today will feature a relatively quiet economic schedule.Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) will report their earnings.
Strong Yen Sinks Nikkei
Asian markets took a hit today, after CNBC reported a meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi was "highly unlikely" before a critical March deadline. Japan's Nikkei dropped 2% as the yen rose, despite a big day from Sony, which announced a $910 million stock buyback. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, on its first day of trading following the Lunar New Year holiday, shed 0.2% thanks to a pullback from tech giant Tencent. Rounding out the region, South Korea's Kospi gave back 1.2%. China's stock market is set to re-open on Monday.
Over in Europe, stocks are marginally lower. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday agreed to head to Brussels for more Brexit meetings with European Union (EU) officials. At last check, London's FTSE 100 and the French CAC 40 were off 0.2%, while the German DAX is 0.5% lower.