Early Look

Monday, June 29, 2020

U.S. stock index futures are mixed as the Dow points to a higher open, thanks in part to positive news from Boeing (BA) about its 737 Max planes, while the S&P and Nasdaq Comp remain weaker after the Dow sank more than 700 points Friday. For the week, the Dow lost 3.3%, the S&P 500 notched a 2.9% decline, and the Nasdaq fell 1.9%. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index fell -517 points to settle just below the 22,000 level, the Shanghai Index fell -18 points to 2,961 and the Hang Seng Index dropped -248 points to 24,300. In Europe, the German DAX is up about 50-points to 12,140, while the FTSE 100 is up about 15-points to 6,175. Markets continue to deal with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in heavily populated states, threatening the further reopening of the U.S. economy, while the total coronavirus tally surpasses the 10 million mark. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar warned on Sunday that “the window is closing” for his country to take action to curb the virus, as he predicted rising deaths and hospitalizations in the next couple of weeks. Texas, Arizona, Florida and California are among the states that have become worrying focal points.

Market Closing Prices Yesterday

·     The S&P 500 Index plunged -74.71 points, or 2.42%, to 3,009.05

·     The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -730.05 points, or 2.84%, to 25,015.55

·     The Nasdaq Composite dropped -259.78 points, or 2.59%, to 9,757.22

·     The Russell 2000 Index declined -34.53 points, or 2.44% to 1,378.78

Economic Calendar for Today

·     10:00 AM EST    Pending Home Sales MoM for May

·     10:30 AM EST    Dallas Fed Manufacturing for June

Earnings Calendar:

·     Earnings Before the Open: None

·     Earnings After the Close: MLHR, MU

World News

·     The global tally for cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 rose to 10.2 million on Monday, according to data by Johns Hopkins University. The number of deaths climbed to 502,048, while the number of people who have recovered reached 5.1 million. The U.S. continues to lead the world, with a case tally of 2.55 million and death toll of 125,803,

·     U.S. COVID-19 viruses rose by 45,450 to 2.49M, the biggest percentage jump since May 15. The 1.9% increase was above the average daily rise of 1.5% over the past week.

·     Florida reported 132,545 coronavirus cases on Saturday up 7.8% from Friday and cases rose 6.4% on Sunday from Saturday

·     China’s national bureau of statistics said profits at China’s industrial firms in May rose 6% year-on-year to 582.3 billion yuan ($82.28 billion), according to a statement on Sunday. The rebound followed a 4.3% fall in April, and is its sharpest monthly gain since March 2019.

Sector News Breakdown

Consumer

·     Under Armour (UAA) is discontinuing its partnership with UCLA – a 15-year, $280M contract announced in 2016. “We have been paying for marketing benefits that we have not received for an extended time period,” the company said in a statement

·     Luckin Coffee (LK) said its board will require Chairman Charles Zhengyao Lu to resign, adding to the recent fallout from an accounting scandal

Energy, Industrials & Materials

·     Boeing (BA) shares are higher by over 3% on reports pilots and test crew members from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing Co (BA) are slated to begin a three-day certification test campaign for the 737 MAX on Monday, Reuters reported over the weekend.

·     BP Plc (BP) agrees to sell its global petrochemicals business to Ineos for $5B, in a deal the company says enables it to meet its $15B target for agreed divestments a full year ahead of schedule

·     Chesapeake (CHK) announced that the company has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to facilitate a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring

·     Kosmos Energy (KOS) announced that it has entered into a crude oil prepayment agreement with Trafigura Trading. Kosmos said in a release, “The Prepayment Agreement provides up to $200 million of crude oil sales primarily related to a portion of the Company’s 2022 and 2023 Gulf of Mexico production

Financials

·     Credit Acceptance (CACC) said in an SEC filing that it received a civil investigative demand from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It says it’s cooperating

Healthcare

·     AstraZeneca (AZN) signed a $127 million deal with Brazil to provide 30.4 million doses, in conjunction with Oxford University, of its experimental vaccine.

·     Durect (DRRX) said Gilead (GILD) will end the license agreement on a long-acting injectable HIV product utilizing DURECT’s SABER technology, effective Dec. 22

·     Supernus Pharmaceuticals (SUPN) sued generic drug maker Apotex for infringement of nine patents covering its antiepileptic drug Oxtellar XR.

·     United Therapeutics (UTHR) discloses that it has amended its exclusive license agreement with Eli Lilly (LLY) related to the marketing and sale of Adcirca (tadalafil) in the U.S. for pulmonary hypertension.

Technology, Media & Telecom

·     Disney (DIS) said its “Mulan” movie will now debut in theaters on August 21, after it had already been delayed once due to theater closures amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

·     Dell Technologies (DELL) shares have looked tempting ever since they went public in 2018 Barron’s reported this weekend saying a spin-off of its VMware (VMW) stake, as reported by WSJ, could lead to more upside (notes the stake is worth $50 billion)

·     A growing number of companies have pledged to suspend advertising on Facebook Inc. (FB) over the last few days after accusing them of inadequately policing hateful and misleading content on its platform. The list includes large cap companies such as: Unilever Plc (UL), Coca-Cola Co. (KO), Honda Motor Co. (HMC), Hershey Co. (HSY), Diageo Plc (DEO), PepsiCo, (PEP), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) among many others