With a long weekend approaching in North America, traders appear inclined to take profits following yesterday’s rally. Soft US retail sales and mixed earnings don’t appear to be helping sentiment either.
US headline retail sales (-0.9% vs street -0.1% and previous +0.7%), and retail sales ex autos (-0.4% vs street +0.3%) showed an abrupt and surprisingly significant downturn.
On this news, US index futures are down 0.1%-0.2%, giving back a bit of yesterday’s 0.75% to 1.50% gains made by US indices. In Europe today, the FTSE is down 0.2% and the Dax is down 0.3%. The US Dollar is down 0.2%-0.4% against Gold and majors like the Euro, Pound and Loonie. In commodity action, crude oil is up 0.8%, natural gas is up 2.0% and copper is down marginally.
In earnings news, AirBnB is up 13.3% in premarket trading this morning after posting a stronger than expected earnings report ($0.73 vs street $0.58). Coinbase ($4.6 vs street $2.11) crushed expectations as cryptocurrencies soared after the US election but has slipped 2.3% premarket. Walmart* kicks off US retailer earnings next Thursday.
In Canada today Enbridge ($0.75 vs street $0.74), TC Energy ($1.05 vs street $0.99) beat the street but MTY Food Group (-$2.34 vs street $0.65) posted a surprise loss. Magna International ($2.40 vs street $2.20) beat expectations but is down 4.2% premarket on continued concerns about the potential impact of tariffs on the Canadian auto sector. Next week, Manulife Financial*, Loblaws*, Nutrien, and others, report results.
*Shares of Walmart, Manulife Financial, and Loblaws, are held in portfolios managed by SIA Wealth Management