- Boeing shares under pressure after reports of a new flaw in the company’s 737 MAX jet fleet
- Investors are digesting conflicting reports on the state of U.S.-China trade negotiations
- Semiconductor stocks seen adding to Wednesday’s rally; Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia shares rise.
U.S. stocks advanced cautiously at the start of trade Thursday, as investors parsed conflicting reports on U.S. China trade relations, while the Dow’s advance was muted amid reports of a new flaw with Boeing Co.’s troubled 737 MAX jet fleet.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, +0.07%
rose 4 points, or less than 0.1%, to 26,547 with its advance muted by Boeing Co.’s
BA, -2.60%
shares, which fell 2.8% early Thursday.
CNN reported that new issues with the Boeing 737 fleet’s computer system had emerged which could delay the aircraft’s’ return to the air after a world-wide grounding back in March. The fleet was grounded after crashes of the Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, which killed 346 people.
The S&P 500 index
SPX, +0.42%
traded up 12 points, or 0.4%, at 2,925 and The Nasdaq Composite index
COMP, +0.59%
rose 41 points, or 0.5%, at 7,951.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping will present President Donald Trump terms to resolve a market-rattling trade confrontation ahead of an expected meeting at the sidelines of the G-20 gathering of developed countries set to take place in Osaka, Japan, this weekend.
Terms include the removal of a ban on the sale of U.S. technology to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co., the removal of punitive tariffs, and an end to a request for China to buy additional U.S. exports.
The demands raise some doubts that the two sides can achieve a detente and comes after a report from the South China Morning Post that a tentative U.S.-China truce had been achieved.
“The more optimistic tone earlier was due to some positive headlines regarding this weekend’s meeting between President Trump and President Xi,” wrote Bespoke Investment Group’s Paul Hickey, in a Thursday note to clients. “But some of the air was let out of the balloon following a less optimistic tone from the WSJ.”
On the economic data front, initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 10,000 to 227,000 in the seven days ended June 22, compared to the week prior. Economists polled by MarketWatch estimated new claims would total 216,000.
The Commerce Department issued its final revision of first quarter GDP growth, with the Commerce Department’s estimate holding steady at 3.1%.
At 10:00 am, the National Association of Realtors will issue its pending home sales index.
Which stocks are in focus?
Occidental Petroleum Corp.
OXY, -0.22%
stock could be in focus Wednesday, after investor Carl Icahn called for a special shareholder meeting, where he will seek to replace four directors on the board, arguing that the company’s board should not have approved a $38 billion deal to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp.
APC, +0.60%
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2019. Occidental shares were unchanged before the start of trade Thursday.
Shares of Lyft Inc.
LYFT, +1.18%
rose 1.2%, after news that autonomous vehicle firm Waymo, which is a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet Inc.
GOOG, +0.33%
has officially launched a program to make some self-driving minivans available for Lyft customers. The program is only available in a small area outside, Phoenix, Arizona.
Rite Aid Corp.
RAD, +5.06%
announced first-quarter financial results Wednesday evening, reporting a larger-than-expected loss and no revenue growth. Shares of the retailer were down 2.1% Thursday. Rival Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
WBA, +4.07%
meanwhile reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings on Thursday morning sending the stock up 3.6%
Fellow retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc.
PIR, -19.36%
also reported disappointing earnings after the market close Wednesday. Shares fell more than 20% Thursday.
Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc.
CAG, -9.78%
tumbled 6.4%, after the processed and packaged-foods manufacturer reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and sales Thursday morning.
Shares of HealthEquity Inc.
HQY, +3.75%
rose 2.6% in premarket trade, after the health savings account (HSA) non-bank custodian, said Thursday it has reached agreement to acquire WageWorks Inc
WAGE, -1.99%
Semiconductor stocks appear set to add to yesterday’s rally, instigated by upbeat guidance by Micron Technologies Inc.
MU, +0.29%
management. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc
AMD, +2.57%
rose 1.4% and Nvidia Corp.
NVDA, +2.54%
shares added 1.5% in premarket trade Thursday, after Wedbush Securities initiated coverage of those stocks with an outperform rating.
How did other markets trade?
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.46%
fell less than a basis point to 2.033%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225
NIK, +1.19%
jumped 1.2% overnight, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index
SHCOMP, +0.69%
fell 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
HSI, +1.42%
index rose 1.4%. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was trading 0.2% lower.
In commodities markets, the price of crude oil
CLQ19, +0.08%
and gold prices
GCN19, -0.69%
were retreating. The U.S. dollar
DXY, +0.01%
was trading flat, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index at 96.22.
Source : MTV
