FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., November 18, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
November 21, 2019
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Manas Mishra
(Reuters) – The three major U.S. indexes were set to open flat on Thursday after mixed signals on trade and a row between Washington and Beijing over the Hong Kong protests cast doubts on the timing of a deal to end the prolonged tariff dispute.
U.S. stock index futures erased losses after a report that the United States could delay tariffs on Chinese imports even if a deal was not reached by Dec. 15, when tariffs kick in on goods including items such as electronics and Christmas decorations. (https://bit.ly/2rhuyV7)
“This just shows that the trade deal is not dead and that we will get some sort of an extended truce, which is a positive,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“Investors are looking for a ‘phase one’ deal and the news right now points to that.”
Chipmakers with a large revenue exposure to China, including Intel Corp <INTC.O>, were largely flat in premarket trade.
Wall Street’s moves this year have been largely dictated by headlines on trade, with expectations building in recent weeks of at least a partial agreement between the world’s top two economies.
However, all three major indexes ended the last session in the red after a record run this month on a report that the deal could be delayed to next year. Political tensions between the two sides after a U.S. bill supporting Hong Kong protests have also dulled the mood.
At 9:07 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 9 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 e-minis <EScv1> were up 1.25 points, or 0.04% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis <NQcv1> were up 0.5 points, or 0.01%.
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> edged up 0.6%, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering whether to exempt the iPhone maker from tariffs on imports from China.
Macy’s Inc <M.N> slipped 4.4% after the department store operator cut its full-year profit forecast blaming falling tourist numbers and weak mall traffic.
With the third-quarter earnings season drawing to a close, focus is now shifting to M&A activity in corporate America.
Shares in TD Ameritrade Holding Corp <AMTD.O> jumped 24% after CNBC reported bigger rival Charles Schwab Corp <SCHW.N> was in talks to buy the discount brokerage. Schwab’s shares gained 11%.
Tiffany & Co <TIF.N> gained 3.3% as Reuters reported LVMH <LVMH.PA> persuaded the jewelry chain to allow it to access its books after the French luxury group raised its bid to about $16 billion.
Applied Materials Inc <AMAT.O> slipped 3% after UBS downgraded shares of the chip gear maker to “sell”.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
