Wall Street flat as industrials offset lower oil; U.S. yields on radar

Global Stock Markets

U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday, with gains in industrial and healthcare stocks offseting the impact from falling oil prices, as investors kept an eye on rising U.S. bond yields.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries US10YT=RJR, the benchmark for global borrowing costs, hit 2.998 percent, its highest since January 2014. The U.S. five-year inflation swap, a key market gauge of long-term U.S. inflation, hit its highest level in 3-1/2 years.

The last time 10-year Treasury yields neared 3 percent, in 2013, it rocked risk appetite and sent stocks sliding and was shortly before oil prices went on a mighty 75 percent tumble. More recently, the stock market sold off in February as inflation expectations sent treasury yields surging.

But analysts say strong earnings could help investors overlook such concerns, at least for the moment.

The prospect of rising inflation comes as U.S. companies are reporting results for what is turning out to be a much stronger-than-expected first quarter.

Profits at S&P 500 companies are expected to have risen 20 percent in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, making it the strongest quarter in seven years.

At 9:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 7.01 points, or 0.03 percent, at 24,469.95, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 1.48 points, or 0.06 percent, at 2,671.62 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 2.01 points, or 0.03 percent, at 7,148.14.

This week, 181 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report including some of the technology heavy-hitters like Facebook (FB.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and Intel (INTC.O). Alphabet (GOOGL.O) reports after markets close on Monday.

Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 0.35 percent gain in the S&P healthacre index .SPXHC.

Merck (MRK.N) rose 1.6 percent after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy”.
Caterpillar (CAT.N) rose 0.6 percent after Citigroup upgraded to “buy”, saying the stock could outperform over the next six to 12 months.

Boeing (BA.N) rose 0.3 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Dow and industrial stocks.
In a move that could ease tensions between the United States and China, U.S. Treasury Secretary

Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday he may travel to China to try to resolve differences over trade.
Hasbro (HAS.O) fell 1 percent after the toymaker reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue, blaming the liquidation of Toys ‘R’ Us.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and nine new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 31 new highs and 25 new lows

US STOCKS-Futures rise as Syria fears wane, focus shifts to earnings

Global Stock Markets

* BofA shares rise after Q1 profit beat
* March retail sales rise more than expected
* Netflix rises ahead of results after the bell
* Futures up: Dow 0.65 pct, S&P 0.61 pct, Nasdaq 0.63 pct

U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday as investors bet the weekend’s U.S.-led missile attack on Syria would not escalate into a broader conflict, while turning their focus to the earnings season.

Saturday’s strikes marked the biggest intervention by Western countries against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his ally Russia, which is facing further economic sanctions over its role in the conflict.

“It’s not going to be a negative unless it turns into a bigger conflict. It’s going to be a day where the market is going to attempt to move a bit higher.”

Shares of Bank of America rose 0.84 percent in premarket trading after the lender reported a better-than-expected increase in quarterly profit

Shares of JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, all of which reported on Friday, were also higher.
Analysts are expecting the S&P 500 companies to record an 18.6 percent rise in profit, their strongest earnings growth in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

However, many traders say that reactions to results could be muted as market participants have already priced in gains from corporate tax cuts, reflected in the stock market’s strong rally in 2017 and early 2018.

At 8:44 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 158 points, or 0.65 percent. S&P 500 e-minis rose 16.25 points, or 0.61 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis gained 41.75 points, or 0.63 percent.

Waning fears of a broader conflict in Syria pushed short-dated U.S. Treasury yields to their highest level in almost a decade, while crude oil prices eased due to a rise in U.S. drilling activity.

Data on Monday showed U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in March, rising after three straight monthly declines, as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and other big-ticket items.

Shares of Netflix, which is expected to report results after market close on Monday, rose 1.44 percent.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Simmering Middle East tensions keep stocks under pressure

Global Markets

The main U.S. indexes opened more than 0.5 percent higher on Thursday as expectations that lower U.S. taxes would fuel corporate earnings added to a slight easing of nerves over Syria conflict.

* World stocks fall 0.2 percent
* Crude and gold prices ease from highs
* European investors await ECB meeting

 - World stocks edged down further on Thursday as anxious investors stayed wary of risky assets, seeking protection against a threatened clash between Western powers and Russia in Syria.

The ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions over an alleged chemical attack by Syrian government forces weighed on equities and kept bond yields low, while oil prices eased back slightly, having surged to 2014 highs as a result of the tensions in the Middle East.

MSCI’s world equity index fell for the second day, while European shares declined 0.1 percent in early deals.

Aside from the political developments, European investors also awaited a European Central Bank meeting later in the day, hoping for greater clarity on the bank’s timing for the unwinding of quantitative easing.

Losses were limited by strong oil and gas stocks, boosted by this week’s jump in crude prices.

U.S. President Trump declared that missiles “will be coming” in Syria, taunting Russia for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after the suspected chemical attack in Douma. Damascus and Moscow have denied any responsibility.

His comments raised the prospect of direct conflict over Syria for the first time between the two world powers backing opposing sides in the seven-year-old civil war.

Heightened geopolitical tensions have piled pressure on investors already rattled by a trade spat between the U.S. and China and a generally more volatile market environment.

Villamin expects the VIX gauge of S&P 500 volatility to stay around the 20 mark - roughly twice its average level last year.

Crude prices eased back slightly after three sessions of strong gains took them to the highest levels since late 2014.

U.S. crude futures last traded down 0.3 percent at $66.66 a barrel, having risen 7.4 percent so far this week. They traded as high as $67.45 on Wednesday.

Brent declined 0.4 percent to $71.77 a barrel, having touched a high of $73.09 on Wednesday.
European government bond yields remained low as caution dominated ahead of the ECB meeting. Germany’s 10-year Bund yield slipped to 0.493 in early trades.

He started adding to government bonds last month for the first time since 2016, hoping to benefit from bonds’ relatively low volatility.

Safe-haven gold edged down slightly after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday raised expectations the U.S. could raise rates at a faster pace.

Gold eased 0.3 percent to trade at $1,348.75 per ounce, having hit an 11-week high at $1,365.30 on Wednesday.

Currency markets drifted after some strong risk-averse moves.

The dollar index inched higher, though it was still 0.5 percent down on the week. The safe-haven yen edged lower, having been bid up strongly on Wednesday.

The euro was little moved, at $1.2369 ahead of the ECB meeting.

Russia’s rouble edged up for a second day after heavy selling due to new punitive sanctions by the United States.

It traded around 62.29 to the dollar, still down more than 7 percent this week.

The Turkish lira, which has been highly sensitive to developments in neighbouring Syria, traded at 4.1345 per dollar after hitting a record low of 4.1920 on Wednesday.

The lira is down 2.5 percent so far this week, also hit by concern about inflation and the central bank’s reluctance to tighten its policy.

Concerns on the Middle East have overshadowed budding optimism that Washington and Beijing will work out a compromise to avert a trade war following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech on Tuesday.

US STOCKS-Wall St set for losses as U.S.-Russia tensions weigh

Global Stock Markets

* Eyes on Zuckerberg’s second U.S. congressional hearing
* U.S. consumer prices posts first drop in 10 months in March
* Core CPI rises 2.1 pct year-on-year in March
* Futures down: Dow 0.94 pct, S&P 0.87 pct, Nasdaq 0.88 pct (Changes comment, adds details, updates prices) 

Wall Street was set to open lower on Wednesday due to heightened concerns over a row between the United States and Russia over military action in Syria.

The face-off intensified after Russia warned that any U.S. missiles fired at Syria over a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel enclave would be shot down.

As a reply, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that missiles “will be coming” and blasted Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

At 8:34 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 230 points, or 0.94 percent. S&P 500 e-minis fell 23 points, or 0.87 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis declined 58 points, or 0.88 percent.

Escalating tension in Syria lifted oil prices to its highest in more than three years.

On Tuesday, the main U.S. indexes closed up nearly 2 percent after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to lower import tariffs in an attempt to defuse trade dispute with the United States. 

U.S. consumer prices fell for the first time in 10 months in March, weighed down by a decline in the cost of gasoline, but underlying inflation continued to firm amid rising prices for healthcare and rental accommodation.

The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index slipped 0.1 percent, the first and largest drop since May 2017. But the core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in March, the largest advance since February 2017.

Later in the day, the Federal Reserve is set to release the minutes of its March meeting, at which it voted to raise interest rates.

The minutes will show the view within the Fed on the possible impact of the Trump administration’s trade policies.

Among stocks, Hilton Worldwide jumped 3 percent after the hotel operator’s main shareholder HNA Tourism Group decided to sell its stake in the company.

Facebook Inc shares were down 0.8 percent in premarket trading.

Shares closed up 4.5 percent on Tuesday after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, in the first of two U.S. congressional hearings, made no further promise to support new legislation or change how the social network does business.

Wall Street opens higher as Xi soothes trade war fears

Global Stock Markets

Wall Street opened higher on Tuesday after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to cut import tariffs, soothing investor concerns about rising U.S.-China trade tensions. 

Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with technology and energy stocks leading the gainers. The three major U.S. indexes were all up more than a percent with all 30 Dow components in the positive territory.

In his first public comments since the trade dispute with the Trump administration started, Jinping vowed to open the country’s economy and said China would raise the foreign ownership limit in automobile, shipbuilding and aircraft sectors “as soon as possible”.

His comments buoyed global markets, which have been under pressure as China and the United States threatened each other with billion in tariffs and investors feared that protectionist measures would hit global economic growth.

Energy stocks gained as oil broke above $70 a barrel on easing trade war fears between the world’s two largest economies. [O/R]

“The expectation was this could have gone one of two ways: he could have been aggressive about U.S. tariffs or been conciliatory and it feels like he’s more conciliatory,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.

Shares of major U.S. automakers such as General Motors (GM.N), Ford (F.N), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU.N) and Tesla (TSLA.O) were up between 2 percent and 3 percent following Xi’s comments.
At 9:54 a.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 317.16 points, or 1.32 percent, at 24,296.26.

The S&P 500 .SPX was up 28.34 points, or 1.08 percent, at 2,641.5 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 70.79 points, or 1.02 percent, at 7,021.14.U.S. stocks will face a major test in coming weeks as first-quarter earnings pour in. Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), Citigroup (C.N) and Wells Fargo (WFC.N) will kick off the earnings season with their results on Friday.

Analysts expect quarterly profits for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.5 percent from a year ago, which would be the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Facebook Inc (FB.O) shares erased premarket gains and were marginally down ahead of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The CEO is expected to strike a conciliatory tone in an attempt to blunt possible regulatory fallout from the privacy scandal engulfing his social network.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA.O) rose 4 percent after Morgan Stanley raised the stock to “overweight”.
Verifone Systems (PAY.N) shares rose 52 percent after the company agreed to be taken private for $2.28 billion.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE for a 5.99-to-1 ratio on the upside and on the Nasdaq for a 3.68-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The S&P 500 index showed two new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 20 new highs and 12 new lows.

US STOCKS-Futures rise as Xi cools trade war fears

Global Stock Markets

U.S. stock index futures rose more than a percent on Tuesday after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to cut import tariffs, soothing investor concerns about rising U.S.-China trade tensions. 

In his first public comments since the trade dispute with the Trump administration started, Jinping vowed to open the country’s economy and said China would raise the foreign ownership limit in automobile, shipbuilding and aircraft sectors “as soon as possible”.

His comments buoyed global markets, which have been under pressure as China and the United States threatened each other with billion in tariffs and investors feared that protectionist measures would hit global economic growth.

Shares of major U.S. automakers such as General Motors , Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Tesla were up between 2 percent and 4 percent premarket following Xi’s comments.

U.S. stocks will also face a major test in coming weeks as first-quarter earnings pour in. Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase , Citigroup and Wells Fargo will kick off the earnings season with their results on Friday.

Analysts expect quarterly profits for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.5 percent from a year ago, which would be the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Investors will keep a close eye on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The CEO is expected to strike a conciliatory tone in an attempt to blunt possible regulatory fallout from the privacy scandal engulfing his social network.

On Monday, stocks pared gains late in the session following a report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the office of President Donald Trump’s lawyer.

At 7:11 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 274 points, or 1.14 percent, with 79,089 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 29 points, or 1.11 percent, with 261,980 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 95.25 points, or 1.47 percent, on volume of 89,430 contracts.
Among stocks, shares of Nvidia rose 4 percent premarket after Morgan Stanley raised the stock to “overweight”.

Verifone Systems shares were up 51.7 percent after the company agreed to be taken private for $2.28 billion.

Global stocks jump as Xi calms jitters over U.S.-China trade row

Asian Stock markets

U.S stock futures rallied, Asian equities bounced and the safe haven yen fell on Tuesday, as Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to lower import tariffs on products including cars, helping soothe investor jitters over an escalating U.S.-China trade row. 

Xi, speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province, said that China will take measures to sharply widen market access for foreign investors, raise the foreign ownership limit in the automobile sector and protect intellectual property of foreign firms.

Xi’s comments prompted a rapid and largely positive reaction in financial markets, which have been rattled over the past week on fears the tit-for-tat U.S.-China tariffs will explode into a full-scale trade war in a blow to global growth.

“His comments seem to have covered all the major issues the U.S. has raised, including intellectual property and liberalisation of domestic markets,” said Yoshinori Shigemi, global market strategist for JPMorgan Asset Management in Tokyo.

“Xi threw the ball into the U.S. court but it appears China is laying the groundwork to achieve an agreement with the U.S.”

In the stock market, U.S. S&P 500 E-mini futures ESc1 rose 1.2 percent ESc1, while China's Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC gained 0.5 percent.

Financial spreadbetters expect London’s FTSE to open 46 points up at 7,240, Frankfurt’s DAX to open 109 points higher at 12,371 and Paris’ CAC to open 47 points firmer at 5,311.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS recovered from early losses and advanced 0.8 percent.

“By and large it appears that the speech is more conciliatory than it is pugilistic with respect to how their approach to the U.S. is,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy for Mizuho Bank in Singapore.

Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 rose 0.8 percent, helped by a jump in the transportation sector. Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and Honda Motor Co (7267.T), which have operations in China, rallied 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Hopes that the trade dispute between the world’s two-largest economies may be resolved without greater damage to the global economy gave a lift to oil markets, with Brent crude futures LCOc1 rising 0.5 percent.

As risk sentiment improved, the safe haven currencies and assets retreated.

U.S. 10-year Treasuries fell, pushing their yields up 2 basis points to 2.806 percent US10YT=RR. Gold XAU= eased 0.3 percent.

The safe-haven yen fell broadly, helping the dollar rise 0.3 percent to 107.16 yen JPY=. The Australian dollar set a three-week high at 82.94 yen AUDJPY=R.

Against the U.S. dollar, the Australian dollar gained 0.4 percent to $0.7730 AUD=D3.

China is Australia’s top export market and the Aussie is often used as a liquid proxy by investors expressing views on the country’s outlook.

“President Xi has ignited a rally in risk assets that might have some legs if the U.S. can keep a lid on the protectionist rhetoric for a while,” said Sean Callow, FX strategist for Westpac in Sydney.

US STOCKS-Futures drop as Trump refuels trade war worries

Global Stock markets

U.S. stock futures dropped on Friday after the United States and China renewed their trade spat, underpinning fears that the tit-for-tat actions could spiral into a trade war, and ahead of a closely watched monthly jobs data. 

Globally, stock markets edged downward after President Donald Trump threatened to slap an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing warned it would fight back “at any cost” with fresh trade measures.

At 7:30 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 206 points, or 0.84 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were down 21.25 points, or 0.80 percent. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 62 points, or 0.94 percent.

Shares of Boeing, the single largest U.S. exporter to China, fell 2.4 percent, leading the losses among big U.S. manufacturers. Caterpillar fell 2.1 percent and Deere dropped 1.2 percent.

Twenty-nine of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average components were trading premarket – all in the red. More than 110 S&P 500 stocks were lower, led by chipmakers, which as a group rely on China for about a quarter of their revenue.

Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet - the FANG group - were down between 1.3 percent and 2.3 percent, while Apple fell 1.5 percent. These stocks have a heavy influence on major indexes.

The list of decliners were similar to Wednesday, when the United States and China announced tariffs on $50 billion of each others’ imports.

After being roiled for most of that day, Wall Street staged a strong comeback to close higher after Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the administration was in a “negotiation” with China rather than a trade war.

Trump’s latest salvo injected a fresh dose of nervousness into the market, already jittery ahead of U.S. jobs data for March for indications of economic health and the future path of interest rate hikes.

Nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 193,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists, lower than the 313,000 increase in February and the 242,000 average of the past three months. The data is due at 8:30 a.m ET (1230 GMT).

The unemployment rate is forecast to fall to 4 percent. Average hourly earnings are expected to have risen, with the annual increase rising to 2.7 percent, but staying below the 3-percent that economists say is needed to lift inflation toward the Federal Reserve’s 2-percent target.

Recent economic data has indicated an improving economy, which, coupled with the U.S. tax overhaul, has boosted investors optimism about the upcoming earnings season. First-quarter earnings growth is expected to be the highest in seven years.

Investors will also tune into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at an event later in the day for signs the central bank could raise rates more than the expected two more times this year.

European shares dip on new Trump tariff threat

European Stock Markets

European shares fell slightly on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of further tariffs on China, although losses were limited by gains among defensive stocks like utilities. 

The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.45 percent by 0707 GMT, erasing only part of the 2.4 percent gain in the previous session and remained on track for a small weekly gain.

Trump on Thursday directed U.S. trade officials to identify tariffs on $100 billion more Chinese imports, upping the ante in an already high-stakes trade confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.

The new warning however did not appear to change the prevailing view among investors that a full blown trade war that could threaten global growth is unlikely.

“Markets will now watch both the rhetoric from Trump’s cabinet members and China’s response to assess whether risk of a trade war is materially higher,” said Credit Suisse in its investment daily. “We continue to see a trade war as unlikely”.

However caution dominated, prompting investors into stocks like utilities seen as more resilient to possible trade escalations. French utility Suez (SEVI.PA) led the sector higher, further boosted by a bullish broker note.

Elsewhere among top movers was Dufry (DUFN.S), up 3.5 percent after the Swiss retail company proposed a higher than expected dividend, while Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) rose 2.2 percent after Italian state lender CDP said it would buy a stake of up to 5 percent in the telecoms company.

Tech stocks were a weak spot with chip makers like Infineon (IFXGn.DE) generally lower following losses overnight in shares in Samsung Electronics (005930.KS).

The South Korean tech giant tipped a surprise record first-quarter profit but market reaction was muted due to growing concerns that the semiconductor boom that has driven its earnings is about to end.

The trade-exposed auto sector was the leading sectoral loser.

TREASURIES-Yields climb as risk appetite boosts stocks

Global Stock Markets

U.S. Treasury yields rose to one-week highs on Thursday as rising stock markets showed improving risk appetite, and before Friday’s closely watched employment report for March. 

World stocks rose as the United States voiced willingness on Wednesday to negotiate a resolution to an escalating trade fight with China. That came after Beijing retaliated against proposed U.S. tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods by targeting key American imports. 

Benchmark 10-year notes fell 7/32 in price to yield 2.814 percent, after earlier rising to 2.830 percent, the highest since March 27.

Data on Thursday showed that the U.S. trade deficit increased to a near 9-1/2-year high in February as both exports and imports rose to record peaks, but the shortfall with China narrowed sharply.

This week’s major economic catalyst will be Friday’s closely watched U.S. jobs report, which will be evaluated for accelerating jobs gains and wage pressures.

The U.S. economy added the biggest number of jobs in more than 1-1/2 years in February, at 313,000 jobs.

Analysts noted that March’s jobs gains often disappoint.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 195,000 in the month.

The ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday showed employers added 241,000 jobs in March.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is also due to speak about the economic outlook at an event in Chicago on Friday.

Asian stocks slip on trade woes, tech sector pain

Asian Stock Markets

Asian shares slipped on Tuesday amid escalating trade tensions and concerns about tech firms, although regional index declines were modest compared with those of their Wall Street counterparts as investors focused on global growth prospects. 

Spreadbetters expected European stocks to open lower, with Britain's FTSE .FTSE losing 0.5 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI falling 0.95 percent and France's CAC .FCHI dropping 1 percent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.35 percent on Tuesday, compared with losses of more than 2 percent on each of the three Wall Street indices overnight.

The U.S. dollar steadied against the safe haven yen after declining for three straight days and gold, which is often seen as a store of value during times of financial or political uncertainty, inched lower.

U.S. Treasuries saw a bit of selling too with yields on 10-year notes US10YT=TWEB off two-month lows.
Meanwhile, E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 climbed 0.4 percent and Dow futures 1YMc1 rose 0.2 percent.

Asian shares were mostly in the red, albeit off early lows.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 was down 0.8 percent, having gone as deep as 1.6 percent earlier. China's Shanghai Composite index .SSEC eased 0.9 percent and the blue-chip CSI300 .CSI300 was off 0.7 percent.

Technology shares were hit hard on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked Amazon.com over the pricing of its deliveries through the United States Postal Service and promised unspecified changes.

The selling added to what has been a rough patch for technology shares this year. Facebook, Apple and some of their peers had a woeful last quarter as investors reassessed high U.S. stock valuations in light of a cocktail of negative factors.

So called FANG stocks - Facebook (FB.O), Amazon, Netflix (NFLX.O) and Google - have been largely responsible for a multi-year bull run in world shares, although the threat of government regulation has raised worries about their outlook.

Investors were also on the backfoot as China imposed extra tariffs on 128 U.S. products, deepening a dispute between the world’s two biggest economies and stoking concerns about the impact on global growth.

China's tit-for-tat tariffs hurt the U.S. dollar, although it saw some buying during early Asian trading on Tuesday to last trade at 105.93 yen, from a three-week peak of 107.01. JPY=
 
The dollar index was still a shade softer against a basket of currencies .DXY.

Oil prices ticked higher after falling more than 3.7 percent on Monday although rising Russian output and the escalating U.S.-China trade dispute still weighed. [O/R]

Brent crude LCOc1 rose 16 cents to $67.80 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 gained 14 cents to $63.15.

Spot gold XAU= ticked down 0.2 percent to $1,338.08 an ounce.

Wall Street dragged down by Amazon, tech weakness

Global Stock Markets

A dreadful week for technology stocks worsened on Monday as Amazon and Tesla shares fell further, setting a grim tone for markets already worried about China’s decision to raise import tariffs on U.S. products. 

Amazon (AMZN.O) dropped as much as 3 percent after President Donald Trump launched his latest attack over the pricing of the world’s biggest online retailer’s deliveries through the U.S. postal system and promised unspecified changes. [L4N1RF4AK]

The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC and weighed the most on the S&P consumer discretionary index .SPLRCD, which fell 1.32 percent.

The Facebook data scandal, self-driving car crashes and Trump’s intervention against Amazon pushed the S&P technology sector .SPLRCT to post its worst monthly losses in nearly two years in March.

Facebook (FB.O) was down 1.7 percent on Monday, while the other FANG constituents like Netflix (NFLX.O), Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) were down between 2 percent and 3 percent.

Tesla (TSLA.O) shares shed more than 5 percent ahead of the electric car maker’s announcement of quarterly production numbers for its crucial Model 3 sedan.

China, late on Sunday, said it would increase tariffs by up to 25 percent on 128 U.S. products, escalating a spat between the world’s biggest economies. The move came in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel.

Trump is separately preparing to impose tariffs of more than $50 billion targeting “largely high-technology” Chinese products.

At 9:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 46.7 points, or 0.19 percent, at 24,056.41.

The S&P 500 .SPX was down 17.81 points, or 0.67 percent, at 2,623.06 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 83.60 points, or 1.18 percent, at 6,979.84.

Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with only utilities .SPLRCU gaining.

Facebook was down as the data scandal last month continued to weigh. On Monday, brokerage Pivotal Research slashed its price target, citing a faster-than-expected deceleration in the social media company’s revenue growth.

Humana (HUM.N) jumped about 7 percent after a report that Walmart (WMT.N) was in early-stage talks with the health insurer about developing closer ties, with acquisition discussed as one possibility. Walmart fell more than 2 percent.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE for a 1.78-to-1 ratio and for a 2.03-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

Stock futures point to slight gains at open; Facebook up

Global Stock Markets

U.S. stock index futures were up marginally on Wednesday, following a sharp selloff in technology stocks in the previous session on concerns about increased regulations in the wake of Facebook’s data privacy issue. 

Facebook’s shares rose 1.7 percent in premarket trading after the social network said it was giving users more control over their privacy by making data management easier and redesigning the settings menu.

The company’s shares are down nearly 18 percent since March 16, when it first acknowledged that user data had been improperly harvested by a consultancy firm, erasing nearly $100 billion of the company’s market value.

The sell-off in the sector has pushed S&P 500 technology index .SPLRCT down 5.17 percent for the month, on track for its worst such performance in nearly two years.

The broader markets have also suffered this month on a back-and-forth between the United States and China on tariffs and fears of rising interest rates. The main indexes are on track for their worst month since January 2016.

Comments from top officials in the U.S. and China had given a sense that both the countries would negotiate over President Donald Trump’s move to impose tariffs on Chinese goods.

China is expected to soon announce a list of retaliatory tariffs on US exports, its state-run Global Times reported on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department is set to release its final estimate for fourth-quarter gross domestic product, which is expected to grow at a 2.7 percent annualized rate instead of the 2.5 percent pace reported last month. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

At 7:42 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 58 points, S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 rose 6 points and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 gained 4 points.

Tesla (TSLA.O) dropped 1.5 percent after the U.S. government said it would investigate a fatal crash and vehicle fire of a Model X in California.

Blackberry’s (BB.N) U.S.-listed shares jumped 7 percent after the company reported a smaller quarterly loss, helped by higher margins from software and services sales. Walgreen Boots (WBA.O) rose nearly 5 percent after the drugstore chain reported better-than-expected earnings and lifted full-year profit forecast.

Risk assets jump on reports of U.S.-China trade talks

Global Stock Markets

 Stock markets jumped on Tuesday as reports that the United States and China were negotiating to avert a trade war whetted investors’ appetite for riskier assets.

Japan's Nikkei share index .N225 rose 2.7 percent for its best day in almost three months while a 1.4 percent gain by Europe's Stoxx 600 put it on track for its best daily performance in seven weeks. 

The reports of behind-the-scenes talks between Washington and Beijing spurred optimism that U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist shift is more about gaining leverage in trade talks than isolating the world’s biggest economy with tariff barriers that would stifle global growth. 

This helped offset news that the United States and many of its allies were expelling more than 100 Russian diplomats in retaliation for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Britain.

U.S. stocks .SP500 are still 7 percent below their January peaks and some investors are not rushing to recalculate risks around Trump’s America First trade agenda. 

“He can flip-flop quite a lot,” said Lukas Daalder, chief investment officer at Robeco in Rotterdam. “The big problem is, how long will it take before new tweets and headlines that will change the sentiment again?” 

Daalder said he was underweight emerging market equities and the Nikkei and overweight other developed markets “based on the expectation that there will be more trade uncertainty”. 

White House officials are asking China to cut tariffs on imported cars, allow foreign majority ownership of financial services firms and buy more U.S.-made semiconductors, said a person familiar with the discussions. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Monday to maintain trade negotiations and ease access to American businesses. 

EURO REVERSES EARLY GAINS

The surge in stocks dragged on the Treasury market, which faces a record $294 billion of new supply this week. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR inched up to 2.848 percent, but remained short of last week’s top at 2.90 percent. 

In currency markets the early reaction was to offload both the yen and the dollar, helping the euro to an early gain. 

But the single currency later went into reverse after data showed lending to euro zone companies slowed last month, and European Central Bank Governing Council member Erkki Liikanen said underlying euro zone inflation may remain lower than expected even if growth is robust. 

The dollar, measured against a basket of currencies, .DXY used the euro’s weakness to rally 0.4 percent to 89.424, bouncing off a five-week low hit on Monday. 

The improved mood on trade earlier pushed China’s yuan to a two-1/2 year high and gave a fillip to industrial commodities, with copper and iron ore bouncing. 

In oil markets, Brent crude LCOc1 added 31 cents to $70.43 a barrel. 

Daalder said there had been no clear flight to quality since February’s burst of equity market volatility, with scarce volatility in currencies and little movement in 10-year U.S. Treasury yields. 

“It seems to be that the U.S. has lost some of its shine as the safe market to which people turn when things get rough,” said Daalder. “It’s partly the uncertainty in the U.S. itself which is playing a role.”