Good morning. Happy Friday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down. China posted a gain, but Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Singapore were all down. Europe, Africa and the Middle East currently lean to the upside. The UK, Turkey, Russia, Switzerland and Norway are up, and Finland, Hungary and Spain are down. Futures in the States point towards a positive open for the cash market.
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The dollar is up. Oil is up; copper is down. Gold and silver are flat. Bonds are down.
Stories/News from Seeking Alpha…
U.S. futures point to a modestly higher open after Thursday’s decline and with a fresh batch of earnings due this morning including Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL). S&P and Dow futures indicate a 0.3% rise at the open, and Nasdaq looks poised to gain 0.4%. The 2-year and 10-year Treasurys are stable. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index is up 0.1% and in London the FTSE 100 also rose 0.5%. Most Asian benchmarks ended the session lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed down 0.7% and Japan Nikkei 225 Index slipped -0.45%.
DOJ set to announce Sprint/T-Mobile approval
The Justice Dept. said antitrust chief Makan Delrahim would announce a “significant” merger enforcement action Friday, and Reuters reported that would be its conditional approval of the $26.5B merger of Sprint (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS). Expectations were high that the DOJ would announce a deal on Thursday involving Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) buying assets from the two, to pursue becoming a fourth national carrier. But that announcement (and a T-Mobile earnings call) were delayed, as the DOJ reportedly looked to persuade opposing state attorneys general to support the deal.
EU, U.K. dig in heels on new Brexit talks
New U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson gets his first rebuff from the European Union, which rejected Johnson’s demand to renegotiate the Brexit deal reached by his predecessor Theresa May. The withdrawal agreement, already rejected three times by the U.K. Parliament, is the “best and only agreement possible,” EU President Jean-Claude Juncker told Johnson. The British pound falls 0.2% against the U.S. dollar.
Go Deeper: Take a look at country ETFs and ETNs and their performance.
SoftBank announces Vision Fund 2 with Microsoft, Apple joining
SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) formally launched another megafund for tech investment, rolling out Vision Fund 2 this morning in Tokyo. The company confirmed $108B in commitments ($38B from itself, and $70B from a number of participants, including Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Foxconn (OTC:FXCOF) and a number of Japanese financial firms). As with its first $100B Vision Fund, the goal is “acceleration of the AI revolution” through investing in growth companies.
Cloud, YouTube drives Alphabet’s Q2 growth
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) aims to triple its Cloud sales force the next few years, management said on its earnings call; Cloud growth drove the tech giant’s Q2’s Other best performance and is now running at an $8B annual run rate. YouTube was the second-largest growth contributor in Q1 and Q2 with substantial growth in response to ads.
Go Deeper: See Alphabet’s history of beating earnings estimates.
Amazon slips after earnings disappoint
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell in after-hours trading Thursday as its guidance for Q3 operating income of $2.1B-$3.1B trailed the consensus estimate of $4.38B. Q2’s operating income was no better, coming in at $3.08B compared with consensus of $3.71B. Part of the disappointment comes from Amazon Web Services revenue of $8.38B failing to meet the $8.51B consensus.
Morgan Stanley hires Forbes from UBS as vice chairman
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) hired Jim Forbes, a healthcare investment banking veteran, away from his role at UBS with plans to make him a vice chairman in its investment bank. That marks the latest in a string of departures from the investment banking operation at UBS. He’s likely to continue working with clients in healthcare services and private equity.
House passes debt ceiling bill despite GOP concerns
The U.S. House of Representatives passes a two-year spending agreement that lifts the government’s debt ceiling despite concerns by many conservatives who have urged the President to reject it. The bill, which passed the House by 284 to 132, is expected to pass the Republican-controlled Senate next week. It boosts spending by $320B above limits set in a 2011 budget law and suspends the debt ceiling until the end of July 2021.
What else is happening…
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) gains on Apple’s (AAPL) $1B deal, brighter FY view.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) beefs up BofA (NYSE:BAC) stake.
Bayer (OTCPK:BAYZF, OTCPK:BAYRY) gets $2B Roundup verdict cut to $86.7M in California case.
Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) to buy USAA wealth, brokerage arms for $1.8B.
MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) taps CFO for its next CEO.
Thursday’s Key Earnings
Amazon (AMZN) -1.5% PM after earnings disappoint.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) +8.3% PM on Q2 beats, $25B buyback and YouTube growth.
Intel (INTC) +5% PM on Apple’s $1B purchase, raised FY view.
Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) +6.3% PM on strong comp sales.
T-Mobile US (TMUS) +0.75% AH on topping subscriber projections.
Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ:CY) +0.6% AH on Q2 beats, slipping revenue.
Stryker (NYSE:SYK) +3% AH on raised guidance.
MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) +6.5% AH after Vegas casinos top expectations.
Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) -1.8% AH on flat earnings.
Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) +5.5% AH after Barbie shines.
Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) +1.5% AH on strong earnings beat.
Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM) +0.5% AH on Q4 beats, muted outlook.
Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) +2.7% AH after reaffirming guidance.
Today’s Economic Calendar
8:30 GDP Q2
1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count