Written by Gary
US stock index futures have risen this morning (SPY +0.2%) on signs of easing of US-China trade tensions.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 0.39% while France’s CAC 40 is off 0.25% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 0.20%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | In concession, Trump will help China’s ZTE ‘get back into business’WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump pledged on Sunday to help ZTE Corp “get back into business, fast” after a U.S. ban crippled the Chinese technology company, offering a job-saving concession to Beijing ahead of high-stakes trade talks this week. |
| NAFTA math may not add up to more U.S. auto jobsDETROIT (Reuters) – Trump administration demands in NAFTA trade negotiations meant to push auto jobs back to the United States may not be enough to spark a shift in where automakers build cars and trucks. |
| Stock futures rise as U.S.-China trade tensions ease(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday on signs of easing trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies after President Donald Trump pledged to help China’s ZTE Corp “get back into business, fast” following a crippling U.S. ban. |
| Facebook suspends 200 apps over data misuse investigation(Reuters) – Facebook Inc has so far suspended around 200 apps in the first stage of its review into apps that had access to large quantities of user data, in a response to a scandal around political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. |
| China says will work with U.S. for positive outcome in trade talksBEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Monday it is willing to work with the United States for a positive outcome in trade negotiations this week. |
| HSBC says performs first trade finance deal using single blockchain systemHONG KONG (Reuters) – HSBC Holdings Plc said on Monday it has performed the world’s first trade finance transaction using a single blockchain platform, in a push to boost efficiency in the multi-trillion-dollar funding of international trade. |
| Tesla registers Shanghai electric car firm ahead of ownership rule changeSHANGHAI (Reuters) – Tesla Inc has registered a new electric car firm in Shanghai, as China prepares to scrap rules on capping foreign ownership of new-energy vehicle (NEV) ventures. |
| Exclusive: Conoco moves to sell North Sea oilfields: sourcesLONDON (Reuters) – U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips is preparing to sell its North Sea fields as the company focuses on shale operations in its home market, industry and banking sources said. |
| Xerox abandons planned deal with Fujifilm in victory for Icahn and DeasonNEW YORK/TOKYO (Reuters) – Xerox Corp has scrapped a planned $6.1 billion deal with Fujifilm Holdings Corp in a settlement with activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason that also hands control of the U.S. photocopier giant to new management. |
| Israel Kills 28, Injures 600 In Gaza As Palestinians Protest Opening Of US Embassy In JerusalemThe Israeli military continued its violent repression of Palestinian protesters on Monday when soldiers once again gunned down unarmed demonstrators whom it claimed were trying to penetrate the border fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. According to Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Israeli soldiers said they were “provoked into violence” when small groups of Palestinians began throwing stones at IDF soldiers from the other side of the border fence. The soldiers responded by gunning down demonstrators; by the time the demonstrations had quieted down, at least 28 Palestinians had been killed, and another 600 had been wounded, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old had been counted among the dead. At least 10,000 Palestinians had gathered early Monday local time along more than 10 locations along the border fence, which is one of several closed borders that has effectively cut off Gaza from the rest of the world (though Hamas has been known to dig tunnels to help people move in and out of the territory), |
| Bill Gross’s Ex-Wife Stole A $35M Picasso From Their Bedroom And Replaced It With A Hand DrawingThere is a (not so) rare breed of cynic, that mocks much of “modern art”, claiming a 5-year-old could “draw” it. In this particular case, they may have a point. Whereas high-profile Wall Street divorces typically provide some entertaining grist for the gossip pages – whether it’s Ken Griffin’s ex-wife demanding alimony payments of $1 million a month (how else would she afford those $500,000 vacations?) or a former Miss Germany suing her hedge-fund hubby for (allegedly) giving her herpes, never before was a (fake) Picasso thrown in the mix of contested assets. Until now, because to that list we can now add the story of Bill Gross’s ex-wife Sue, who pilfered a 1932 Picasso “Le Repos”, purportedly worth up to $35 million (for the market test watch tonight’s Sotheby’s auction) from the couple’s Laguna Beach mansion.
“Le Repos” by Pablo Picasso, courtesy of Sotheby’s In the months before their separation, Sue Gross replaced the painting – which had been hanging in the couple’s fo … |
| ECB’s Villeroy Spooks Europe With “End Of QE” Talk; Spikes EUR, Bund YieldsECB member and Bank of France governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, hit the wires this morning insisting that despite sluggish inflation, the governing council is set to stick with the plan and end QE over he near term, citing September or December as the likely cut off point, and warning that the first rate hike could come quarters, not years after the end of asset purchases. Absent some political fiasco (ahem Italy), the ECB wants to stick with the current plan of normalisation, to some degree, and on inflation alone he went on to say that the governing council view the slowdown as ‘temporary’ and that it expects a pick up to ‘resume over coming months’. In light of this, the Bank of France governor deemed it necessary to quantify the meaning of rate hikes ‘well past’ the end of QE, saying that this does not mean years but rather quarters. Naturally central bankers like to maintain a level of consistency to their guidance – much like we saw with the Bank of England last week and their more optimistic take on the Q1 GDP data, and in the same way, the ECB will be loath to back down from previous assessments, with less caution required on their wording and general rhetori … |
| S&P Futures Jump After Trump’s ZTE U-Turn As Nervous Traders Eye Italy; EMs Boosted By Weaker DollarS&P futures are higher, maintaining overnight gains as most Asian markets advance with the MSCI Asia Pacific index 0.5% higher, as sentiment was boosted by President Trump unexpected reversal on China telecom giant ZTE over the weekend when in a Sunday morning tweet, Trump vowed to get the Chinese telco back to business in a surprising policy U-turn after the company announced a halt to major operating activities following a US 7-year supply ban order. Europe was broadly, if modestly, in the red as a result of the EUR rising to session highs just shy of 1.20, the highest in over a week, after the ECB’s Villeroy said the first rate hike could come quarters, not years after the end of asset purchases, while political strains in Italy outweighed optimism over waning global trade tensions. Thanks to the weaker dollar, emerging-market stocks built on their first weekly advance in four weeks.
Elsewhere in Asia, Malaysia’s markets showed only short-lived post-election panic, with the ringgit rebounding from 1% drop while stocks in Kuala Lumpur recover opening losses to gain 0.5% as trade returns after a historic election loss by the ruling Razal-led coalition, its first in over 60 years. … |
| Venezuela’s Oil Meltdown Is Getting WorseDeath spiral is an overused term, but it is justified when describing Venezuela’s oil industry right now. Energy consumers and investors should pay attention. |
| Investors Shouldn’t Be So Quick to Swipe Left on Tinder’s OwnerIAC and Match.com, the owners of Tinder and other dating services, were rattled by Facebook’s plans to launch a dating service. But there’s room for two in this market. |
| Startups Show Insurers They Need to Get SmarterEstablished insurers will struggle to boost profits while the property and casualty industry is flooded with capital and investment returns remain depressed. Their only option is to get quicker and smarter. |
| HP sticks with successful strategy in new lineup of premium PCsHP on Monday announced new premium PCs for consumers and businesses. |
| Market Extra: An indicator that’s ‘90% accurate’ suggests hidden strength in the stock marketThe U.S. stock market may feel particularly risky right now, as major indexes have been volatile throughout 2018 and there are a number of headwinds that investors are monitoring, but things may not be as bad as they seem. |
| CryptoWatch: Bitcoin under pressure, nears crucial $8,000 support levelDigital currencies extend losses Monday, with all major coins showing losses to begin the week. |
Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau
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