S&P 500 futures trade lower after yesterday’s sharp gains that drove the price just shy of the 100-day moving average. Walmart reported better than expected earnings. The earnings rose to $1.18/share, and revenue jumped nearly 9% to $134.62 billion. The U.S. same-store sales increased by 10%. Walmart’s e-commerce sales rise by 74%. On the other hand, the Home Depot earnings drop to $2.08/share, affected by higher coronavirus-related costs. The Revenue grew to $28.3 billion, and the same-store sales rise by 6.4%.
Moderna (MRNA) announced a secondary stock offering of 17.6 million common shares at $76/share, Moderna yesterday ended 19.96% higher at 80.00 after the positive coronavirus vaccine trials results.
United States Housing Starts came down -30.2% in April the previous reading was at -22.3%. The Building Permits Change came down to -20.8% in April from -6.8% in March.
Fed Chairman Powell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin will testify before the Senate Banking Committee. The Committee members are expected to question Powell and Mnuchin about actions still needed to keep the U.S. economy afloat.
In Asia, the stocks ended higher despite an increase in trade tensions between China and Australia. China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed 80% tariffs on Australian barley for the next five years on anti-dumping grounds. The anti-dumping tariff would be 73.6%, while the anti-subsidy tariff would be 6.9%.
The Japan Industrial Production came in at -3.7% in line with expectations in March while the yearly reading the Industrial Production came in at -5.2%. The Capacity Utilization came in at -3.6 below the expectations of -0.2%.
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European stocks Retreat
European stocks retreat today giving up some of yesterday’s sharp gains. FTSE 100 pares gains on weak employment data. UK jobless claims surged by 856.5k in April. The FTSE 100 in London is 0.53% lower at 6,016. The German ZEW survey came mixed. The current assessment dropped to a new low of -93.5 from -91.5. However, the expectations survey soared to 51.0 from 28.2. Dax is 0.39% lower at 11,014 while the CAC 40 is 0.78% lower at 4,463.
Crude Oil Price Retreat from Two Month Highs
WTI crude oil futures managed to reverse early losses and now is 0.82% higher at $31.92 ahead of the June futures contracts expiration later today. The Brent crude oil is 1.42% lower at $35.01. The Gold price continues higher at 1,732, while silver price is 0.93% higher at 17.07.
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