Trade review: current reports, trends, indices, stock prices, bonds, foreign exchange and commodities and analyst recommendations
16:30
Slight declines at the opening on Wall Street: the Nasdaq is down 0.4%, the S&P 500 is off 0.1% and the Dow Jones is trading around base levels.
The president of the Atlanta Fed, Rafael Bostic, stated in an interview with CNBC that in his opinion the interest rate cuts in the US should begin later this year. At the same time, Bostic referred to the strong growth of the American economy, the recovery in the supply chains and the strong labor market and explained that in his estimation, these will lead to a decrease Inflation is slower. Further to this, he notes that the Fed’s first interest rate cut will not take place in his opinion until the end of 2024.
15:23
In the US, the employment data in the private sector was published a few minutes ago – about 185 thousand jobs were added, compared to only 155 thousand in February. In addition, workers’ wages also increased by 5.1% on an annual basis.
15:03
you discovered which deals in the field of satellite communications, reports today an order of more than 5 million dollars from the US Department of Defense. This is Gilat’s third report of orders this week, and in total it reported orders totaling 30 million dollars, in various areas of its activity .
Apart from the orders it reported today, at the beginning of the week it announced orders of over 13 million dollars from satellite operators, and later announced a contract amounting to 12 million dollars from the US Army to continue supporting the plan to provide satellite connectivity.
14:13
Ronen Menachem, the chief economist of Bank Mizrahi, commented on the inflation data in Europe: “The drop in inflation in the Eurozone in March, according to Bezeq estimates, which are not yet official data, is welcome, as it brings the European Central Bank another step closer to the target level of 2% and can allow it , apparently, later this year, to consider lowering the interest rate, after a prolonged period of consecutive increases”
“However, the figure should be taken with due caution, since the level of inflation is not the only issue that worries the bank, but also its ‘stickiness.’ This is especially true in the services component, which is still expected to rise at a high rate of 4.0% and without slowing down compared to the previous month. The prices of services reflect Better the local demand within the continent, which the bank is trying to moderate.”
“As a result, core inflation did cool down from 3.0% to 2.9% at an annual rate, but it seems that the central bank would like to see further and sharper moderation before lowering interest rates. In the bottom line, inflation is falling, thumbs up, but service items are still rising Too fast to allow the beginning of an actual lowering of the interest rate.”
12:07
Inflation in the Eurozone decreased in March to 2.4% compared to 2.6% recorded in February and even less than the expectation that predicted a price increase of 2.6%.
Core inflation, excluding food, energy and alcoholic beverages, fell from 3.1% to 2.9%, also below expectations.
11:51
Although the price of gold soars and reaches record highs, the Shaw & Partners investment company thinks that another precious metal, silver, may also soar. “The prices of gold and silver usually have a high correlation, and the price ratio between them is usually 70, which has been the case for the past 20 years.”
Analyst Andrew Hines wrote that “the rise in the price of gold has left silver behind, and given the increased demand for the silver metal in solar panels, there is a possibility that it will rise as high as $32 an ounce later this year”, the price of an ounce of silver now stands at $25.
10:34
Inflation in Turkey rose to 68.5% after in February it stood at 67% on an annual basis. Prices of core products, excluding food and energy prices, rose at an even higher rate. This is the fifth month in a row that inflation has increased.
10:20
Trading in Europe resumed this morning with a mixed trend. The DAX and KAC indices are down 0.1%, the Posti sheds 0.3%.
In Asia, stock indices followed yesterday’s declines on Wall Street. The Hang Seng index fell by 1.3%, the South Korean Kospi by 1.7%. BYD fell 2% after reporting an apparent drop in demand, Neo and Lee Auto fell 5%.
Following the earthquake that struck Taiwan, the local TSMC company, one of the largest chip manufacturers in the world, reported that its employees are safe and those who were evacuated are slowly returning to their jobs. The company decided, to be safe, to lay off a large number of employees. The earthquake toppled buildings and caused storms in both Japan and the Philippines. Four people perished.
08:39
Following the earthquake in Taiwan and yesterday’s declines on Wall Street, trading in Asia this morning is in a negative trend, Nikkei down 0.8%, Shanghai by 0.2% and Hang Seng by 1%, the South Korean Kospi index down by 1.3%.
According to HSBC Bank, since 2021 the stock markets in China and Hong Kong have shed $4.8 trillion in market value, this amount is larger than the stock market in India.
The futures are trading this morning with slight decreases of about 0.15%.
Yesterday trading in New York closed with declines – the Nasdaq indices fell by 0.95%, the Dow Jones by 1% and the S&P 500 index shed by 0.7%. Not a good start to the second quarter of the year.
bad news forIntel . The largest high-tech employer in Israel reported yesterday after the closing of trading on Wall Street about an operational loss of the production division (foundry, manufacturing chips for other companies according to their design), this while trying to return to the leadership of this market after being overtaken by the Taiwanese TSMC.
Intel reported that its manufacturing operations generated an operating loss of $7 billion in 2023, a larger loss than the previous year’s $5.2 billion. Manufacturing revenue was $19 billion, down 30% from last year. This is the first time that Intel reports separately on the results of the manufacturing division.
The stock fell 4% in late trading. Pat Gelsinger, the company’s CEO, said that 2024 will be even worse in terms of operating loss, a balance will be reached only in 2027. “The operating loss is due to bad decisions made last year – in particular, that we did not purchase production machinery from the Dutch ASML. Much more efficient machines.” Gelsinger added and “blamed” the slow adoption of EUV technology used to make advanced chips.
Intel recently announced a change in business direction in which it will start producing chips not only for those it itself designs, but also for others.
● In the midst of the massive shortage of artificial intelligence chips: Intel announces the biggest change in its history
The most expensive proxy fight in history will end today at the annual meeting of shareholders of Walt disney . For a long time now, Nelson Peltz, the activist investor in Walt Disney, has been aiming to shake up the board of directors of the media giant. Today we will know if he succeeded.
Calvin Klein’s parent company stock, PVH Plunged in trading following a forecast that is far below analysts’ expectations, the company sees macroeconomic challenges and a significant slowdown in demand in Europe.
DJT , Donald Trump’s media and technology group lost $60 million in 2023, according to a report to the Securities Authority, the company’s revenue was only $4 million. The report also included a profit warning, “The company faces risks compared to other social networks and because of its leader, former President Donald Trump.”
Tesla published the number of new car deliveries in the first quarter. The data indicate a decrease of 8% compared to the corresponding quarter and 20% compared to the previous quarter. This is the first quarterly decline in four years and a sign that lowering prices is not improving sales.
In the US debt market, the 10-year and 30-year government bond yields also jumped to annual highs. The 10-year bond yield stands at 4.38% and the 30-year bond yield at 4.5%.
In the commodities market, oil prices jumped to a 6-month high following supply disruptions and the escalation of tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine. The price of Brent oil traded at $88.5 and the price of WTI oil at $85.
The rise in oil and gold prices raised the Bloomberg Commodity Index, a common index for all commodities, to the highest level in about six months. The price of gold is at a new record – 2,305 dollars.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world by market value, fell by about 5% yesterday to a price of about 66,000. The currency has already been trading in the $70,000 area for a few days but has struggled to rise beyond that.
In the Eurozone, the Purchasing Managers’ Index in the manufacturing sector was published for the month of March, which rose to 46.1 points, compared to the early expectation of 45.7 points. Today the inflation index will be published in Europe.
The important economic figure this week will be published only at the end – at noon on Friday – the employment data in the US, the expectation is for an addition of 200 thousand jobs in March, the unemployment rate is expected to drop slightly to 3.8%.
Yonatan Katz and the economists of Leader Capital Markets cast doubt on the probability of the first interest rate cut in the US in June: “There is uncertainty about the timing of the move, due to the gap between the interest rate cut and the effect of the move on the real economy. Now, the inflation figures are still above the Fed’s target – 2% and the real environment in the US is relatively stable,” they write.
Compared to Katz, Mark Hafla, chief investment officer at UBS thinks differently, “while it seems that before deciding on another interest rate cut, the Federal Bank will expect to see more data that the inflation rate returns to an annual rate of about 2%, we still predict that the interest rate will be cut in the US” It will begin at the Federal Bank meeting in June, with a reduction of approximately 0.75% for the year.”
And in the meantime, Bank of America recommends Disney, where, as mentioned, the famous fight for seats on the board of directors will be decided today. “CEO Bob Iger’s leadership is driving growth, focusing on areas such as strong cash flow, theme parks and cash flow. Adjusted estimates for the second quarter rose slightly, which leads to raising expectations for future profits.”
“We maintain a buy rating with a new price target of $145, reflecting our optimism about Disney’s future performance.”