
Stocks Fall on U.S./China Tensions
Thomas White
Co-HostU.S. stock futures are sharply lower in premarket trading following a winning session, as fears around U.S.-China trade relations continue to create headwinds.
The decline came after China and the U.S. began charging additional port fees on each others’ cargo ships, an escalation in the ongoing trade spat between the world’s largest economies.
Bloomberg News also reported that China imposed sanctions on five of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean’s U.S. units.
The moves come after Monday’s major market rally, after President Donald Trump appeared to have eased concerns over U.S.-China trade tension. Investor focus will be on trade tensions today along with earnings from the major banks.
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
- Oil (/CL) – Oil futures are down 2% near $58 a barrel at 5-month lows. The slide comes amid uncertainty about trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world’s top two economies, and as the International Energy Agency (IEA) flagged weaker fundamentals.
- Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are up 0.4% near $4150 and climbed to another record high overnight on increased U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut prospects, while resurgent U.S.-China trade woes boosted safe-haven bets, including those for silver, which also reached an all-time peak.
- Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is down 4% near 111, 700 in premarket trading after hitting all-time highs last week.
- VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index was down 12% on Monday and settled at 19.03 as stocks rallied sharply. The VIX is up 15% this morning near 21 as stocks have pulled back sharply.
- U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is 0.2% higher to 99.2.
Biggest Premarket Movers (Mark % Change as of 7 AM ET)
- Domino’s Pizza (DPZ): +3.00%
- Huntington Ingalls (HII): +2.47%
- Wells Fargo (WFC): +2.42%
- Coinbase (COIN): -3.47%
- Micron (MU): -3.13%
- Intel (INTC): -3.04%
Economic Data
- 6:00 AM ET: NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
- 8:45 AM ET: Fed’s Bowman Speaks
- 12:20 PM ET: Fed’s Powell Speaks
- 3:25 PM ET: Fed’s Waller Speaks, Fed’s Collins Speaks
Notable Earnings
- Premarket: ACI, BCE, BLK, C, DPZ, ERIC, GS, JNJ, JPM, WFC
- Postmarket: HWC
- Premarket Tomorrow: ABT, ASML, BAC, CFG, FHN, MS, PNC, PGR, PLD, SYF
- Postmarket Tomorrow: JBHT, SLG, SNV, UAL
Upgrades/Downgrades
- Wolfe Research upgrades AMD (AMD) to Outperform from Peer Perform
- HSBC upgrades HP Inc. (HPQ) to Buy from Hold
- JPMorgan upgrades DoorDash (DASH) to Overweight from Neutral
- Northland downgrades Salesforce (CRM) to Market Perform from Outperform
- New Street downgrades Micron (MU) to Neutral from Buy
- Erste Group downgrades AbbVie (ABBV) to Hold from Buy
