Stock Market Today Mid-Morning Updates
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down by over 400 points as the global equities are down. This comes as concerns over an escalating coronavirus outbreak in China that could hinder global economic growth. Furthermore, following the threat of rising inflation and with monetary policy tightening in the near future, I can see why investors are jittery. The pandemic lockdowns and restrictions imposed in Shanghai and neighboring cities, in particular, are causing widespread supply-chain disruptions and also logistic breakdowns.
Oil companies like Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) are down by 3.20% and 4.67% respectively today as oil prices fell on fears of a global slowdown amid lockdowns in Shanghai. West Texas Intermediate crude fell more than 4% today and currently trades below $98 a barrel. Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) is up by over 4% on today’s opening bell after Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) says that it is a buy despite its recent underperformance.
Among the Dow Jones leaders, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are down by 1.35% today while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is also down by 0.34%. Meanwhile, Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Nike (NYSE: NKE) are trading lower on Monday. Among the Dow financial leaders, Visa (NYSE: V) is down by 0.95% while JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) is also down by 1.81%.
Shares of EV leader Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are down by 1.46% on Monday. Rival EV companies like Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) are up by 0.79%. Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) is down by 1.05% today. Chinese EV leaders like Nio (NYSE: NIO) and Xpeng Motors (NYSE: XPEV) are trading lower today.
Dow Jones Today: U.S. Treasury Yields Slumps As Shanghai Lockdown Causes Supply Chain Woes
Following the stock market opening on Monday, the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq are trading lower at 1.33%, 1.22%, and 0.81% respectively. Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) is down by 0.75% while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY) is also down by 1.36%.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield has slumped back to 2.77% today amidst a global economic slowdown looming around the corner. There are concerns about a severe coronavirus breakout in China that has rocked Asian stock markets today on fears of a slowdown in the region because of lockdowns. The broader markets are also likely reacting to the latest Federal Reserve updates. Some are worried that the central bank’s move to tighten monetary policy to address inflation could hinder economic growth.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said last week that a 50-basis-point interest rate hike was on the table for its May policy meeting. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Ukraine to discuss military aid with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The U.S. has pledged over $700 million in military financing to help Ukraine. It will also help other allied countries in Europe involved in the war effort.
[Read More] Top Stock Market News For Today April 25, 2022
Twitter Stock In Focus Again As Board Reportedly Looks Into Elon Musk Takeover Offer
Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) is front and center at this week’s opening bell as well. For those uninitiated, this is thanks to the ongoing efforts from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to buy the social media firm. At today’s market open, TWTR stock is now looking at gains of over 4%. By and large, the current activity in the company’s shares is thanks to an exclusive report from Reuters on the deal. Diving in, according to Reuters sources, Twitter is set to take up Musk on his per-share offer of $54.20. This would value the firm at around $43 billion. As such, it would make sense that investors are more than eager to pile onto TWTR stock today.
In detail, the report notes that the company could announce the news by later today once the board meets. Following this, it will likely recommend the transaction to Twitter’s shareholders. While all this is exciting, it is important to note that there remain plenty of discussions ahead should the report be through. In this case, Musk has mentioned plans to bring Twitter private, focusing on the free speech aspect of the platform. All of this follows a recent update from the Tesla CEO as well.
Namely, as of last week, Musk revealed a financing package, securing funds of over $46 billion for the bid. The likes of which, seemingly, have the Twitter board seriously looking into the offer now. Also, the company is set to release its latest quarterly financials on Thursday before the market opens. With all this in mind, things appear to be heating up for TWTR stock now.
[Read More] 5 Top Automotive Stocks For Your Late April 2022 Watchlist
Coca-Cola Pops On Record Quarterly Earnings Update
On the earnings front today, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is popping off after posting stellar figures in its first-quarter earnings report. Getting straight to it, the company saw record quarterly earnings and revenue for the quarter. This adds up to earnings of $0.64 per share alongside revenue of $10.5 billion. For reference, these figures top Wall Street estimates of $0.58 and $9.83 billion respectively. Notably, Coca-Cola cites strong demand for its flagship soda, Powerade, and Costa coffee brands as key growth drivers this quarter. Even so, the company is not dismissing the broad-based headwinds in the near term just yet.
Providing an overview of Coca-Cola’s outlook on the current state of things is CEO James Quincey. According to Quincey, the company is preparing for “storm cloud,” in the coming quarters. For now, the company is maintaining its outlook of a 7% to 8% increase in annual revenue while accounting for growing inflationary challenges. Not to mention, Quincy says that this is despite Coca-Cola suspending its operations in Russia. In his words, “We are keeping a close watch on the spillover effects of the conflict in Ukraine on the health of the consumer, and we remain ready to pivot and adapt.”
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