US equities are seeing very modest gains this morning in a quiet session with no major data headlines. As of writing, the DJIA is up 0.13%, the S&P500 is up 0.07% and the Nasdaq is up 0.25%.
Gold prices spiked lower during the Asia trading session today, with prices falling almost 4% in a matter of seconds. Reportedly around five tons of bullion, equivalent to one-fifth of a whole day's trade in a normal session, came on the market in China in a two-minute window. One ANZ Bank analyst suggested that the "nature, size and timing of the heavy selling" suggests someone "was taking advantage of low liquidity or some sort of forced selling had taken place." Prices probed five-year lows, with spot gold only a few bucks above $1,100 this morning. Dollar weakness isn't helping: after declining to within pips of 1.0820 on Friday, EUR/USD remains not far from four-month lows in the 1.0860 area.
St. Louis Fed President Bullard sees more than a 50% probability of rate hike in September. In a TV interview out this morning, Bullard reiterated he would prefer to begin raising rates early and proceed gradually. With unemployment poised below 5% eventually and +3% GDP growth seen in the second half of 2015, Bullard reiterated that it would be very bad for a central bank to fall behind the curve on rates.
Morgan Stanley clearly routed rival Goldman Sachs in the second quarter, with both earnings and revenue widely outperforming expectations. Revenue saw strong y/y growth, although profits were down slightly y/y. Halliburton had a very mixed quarter: diluted EPS crushed expectations, but after items, profits were anemic. Revenue declined considerably y/y, although it came in better than expected in the quarter. Shares of MS are flat. Halliburton reiterated its commitment to the Baker Hughes acquisition. Executives warned they do not expect a meaningful recovery in activity until next year. HAL is +2% on the session.
After a short period of trading on a "when issued" basis, PayPal is now officially an independent company. On its first day of trading, shares opened at $41.63, up 8.3% above last Friday's closing price before its public introduction. Shares came off their highs and are trading around +5% as of writing. Shares of EBAY are down 1% or so on the day.
Lockheed Martin reached a deal to acquire helicopter maker Sikorsky from United Technologies for $9 billion. If it closes, the acquisition would make Lockheed the Pentagon's largest supplier. Lockheed said the purchase would have no impact on its commitment to return cash to shareholders through dividends and a share buyback scheme. LMT is up more than 1% but UTX is in the red. In other deal news, Vivint Solar agreed to be acquired by SunEdison and TerraForm power for $2.2 billion, valuing it around $16.50/shr. The sizable premium is also sending SCTY up 6.5% in the early going.
***Looking Ahead***
- 16:00 (US) Crop Condition Report
- 19:50 (JP) BOJ Minutes for June 18-19 Meeting
- 21:30 (AU) RBA July Meeting Minutes
- 23:30 (HK) Hong Kong to sell 3-month and 6-month Bills
***Economic data***
- (IL) Israel May Manufacturing Production M/M: -1.4% v -4.9% prior
- (BR) Brazil July IGP-M Inflation 2nd Preview: 0.7% v 0.7%e
- (CA) Canada May Wholesale Trade Sales M/M: -1.0% v 0.0%e
[I]Contributed by Trade The News[/I]
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