Trade Buzz Boosts Stock Futures on Merger Monday
U.S. national security advisor Robert O'Brien predicted a trade agreement will be reached by the end of 2019
Stock futures are signaling another rally today, following Friday's last minute turnaround. Dow futures are roughly 81 points above fair value after comments on Saturday from U.S. national security advisor Robert O'Brien suggested a "phase one" trade deal between the U.S. and China could be in effect by the end of this year, even as he cautioned that President Donald Trump was "concerned" about the protests in Hong Kong. In corporate news, it seems the rumors are true; Charles Schwab (SCHW) said it would acquire TD Ameritrade (AMTD) in an all-stock deal worth $26 billion, which will create a combined company with $5 trillion in assets under management.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
Why one analyst thinks this big-cap China stock is a good bet. 2 stocks that soared after impressive quarterly reports. Plus, LVMH bids for Tiffany; Tesla stock bounces back; NVDA stock gets an upgrade.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.13 million call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 659,956 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio moved down to 0.58, while the 21-day moving average came in at 0.58. The shares of jewelry issue Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) are up 5.8% in electronic trading after the company said it would be acquired by Louis Vuitton parent LVMH in a deal worth $16.2 billion, or $135 per share -- up from the initial bid of $120 per share. TIF is set to open around $132.81.Despite last Friday's awkward Cybertruck debut, the shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) are up 4% in electronic trading after tweets from CEO Elon Musk indicated that nearly 200,000 pre-orders for its newest electric pickup truck have already been placed. The Cybertruck pre-order involves a fully refundable $100 fee.Chip stock Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is rising this morning after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "equal weight," and lifted its price target to $259 from $217. In a note to clients, the brokerage predicted a return to growth in the gaming and data center markets for 2020. NVDA is up 2.7% in pre-market action, on track to open around $216.48. Today's economic calendar features the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey. Agilent Technologies (A), Ambarella (AMBA), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Nutanix (NTNX), and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) will report earnings.
Pro-Democracy Victory for Hong Kong Gives Asian Stocks a Boost
Hong Kong-listed stocks led the charge to a positive finish for Asian markets today, after Sunday's polls yielded a landslide victory for pro-democracy candidates on record voter turnout. The Hang Seng settled 1.5% higher on an election-related break from months of unrest, while South Korea's Kospi was close behind with a 1% gain. Elsewhere in the region, China's Shanghai Composite climbed 0.7%, and Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.8%.
Politics are also in focus over in Europe, where equity benchmarks are modestly higher at midday. Britain's Conservative party over the weekend launched its manifesto ahead of the Dec. 12 general election, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowing to "get Brexit done." On the data front, Germany's Ifo business climate index ticked higher in November, and among individual stocks, luxury conglomerate LVMH is up 1.4% in Paris after its bid to acquire upscale jeweler Tiffany. At last check, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.9%, the German DAX has gained 0.5%, and the French CAC 40 has edged 0.3% higher.