ticker

U.S. Movers: Coty, Energy Stocks, Instacart, Pinterest

Scott Peters
20 Sep, 2023
New York City

Investors looked ahead to the Fed's rate announcement and its views on the economy, labor market and inflation later in the day.

The S&P 500 index inched up 0.3% to 4,455.56 and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.04% to 13,684.31.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury edged lower after rising at a high not seen since 2007.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes hovered near 5.05%, 10-year Treasury notes inched lower to 4.32% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged up to 4.40%.

Instacart declined 4.3% to $32.65 on the second day of trading after the grocery delivery company priced its initial public offering at $30 a share and struggled to hold its early gains on the first day.

The company sold 30 million shares in the public offering but all shares changed hands on the first day of trading, suggesting that stock may face more headwinds in the next few weeks.

Pinterest Inc rose 4.3% to $27.34 after the company forecasted annual revenue growth to accelerate following the slowdown in 2022 and 2023.

The company laid out its future plans in its first investor day On Tuesday.

Coty Inc increased 5.7% to $12.12 after the cosmetic company lifted its full-year 2024 outlook and said comparable sales to grow in the range between 8% and 10% from its previous estimate between 6% and 8%.

Energy stocks were in focus after crude oil prices hovered near its one-year high, but edged lower in today's trading.

ExxonMobil, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Hess Corp, Valero Energy, ConocoPhillips and Devon Energy and Kinder Morgan traded mixed and ranged between a gain of 0.6% and a decline of 0.8%.

With Hopes for Rate Pause High, Investors Await Fed's Views On Economy

Barry Adams
20 Sep, 2023
New York City

Market indexes diverged as investors awaited interest rate decision later in the day.

Investors widely anticipate the Federal Reserve to hold rates for the second time at the end of the two-day meeting today.

The Fed is scheduled to announce its rate decision at 2 p.m. ET and investors will be looking for Fed's projections on economic growth, inflation outlook and jobless rate.

The Fed's summary of economic projections provides clues about the latest thinking of policymakers and what could impact Fed's decision making.

Investors are divided about the future rate path and how long interest rates may be needed to stay elevated to bring down inflation to Fed's target rate of 2%.

Despite multiple rate hikes by the Federal Reserve over the last seventeen months, inflation has stayed above the Fed's target rate because inflation pressures have broadened from commodities and manufactured goods to services and wages.

The policymakers have little influence over the direction of the commodities prices, like metals and energy, but hold a larger sway on the direction of mortgage rates and borrowing rates for corporations and consumers.

U.S. Indexes & Yields

The S&P 500 index inched up 0.3% to 4,455.56 and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.04% to 13,684.31.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes hovered near 5.05%, 10-year Treasury notes inched lower to 4.32% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged up to 4.40%.

Crude oil decreased $0.20 to $90.32 a barrel and natural gas prices declined 13 cents to $2.71 a thermal unit.

The dollar index edged slightly lower to 104.78, the level last seen in March but higher than the low of 99.85 on July 13.

U.S. Stock Movers

Instacart declined 4.3% to $32.65 on the second day of trading after the grocery delivery company priced its initial public offering at $30 a share and struggled to hold its early gains on the first day.

The company sold 30 million shares in the public offering but all shares changed hands on the first day of trading, suggesting that stock may face more headwinds in the next few weeks.

Pinterest Inc rose 4.3% to $27.34 after the company forecasted annual revenue growth to accelerate following the slowdown in 2022 and 2023.

The company laid out its future plans in its first investor day On Tuesday.

Coty Inc increased 5.7% to $12.12 after the cosmetic company lifted its full-year 2024 outlook and said comparable sales to grow in the range between 8% and 10% from its previous estimate between 6% and 8%.

Europe Movers: Automakers, Pearson, Just Eat Takeaway, Ryanair, STMicroelectronics, UK Home Builders

Inga Muller
20 Sep, 2023
Frankfurt

European markets rebounded after investors reacted positively to inflation reports from Germany and the U.K.

The DAX index increased 0.6% to 15,753.82, the CAC-40 index advanced 0.4% to 7,310.83 and the FTSE 100 index inched up 0.8% to 7,718.97.

The yield on 10-year German bonds increased to 2.71%, French bonds traded higher to 3.26%, the UK gilts edged down to 4.26% and Italian bonds rose to 4.49%.

European automakers advanced after the EU passenger car registrations jumped 21% from a year ago in August.

BMW AG jumped 2.3% to €99.95, Mercedes Benz Group AG gained 2.3% to €68.34 and Volkswagen AG increased 2.2% to €128.65.

Pearson Plc dropped 1.4% to 872.20 pence and the UK textbook and education company appointed Microsoft executive Omar Abbosh as its new chief executive.

Abbosh will take the new position from early 2024.

STMicroelectronics NV edged higher 0.9%to €40.81 and the advanced chipmaker extended chief executive's employment contract.

Just Eat Takeaway.com NV jumped €13.06 after the company won a court battle to sue New York City over a food delivery charge limit.

UK home builders advanced after home prices rose 0.6% in twelve months to August.

Persimmon Plc increased 5% to 1,099.50 pence, Taylor Wimpey added 5.6% to 121.80 pence and Barratt Developments Plc increased 4.4% to 464.40 pence.

Ryanair Holdings Plc edged a fraction higher to $101.43 despite the airline facing investigation from the Italian competition regulator.

European Markets Rebounded After German Wholesale Deflation Accelerated, UK Inflation Eased

Bridgette Randall
20 Sep, 2023
Frankfurt

European markets rebounded after investors reacted positively to inflation reports from Germany and the U.K.

Positive market sentiment was in check ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision later today and the Bank of England's rate announcement Thursday.

Despite the improvement in inflation in the last seven months, the rebound in crude oil and natural gas prices in the last five weeks stoked fears of another bout of inflation.

Crude oil prices are hovering at one-year highs and natural gas prices have rebounded from the lows in June.

Additionally, investors reacted positively after passenger car registration in August was in double digits, despite the decline in registration rate from a year ago.

Record Decline In German PPI

German producer price index declined at a record pace in August since data collection began in August, the Federal Statistical Office or DeStatis reported Wednesday.

The producer price index dropped 12.6% from a year ago, largely because of a base effect reflecting higher prices last year, and the decline accelerated for the second month in a row after falling 6.0% in the previous month.

Energy prices dropped 31.9% and electricity prices fell 43.2%.

However, the core rate of producer price index, which excludes energy prices, rose 1.2%.

On a monthly basis producer prices rose 0.3% in August, the first rise in four months.

UK Inflation Rate Drops to 18-month Low

Consumer price inflation in the U.K. slowed to 6.7% in August from 6.8% in the previous month, the Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday.

The inflation rate fell to the slowest pace since February 2022 after food prices rose at a slower pace and housing cost declined.

Core rate of inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, eased to 6.2% from 6.9% in the previous, the lowest level since March.

On a monthly basis, consumer price inflation rose 0.3%.

Passenger Vehicle Registration Expanded In August

Passenger car registrations in the European Union rose 21% from a year ago to 787,600 units in August, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association or ACEA reported Wednesday.

Sales in August are generally slower, but a double-digit increase in registration suggested that pandemic-era component shortages are finally easing and automakers are able to meet higher demand.

Vehicle registration rose for the thirteenth month in a row in August and market share of battery-electric cars rose above 20% for the first time and surpassed diesel cars for the second time this year.

Passenger vehicle registration increased in double-digits in most markets, including in the three largest markets in the region, with registration rising in Germany by 37.3%, in France by 24.3%, and in Italy by 11.9%.

Battery electric car registrations in the European Union soared 118.1% to 165,200 vehicles in August, about 21% of the market.

For the first eight months of the year, EU passenger car registrations rose 17.9% from the same period a year ago to 7.1 million units.

Despite the improvement in sales this year, sales are still lower than the pre-pandemic level of 9.0 million units sold in 2019.

Europe Indexes & Yields

The DAX index increased 0.6% to 15,753.82, the CAC-40 index advanced 0.4% to 7,310.83 and the FTSE 100 index inched up 0.8% to 7,718.97.

The yield on 10-year German bonds increased to 2.71%, French bonds traded higher to 3.26%, the UK gilts edged down to 4.26% and Italian bonds rose to 4.49%.

The euro edged lower to a three-month low to $1.069, the British pound to $1.237 and the U.S. dollar fetched 89.74 Swiss cents.

Brent crude decreased $0.83 to $93.49 a barrel and the Dutch TTF natural gas increased €0.13 to €36.65 per MWh.

Asian Markets Rested Ahead of Fed Action, Japan's Trade Shrank, China Holds Rates

Arjun Pandit
20 Sep, 2023
New York City

Popular indexes in Asia dropped ahead of rate decisions from several central banks this week.

Global market sentiment was weak ahead of interest rate decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan.

Sweden, Norway and Switzerland are also set to announce their rate decisions this week.

The Bank of Japan is expected to leave its ultra-loose monetary policy intact but some investors are hoping that policymakers will provide better insights on future rate patch and inflation pressures in the economy.

Market sentiment was weak on the worries of a rebound in inflation and uncertainty about interest rates in the U.S. and Europe and looming global slowdown.

Higher oil prices weighed on the market sentiment after Brent crude oil price jumped above $95 a barrel after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended voluntary production cuts to the end of 2023.

China Holds Rates

The People's Bank of China also announced its monthly rate decisions as the overall outlook for the economy remains uncertain.

China's one-year loan prime rate, used for consumer and corporate lending, was held at 3.45% and 5-year loan prime rate, reference rate for mortgage lending, was left unchanged at 4.2%.

Japan's International Trade Shrank In August

Japan's imports declined for the fifth month in a row and fell at the fastest pace after energy cost declined.

Japan's imports declined 17.8% from a year ago to ¥8,924.82 billion in August following a 13.6% decline in July, data from Finance Ministry showed today.

Imports from China declined by 12.1%, the U.S. by 9.5%, Hong Kong by 20.8%, South Korea by 10.8%, Malaysia by 30.0%, India by 9.4%, Australia by 41.6%, and Russia by 62.5%, but increased from Germany by 7.9%.

Japan's exports decreased for the second month in a row in August, largely because of weak demand from China.

Exports decreased 0.8% from a year ago to ¥7,994.35 billion.

Exports declined to China by 11.0%, Taiwan by 14.3%, South Korea by 10.8%, Singapore by 24.6%, Australia by 10.6%, and Russia by 57.6% but increased to the U.S. by 5.1%, India by 16.2%, and the EU by 12.7%.

Japan reported trade deficit of ¥930.48 billion in August, second monthly deficit in a row, and the shortfall jumped from ¥66.3 billion in July, despite rising automobile exports to the U.S.

Japan has recorded monthly trade deficit for two years in a row barring June 2023.

The latest decline in exports was driven by a decline in food exports after its largest trading partner China impose ban on Japanese seafood in late August.

Japan's trade surplus with the U.S. surged 38.2% to ¥650.60 billion.

Exports increased 5.1% to record August-high of ¥1.62 trillion but imports decreased 9.5% to ¥967.39 billion.

Asia Market Indexes

In Wednesday's trading, the Nikkei index decreased 0.7% to 33,023.78 and tech stock weakness extended to the third day in a row.

Market indexes in Hong Kong declined to a 4-week low as investors await the Fed's rate decision and economic projections later today.

Two new stocks started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday after completing their initial public offerings.

Jilin Joinature Polymer jumped 11% to 32.79 yuan and Hunan Sund Technological advanced 26% to 83.86 yuan.

In China trading, the Shanghai SSE Composite index inched down 0.5% to 3,108.57 and the Hang Seng index decreased 0.5% to 17,908.48 and the KOSPI index increased 0.02% to 2,559.74.

China's yuan has been trading near a 16-year low after about $68 billion of capital outflow between July and August.

Stocks in Mumbai fell sharply on the worries of resurgent inflation after crude oil prices jumped to a one-year high.

The Sensex index decreased 561.19 points to 67,043.80 and the Nifty index declined 165.40 points to 19,968.30.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, 226 stocks traded at their 52-week highs and 138 traded at their 52-week lows.

In August, the Nikkei index fell 0.6%, the SSE Composite index declined 5.2%, the Hang Seng index fell 8.2% and the KOSPI index decreased 4.2%.

Global Markets On Hold Ahead of Fed Action

Barry Adams
19 Sep, 2023
New York City

Market indexes lacked direction and investors turned cautious ahead of the Fed's rate decision and economic forecast.

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped as investors awaited the outcome of two-day policy meeting held by the Federal Reserve.

Investors widely believe that policy committee will hold rates for the second time and leave its target rate range between 5.25% and 5.5%.

Investors are also looking ahead to the release of economic forecast, and will be looking for Fed's forecast on economic growth, jobless rate and inflation rate.

The Fed's ten successive rate hikes between March 2022 and May 2023, inflation has slowed down from peak of over 8% to near 4%, but still higher than the 2% target.

Moreover, inflation has declined because of base effect and the rate hikes have not been restrictive enough to slowdown economic activities.

Despite multiple rate hikes, interest rates have lagged inflation rate and failed to slowdown consumer spending and business borrowing.

U.S. Housing Starts Dropped to 3-year Low

Higher mortgage rates and elevated home prices impacted home demand and weighed on buyer's affordability.

Housing starts and building permits declined in August from the previous month but housing completions rose, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly reported Tuesday.

Building permits decreased 6.9% to 1.543 million annual adjusted rate in August from the revised July rate of 1.443 million, but 2.7% lower than the annual rate of 1.586 million a year ago.

Single-family home permit increased 2% from the previous month to 949,000 and multi-family permits were at a rate of 535,000.

Housing starts in August declined 11.3% from the previous month to 1.283 million and dropped 14.8% from a year ago rate of 1.505 million.

Single-family housing start declined 4.3% from the previous month to 941,000 and the August rate for multi-family housing starts was 33,4000.

Seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts in the West dropped 28.9% to 281,000, in the Midwest fell 7.5% to 160,000 but rose 1% 97,000 in the Northeast.

Home completions in August rose 5.3% from the previous month to 1.406 million units and increased 3.8% from the annual rate of 1.355 million a year ago.

Single-family home completion annual rate in August declined 6.6% from the previous month to 961,000 and multi-family rate was at 433,000.

U.S. Indexes & Yields

The S&P 500 index inched down 0.4% to 4,432.96 and the Nasdaq Composite decreased 0.6% to 13,626.27.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes hovered near 5.07%, 10-year Treasury notes inched slightly higher to 4.33% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged up to 4.41%.

Crude oil increased $1.22 to $92.72 a barrel and natural gas prices increased 10 cents to $2.83 a thermal unit.

The dollar index edged slightly lower to 105.04, the level last seen in March but higher than the low of 99.85 on July 13.

U.S. Stock Movers

Rocket Lab USA Inc dropped 18% to $4.12 after the company's uncrewed launched failed in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The company confirmed that its 41st Electron rocket launch off the coast of New Zealand failed after two minutes and 30 seconds in flight carrying the Acadia 2 satellite for Capella Space based in San Francisco.

The company also said it plans to postpone its next space launch and will revise lower its third quarter revenue outlook.

Rocket Launch had 19 successful launches in a row since May 2021 and is now the second most active rocket launch company in the U.S., trailing only to Space X owned by Elon Musk.

Maplebear Inc, parent of Instacart delivery service provider, priced its initial public offering at $30 a share, at the upper end of its price range, and raise about $600 million.

The offering valued the company at $9.9 billion and and just days before PepsiCo agreed to invest $175 million in the company.

Walt Disney Co decreased 3.2% to $82.23 after the company said in a SEC filing that it plans to double its investment in theme parks and cruise business to $60 billion over the next decade.

Higher-for-longer Rate Worries Europe Markets

European markets hugged the flatline and investors stayed on the sideline ahead of rate decisions from several central banks.

Market indexes in Germany and France edged higher but lacked direction after hawkish comments from the ECB officials reminded investors that the European Central Bank is ready to raise rates to cool inflation further even if that puts the economy into a recession.

In London trading, the benchmark index edged higher on the hopes that the Bank of England is nearing its rate hike campaign after the rate decision this week.

Inflation in the UK has been cooling over the last six months and hovering near 7%, but still significantly higher than 2% target.

Investors are divided about the future direction of interest rates and there is a widespread belief that central banks are more likely to keep higher rates for longer after the rebound in crude oil prices.

Brent crude oil prices jumped above $95 a barrel for the first time since November and WTI crude in New York approached $93, the highest in a year.

Europe Indexes & Yields

The DAX index decreased 0.6% to 15,639.26, the CAC-40 index declined 0.2% to 7,264.09 and the FTSE 100 index inched up 0.05% to 7,657.11.

The yield on 10-year German bonds increased to 2.70%, French bonds traded higher to 3.24%, the UK gilts edged up to 4.34% and Italian bonds rose to 4.49%.

The euro edged lower to a three-month low to $1.069, the British pound to $1.238 and the U.S. dollar fetched 89.65 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $1.12 to $95.56 a barrel and the Dutch TTF natural gas increased €0.60 to €35.67 per MWh.

Europe Stock Movers

Banks in Germany, France, UK and Italy traded higher for the second day in a row on the expectations of higher interest rates.

Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and Barclays advanced between 0.5% and 1.4%.

Societe Generale SA declined for the second day in a row and extended two-day losses to 13% after the new chief executive lowered the bank's target returns over the next three years.

MTU Aero Engines AG declined 1.9% to €164.65 and extended 2023 losses to 20% after the heavy-duty diesel engine maker issued a sales and earnings warning because of its expanded geared turbofan inspection program.

On September 13, the company estimated adjusted revenue between €6.1 billion and €6.3 billion and earnings before interest and taxes of €800 million.

Lonza Group jumped 2.5% to CHF 434.90 a day after plunging as much as 15% on the worries about the company's medium term earnings outlook after the company said its chief executive Pierre-Alain Ruffieux will resign at the end of the month by mutual agreement.

U.S. Housing Starts Dropped to a 3-year Low In August

Brian Turner
19 Sep, 2023
New York City