The American stock exchanges rose yesterday, driven by good reports from several large companies. Data released during the day showed a somewhat cooling off in business activity in the country, but also somewhat lower inflation. This also contributed to hopes of an easing in rising consumer prices. Investors continue to look to reports from tech giants such as Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta, which will be released later this week. The broad S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.2 and 0.7 percent, respectively, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.5 percent.
The raw materials traded mixed yesterday. Oil prices rose as the dollar weakened and the focus was on the health of the world economy. A weaker dollar makes the commodity cheaper to buy in other currencies, which often pushes up the price. At the same time, data from the Eurozone showed that business activity in the area grew at the fastest rate in almost a year, which is expected to contribute to increased demand. Now the markets are looking towards Thursday’s GDP figures from the US, to take the pace of the world’s largest economy. By 20:35, both WTI oil and Brent oil had added $1.4 to $83.3 and $88.4 a barrel, respectively.
Base metals fell across the board. As the sole winner, lead was up 1.1 percent at 8:35 p.m. Tin plunged 5.9 percent, after trading near record highs on Monday. Aluminum and nickel fell 3.1 and 3.0 percent respectively, while both copper and zinc lost 1.3 percent. The price of gold traded sideways with a slight decline of $0.7 to $2,325.4 an ounce.
Among individual American companies, Swedish Spotify surged 11.4 percent, as the company’s operating profit exceeded expectations. Auto giant General Motors was also among the winners after reporting higher-than-expected results and raising its full-year forecast. The stock rose 4.5 percent. Aerospace company GE Aerospace gave a strong full-year forecast and rose 8.3 percent. Ten of eleven sectors in the S&P 500 rose yesterday, with telecoms and technology leading the way. After the close, Tesla reported worse sales and results than expected, but in after-market trading the stock rose as the company promises to speed up the launch of cheaper cars.
The American ten-year lost 2 points to 4.60 percent.
Asian stock markets lift during the morning, driven by good European macro data and slightly higher hopes for US interest rate cuts, after weaker economic figures from the US. The Japanese yen is at a 34-year low, and investors are analyzing whether a government intervention to strengthen the currency could be on the table. At 07:30, the Shanghai composite index rose 0.4 percent, the Hang Seng 2.0 percent and the Nikkei 225 2.3 percent.
On the Stockholm Stock Exchange, a large number of companies report during the day. Among those who have reported during the morning are SHB, Intrum, SEB, Evolution, Lifco, MTG and SSAB and others. Later today, reports are also expected from, among others, Assa Abloy, Bilia and Wallenstam at 08:00, Atlas Copco at 11:00 and Trelleborg at 13:00.
Among the updated recommendations that have landed, Handelsbanken raises its long-term recommendation for Afry to outperform from market perform, with a target price of SEK 240 (210). The bank instead lowers JM to market perform from outperform, with a repeated target price of SEK 250. JM also gets SEB’s target price lowered to SEK 235 (245). Carnegie raises Beijer Ref to buy from hold, with updated target price of SEK 175 (152). Carnegie also raises VNV Global’s target price to SEK 33 (31).
Wednesday is somewhat calmer on the macro front. Statistics Sweden starts the day by releasing Sweden’s unemployment figures at 08:00. After that, the focus shifts to the US, from where orders for capital goods are published at 2:30 p.m. Finally, levels in US crude oil and fuel stocks are released at 16:30, which affect the price of both the raw material and refined products.
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