NKE stock is set to open at a new record high
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are trading above fair value, thanks to a positive earnings reaction for Nike (NKE). The Dow stock is up 5.4% in electronic trading -- set to open at a record high -- after the athletic apparel retailer's strong fiscal first-quarter earnings report was met with an onslaught of price-target hikes. However, pre-market gains are modest, as traders keep a cautious eye trained on Washington, D.C, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump last night. Futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) are up with the Dow, while the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) is set for a negative start.
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5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.14 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 802,384 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 0.70, while the 21-day moving average slipped to 0.63.
- Raymond James upgraded Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL) to "outperform" from "market perform," saying it expects homebuilder earnings to come in stronger than forecast. After closing last night at $39.71 -- up 20.6% year-to-date -- TOL stock is 1.7% higher in electronic trading.
- Merger talks between tobacco titans Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) and Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) have ended. With regulatory pressure ramping up on the vaping industry, the two companies said they will focus their efforts on the former's IQOS smoking device. PM stock is trading up 7.2% ahead of the bell, while MO shares are poised to pop 2.5% out of the gate.
- Benchmark initiated coverage on Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) with a "buy" rating, and set a Street-high price target of $64 -- a 40% premium to last night's close at $45.71. CMCSA hit a record high of $47.27 on Sept. 12, but has more recently consolidated atop its rising 20-day moving average.
- Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will take the mic, while weekly crude inventories and new home sales data are due. AAR (AIR), H.B. Fuller (FUL), and KB Home (KBH) will report earnings.
Trump Impeachment Buzz Weighs on Global Stocks
News of a formal impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump had stocks in Asia ending lower today, with political uncertainty spooking investors. The Shanghai Composite fell 1% after Trump told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that he would not accept a "bad deal," whilst addressing the current trade war between the U.S. and China. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 1.3%, while South Korea's Kospi fell 1.3%, and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.4% with financial and robotics sectors leading the decline.
The late Tuesday announcement of the impeachment inquiry is dampening investor sentiment in Europe at midday, too. The French CAC 40 is the biggest loser so far, down 1.5% as utility heavyweight EDF craters 6.6% after raising the cost estimate for its two new U.K. nuclear reactors by approximately $3.6 billion. The German DAX has dropped 1.1% as auto stocks slide amid legal fines for Volkswagen and Daimler. Meanwhile, ongoing Brexit uncertainty after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Supreme Court defeat still has the London FTSE 100 swimming in red ink, down 0.8% so far.