
PCE Data, Potential U.S./China Deal Framework
U.S. stock futures are slightly higher ahead of the Wall Street open with the S&P 500 (SPX) looking to hit all-time highs after narrowly missing the level yesterday.
Optimism is rising after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg news that a framework between China and the U.S. on trade had been finalized. Lutnick added that the Trump administration expects to reach deals with 10 major trading partners imminently.
Investor focus will be on trade deal headlines along with the May reading of Personal Consumption Expenditures today. Analysts expect the index to tick 0.1% higher on the month and 2.3% from a year ago. So-called core PCE is slated to rise 0.1% from April and 2.6% from 12 months earlier.
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
- Oil (/CL) – WTI is currently trading near $65.70 per barrel, up 0.8% on the day. WTI futures continue to trade in a pretty narrow range, after dropping sharply earlier in the week on news that Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire. The truce seems to be holding so far. Fears of an immediate closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and/or serious damage to critical oil infrastructure across the region have abated. Tail-risks remain, however, and coupled with news that U.S. crude inventories fell and stockpiles at Cushing declined to the lowest level since February that has kept a floor under prices.
- Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are down 1.5% near $3300, its lowest level in nearly a month, due to easing geopolitical and trade tensions and as investors awaited U.S. inflation data for clues on the future trajectory of interest rates.
- Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is down 0.5% near 107.7K in the premarket.
- VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index fell 1% on Thursday and settled at 16.59 as stocks rallied. It was the lowest closing price for the VIX since February 20th.
- U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is flat around 96.8.
Biggest Premarket Movers (Mark % Change as of 7 AM ET)
- Nike (NKE): +9.56%
- Franklin Resources (BEN): +2.81%
- Estee Lauder (EL): +2.56%
- Newmont (NEM): -2.13%
- Enphase Energy (ENPH): -0.95%
- Philip Morris (PM): -0.75%
Economic Data
- 7:30AM ET: Fed’s Williams Speaks
- 8:30AM ET: Personal Income and Outlays
- 9:15AM ET: Fed’s Hammack Speaks
- 10:00AM ET: Consumer Sentiment
Notable Earnings
- Premarket: APOG
- Postmarket: None
- Premarket Monday: None
- Postmarket Monday: None
Upgrades/Downgrades
- BNP Paribas Exane upgrades Amazon (AMZN) to Outperform from Neutral
- Citizens JMP upgrades Alphabet (GOOGL) to Outperform from Market Perform
- Redburn upgrades Boeing (BA) to Buy from Neutral
- Baird downgrades Bank of America (BAC) to Neutral from Outperform
- Canaccord downgrades Uber (UBER) to Hold from Buy
- BNP Paribas Exane downgrades Alphabet (GOOGL) to Neutral from Outperform