Canadian Voice, Toronto, ON (2025)

04/21/2023

U.S. stock futures were trading in a tight range during Thursday's evening deals, after major averages posted a negative session amid mixed earnings from Tesla Inc as well as contracting economic data.

By 18:50 ET (22:50 GMT) Dow Jones futures were 0.1% lower, S&P 500 futures remained little changed, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.1%.

In extended deals, CSX Corp (NASDAQ:CSX) added 2.9%, reporting Q1 EPS of $0.48 versus $0.43 expected on revenues of $3.71 billion versus $3.59B expected.

Knight Transportation Inc (NYSE:KNX) fell 0.7% after reporting Q1 EPS of $0.73 versus $0.82 expected on revenues of $1.64B versus $1.62B expected.

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Ahead in Friday's session, investors will be looking toward preliminary manufacturing and services PMIs as well as a speech from Federal Reserve governor Cook.

On the earnings front, companies including Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB), Woodside Energy Ltd (NYSE:WDS), and HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) are set to report quarterly results.

During Thursday's regular trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 110.4 points or 0.3% to 33,786.6, the S&P 500 lost 24.7 points or 0.6% to 4,129.8, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 97.7 points or 0.8% to 12,059.6.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) tanked 9.8% following disappointing earnings results, while investors remained cautious on the economic outlook as existing home sales data and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index came in below expectations.

On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 3.536%.

04/21/2023

Most Asian currencies fell on Friday as weak economic readings pushed up concerns over a potential recession this year, while the Japanese yen rose as signs of stubborn inflation ramped up bets that the Bank of Japan will eventually tighten policy this year.

The yen rose 0.3%, as Japanese core consumer price index inflation remained steady in March from the prior month, at 3.1%. While the reading was well below 40-year peaks seen earlier this year, it showed that inflation still remained stubbornly above the BOJ’s 2% annual target.

This spurred some bets that the central bank will eventually tighten its ultra-loose policy this year, although new Governor Kazuo Ueda said that he will keep policy unchanged in the near-term. The BOJ is set to meet next week.

Other Japanese economic indicators spelled more headwinds for the economy, with both manufacturing and services activity missing expectations in April.

Broader Asian currencies retreated as softer-than-expected U.S. economic data pushed up fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy, while Federal Reserve officials also presented a hawkish outlook for policy.

The Chinese yuan fell 0.2%, also coming under pressure from softer-than-expected foreign direct investment data, while the rate-sensitive South Korean won lost 0.4%.

The Australian dollar sank nearly 0.5% amid plans for a major shake-up in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s structure, which will include setting up two boards and a separate panel to set interest rates.

The U.S. dollar index and dollar index futures steadied on Friday, but were set for their first weekly gain in six as a slew of Fed officials called for more interest rate hikes this year. Most recently, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker warned on Thursday that U.S. interest rates will likely rise further and remain there for longer, even as economic activity cools.

A key regional U.S. manufacturing index fell more than expected in March, while weekly jobless claims grew more than expected. The Fed’s Beige Book report also showed that economic activity was cooling.

While markets are betting that weakening growth will eventually invite a pause in the Fed’s rate hikes, the bank is still widely expected to raise rates in early-May.

This, coupled with worsening appetite for risk-driven assets, is expected to weigh on Asian markets in the coming months.

04/21/2023

European stock markets edged lower Friday, with economic data pointing to a regional economic slowdown.

At 03:40 ET (07:40 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.4% lower, the CAC 40 in France dropped 0.2%, and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.1%.

The month-long risky-asset rally in the wake of the stabilization of the banking system seems to be running out of steam as economic numbers point to an economic falloff.

British retail sales fell 0.9% on the month in March, an annual drop of 3.1%, as consumers struggled with discretionary spending given the sparing inflation.

“Poor weather impacted on sales across almost all sectors,” said Darren Morgan, ONS director of economic statistics. “Food store sales also slipped, with retailer feedback suggesting the increased cost of living and climbing food prices are continuing to affect consumer spending.”

Additionally, purchasing manager's index data from both France and Germany confirmed the divergence between the two main sectors of the economy, manufacturing and services.

The manufacturing surveys remained firmly in contraction territory in both countries, while services were robust, pointing to further inflationary pressures.

This is likely to result in the European Central Bank raising interest rates once more next month.

On the corporate side, SAP (ETR:SAPG) stock edged higher, outperforming the wider market, after the business software maker reported first-quarter revenue growth of 10%, boosted by its cloud business.

Holcim (SIX:HOLN) stock fell 1.2% despite the world's biggest cement maker raising its full-year guidance after beating forecasts for the first quarter.

Oil prices edged lower Friday, on course for a hefty weekly loss on rising concerns the U.S. economy, the largest consumer of crude in the world, will fall into recession as the year progresses.

U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than forecast last week, Energy Information Administration data showed earlier this week, but gasoline stockpiles jumped unexpectedly on disappointing demand.

By 03:40 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.5% lower at $76.97 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.5% to $80.67.

Both benchmarks slid by more than 2% to their lowest level since late March on Thursday, and are on track for a weekly drop of about 6%.

Additionally, gold futures fell 1.2% to $1,994.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% lower at 1.0941.

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04/21/2023

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