US equity markets fell for a second consecutive session, shrugging off some solid corporate earnings releases and with re-opening plays such as airlines and cruise line operators led losses – Dow down -256-points or -0.75% , with Boeing Co (down -%) and Nike Inc (-%) both dropping more than >4%. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp rose over +3.79% after posting better-than-expected first quarter earnings per share (EPS) and revenue after the closing bell of the previous session. The broader S&P 500 lost -0.68%, with Energy (down -2.66%) leading seven of the eleven primary sectors lower. The more defensive Utilities (up+1.32%) and Real Estate (+1.12%) both advanced over >1%. United Airlines Holdings Inc fell -8.53% after the carrier recorded its fifth consecutive quarterly loss after the close of the previous session. American Airlines Group Inc fell -5.48%, while cruise operators Carnival Corp (down -4.35%) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (-4.36%) both fell over >4%. The Nasdaq -0.92% Apple Inc (down -1.28%) launched a new iMac and iPad with its M1 chips at a spring event overnight. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index fell -1.96%. In merger and acquisition (M&A) news, Kansas City Southern soared +15.25% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Canadian National Railway Co (-6.76%) was planning to make a buyout bid for the railroad operator of ~US$30B, which would top Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s previously agreed on buyout bid.
•In US corporate earnings, Netflix Inc dropped over >8% in extended trading after the streaming video company posted disappointing subscriber growth for the March quarter. For the period, Netflix added 4M net new subscribers, falling well short of the company’s guidance target of 6M, while the company sees just 1M net additions in the June quarter. Netflix finished March with 208M subscribers, up 14% from a year ago. For the March quarter, Netflix reported revenue of up 24% from a year ago to US$7.16B and slightly ahead of the company’s projection of US$7.1B. Profits were US$3.75 per share, ahead of the company’s estimate of US$2.97 a share. Netflix forecast June quarter revenue of US$7.3B, just below the current Wall Street consensus at US$7.4B, with profits of US$3.16 per share (above the current consensus analyst estimate at US$2.69 per share). Railroad operator CSX Corp fell over >1.5% in after hours trading after reporting that first quarter revenue fell -1% to US$2.81B (versus consensus forecasts for US$2.79B), citing “difficult operating conditions”. Net income fell more than >% to US$706M or US$0.93c versus consensus analyst estimates for US$0.93c. President and chief executive James Foote noted that “the strengthening economic momentum is providing added visibility into volume growth. Johnson & Johnson rose +2.33% after reporting first-quarter profit and sales that topped expectations, citing strength in its pharmaceutical business and continued recovery in medical devices. The company also reported US$100M in first-quarter sales of its COVID-19 vaccine that’s on hold in the U.S. while health regulators investigate a rare blood-clotting issue. Abbott Laboratories fell -3.6% despite exceeding earnings expectations during a quarter in which sales of its COVID-19 tests made up 20% of total revenue. Consumer staples group and Dow constituent Procter & Gamble Co settled +0.83% higher after posting better-than-expected third quarter earnings and flagged that it would be raising prices on certain product categories. Fellow Dow component Travelers Companies Inc rose +0.87% after posting quarterly figures that topped consensus forecasts, raised its cash dividend and approved an additional US$5B of share buybacks. Aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin Corp fell -1.12% despite exceeding consensus first quarter earnings per share (EPS) estimates by 4%. Philip Morris International gained +2.54% after the tobacco group reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit and revenue. Baker Hughes Co, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc, Haliburton, Lam Research Corp and Verizon Communications Inc are among companies slated to report tonight AEST.
•The Travel and Leisure and Banking sectors both dropped -3.7% to lead all major sectors and major European bourses lower, leaving the benchmark pan-European Stoxx 600 index (which includes UK equities) nursing a -1.90% decline. Germany's DAX fell -1.55% . Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) AG fell -3.36% . France's CAC -2.09%. French food group Danone SA fell -1.8% after posting a -3.3% fall in first-quarter sales but maintained its goal of returning to profitable growth in the second half of the year Interim co-Chief Executives Veronique Penchienati-Bosetta and Shane Grant said that the company “continue to expect a return to like-for-like sales growth in the second quarter, and to profitable growth in the second half of 2021". French car parts maker Faurecia rose 1% after first-quarter sales beat market expectations, underpinned by strong growth in China. In broader stock moves, Austrian chipmaker ams AG tumbled 13.26% after a media report that it lost some business from Apple Inc. Sandvik AB (down -2.56%) said that order intake increased organically in the first quarter by +12% to SEK 25,847M (~US$2.97B) "...driven by strong momentum in mining and continued improvement in short-cycle businesses." Sandvik runs a mining equipment business, alongside machine tooling and materials technology business. Mining accounts for 40% of the company's revenues. "We continued to see strong momentum in mining with accelerating demand for our equipment, parts and services. The order intake level for Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions was at an all-time high, driven by organic growth of +36% year on year," said Sandvik Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stefan Widing in a news release. The European Medicines Agency said its safety committee concluded that a warning about unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be added to the product information for Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, but said the benefits outweighed the risk. In economic data, the German producer price index (PPI) for March
•London's FTSE 100 shed -2.00%. Associated British Foods Plc fell -5.93% after adjusted operating profit almost halved from the same period last year. Rio Tinto Plc fell -2.2% following the iron ore major’s first quarter operations review. In economic data, labor market data for March recorded that UK unemployment rate unexpectedly declined for a second consecutive month to 4.9% despite tight nationwide COVID-19 lockdown measures. Consumer price inflation (CPI) and producer price inflation (PPI) figures for March are released tonight AEST.
•Base metals weaker across-the-board – copper lost -0.53% to ~US$4.23/lb after rising as much as +1.1% to US$9,483 per tonne or ~US$4.30/lb earlier in the session, and flirting with the US$9,617 per tonne level hit in February (which was its highest since August 2011). The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as high as ¥69,750 yuan (~US$10,737) per tonne, not far from its February peak of ¥71,080 per tonne (which was its highest since March 2011) before settling +1.1% higher at ¥69,450 per tonne. Elsewhere, nickel fell -0.84%, aluminium -0.80% and zinc -1.46%. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) yesterday (20 April) left their benchmark one year loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged for a twelfth consecutive month at 3.85% as widely expected (while the five-year rate also remained steady at 4.65%).
•Benchmark spot iron ore (62% fines) jumped +US$7.81c or +4.30% to US$189.61mt . China’s most traded iron ore futures contract (September delivery) rose over >4% yesterday (20 April) to hit a new record high of ¥119.05. The World Steel Association released its Short Range Outlook for 2021 and 2022 yesterday (20 April) and forecasts that steel demand will grow by 5.8% in 2021 to reach 1,8740.0M tonnes, after declining -0.2% in 2020. The association forecasts steel demand to see further growth of 2.7% to 1,924.6M tonnes in 2022.
•Gold futures (June delivery) added +US$7.80 or +0.4% to US$1,778.40/oz, reversing an earlier decline as US Treasury yields receded. Silver futures (May delivery) unchanged at US$25.84/oz.
•Oil prices retreated as record cases of COVID-19 in India (the world’s third-largest importer of oil) dimmed the outlook for the nation’s economy and energy demand, while there was apparent progress in the Iran’s nuclear deal negotiations - WTI fell -US$0.94c or -1.5% to US$62.44/barrel, with the May contract expiring at the conclusion of the session. Last night’s session marked the one-year anniversary of a negative price close for the front-month WTI crude futures contract. On 20 April, 2020 the May WTI crude plummeted -306% or -US$55.90, to settle at negative -US$37.63/barrel. The new front month June WTI contract fell -US$0.76c or -1.2% to US$62.67/barrel. Brent shed -US$0.48c or -0.7% to US$66.57/barrel. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an address to the nation on Tuesday (20 April), ruling out a nationwide lockdown as a measure to curb the pandemic and urging states to ensure that lockdowns are only chosen as the last resort, according to the Hindustan Times. Elsewhere, Bloomberg reported that Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said negotiations toward a nuclear deal were 60% to 70% complete. Meanwhile, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s move on the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2021, known as NOPEC, called attention to long-running efforts to by the U.S. to make it illegal for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to manipulate oil prices. The NOPEC bill would make it illegal for any foreign state to act collectively to limit oil production or set prices. After the markets’ close, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released their latest weekly inventory data, recording a +436K barrel increase in US crude stoc