Economic Notes:
There are no economic reports on today’s calendar, but there is one Fed official speaking — St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who has a morning speech in Glasgow, Kentucky. Bullard is not a voting member of the FOMC for 2018.
G-20 finance ministers meet Saturday July 21 in Buenos Aires with trade conflict seen as the main risk to economic growth.
Overnight Notes:
- The yuan recovered from a steep decline overnight amid signs authorities were seeking to halt the plunge that have hit Chinese markets this week.
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent, with the Shanghai Composite Index closing 2 percent higher as the yuan stabilized. Japan’s Topix index ended the session 0.3 percent lower.
- In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.1 percent higher at 5:45 a.m. Eastern Time as equities fluctuated between gains and losses.
- Futures were lower this morning, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq hovering near breakeven for the week. Weekly gains would be the third straight for all three, but momentum is somewhat negative with the Dow coming off its first loss in six sessions.
- Dow futures fell 120 points after President Trump announces he’s ‘ready to go’ to $500 billion in tariffs on China
Earnings Notes:
- Microsoft (MSFT) stock was 3 percent higher premarket after it earned an adjusted $1.13 per share for its latest quarter, beating consensus estimates by five cents.
- General Electric earnings: 19 cents a share, vs expected EPS of 17 cents
- Revenue also beat forecasts, and the company gave an upbeat current quarter forecasts as well as it continues to grow its cloud computing business.
- Earnings reports out this morning include Baker Hughes (BHGE), General Electric (GE), Honeywell (HON), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Regions Financial (RF), Schlumberger (SLB), Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), State Street (STT), SunTrust (STI) and VF Corp (VFC). There are no earnings reports scheduled after today’s closing bell.
