Stock market is looking for triggers: will it be Besi, Tesla or the Fed again?

Today the merchant wins over the pastor. Literally, because the fair is open as usual during Ascension Day. Trading volumes are likely to be somewhat lower, as many investors will be out for a long weekend or taking a break. The futures are turning very slightly red and there is little news, unless it is Besi’s large order.

The trade fair agenda is also pristinely empty. Apart from an interest rate decision from the Bank of England, there is little to do. Keeping the 9 will be another challenge for the AEX today. There is little that investors can rely on. Wall Street and the Asian stock markets also looked lethargic last night.

Maybe Besi can provide some fireworks. The chipper won a large order vear 26 hybrid bonding systems. However, it is not known how much money is involved and who the customer is.

Or will it be real estate investor CTP, which saw rental income increase in the first quarter and therefore also adjusted profit?

Asia is lifeless, only China is doing well

The Asian stock markets looked lethargic last night, due to a lack of catalysts. Only in China was there a cheerful mood, after better-than-expected trade figures. Exports, but especially imports, increased more than expected in April. That gave hope that the Chinese economy might be picking up steam after all.

Here are the positions of the most important indices at a glance, clocked at 7:45 am:

Nikkei 225: +0.1%
TOPIX (Japan): +0.6%
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300: +0.9%
Hang Seng (Hong Kong): +1.1%
Kospi (South Korea): -1.1%

The watershed between China and the other stock exchanges is also visible in tech stocks:

Samsung -1.6%
Alibaba: +0.3%
Baidu: +0.8%
Prosus stake Tencent: +1.9%
TSMC: -0.7%

Wall Street pauses

After a few great days on the stock market, the machine on Wall Street grinds to a halt. Last Friday’s disappointing jobs report gave investors hope that the Fed might turn the interest rate knob a little sooner. But an army of Fed officials expertly dashed those hopes. They indicated that they actually think the current interest rate level is a good way to get inflation back in line.

The last in the list yesterday was Susan Collins, president of the Boston Fed. She warned that interest rates are likely to remain high for a longer period of time, because containing inflation will take more time than previously thought.

It caused interest rates to rise again on the bond markets:

But it also led to a lackluster mood on the stock markets. The only index that still feels like it is the Dow Jones index, which closed higher for the sixth day in a row. This contains fewer growth stocks that are more interest-rate sensitive.

Here are the final positions:

S&P 500: unchanged
Dow Jones index: +0.4%
Nasdaq: -0.2%

Uber and Shopify down

Of course, the earnings season continued as normal. These were, as is often the case, a mixed bag. And although the stock market indices on balance hardly moved, there were some spectacular price movements under the hood. The results of Uber Technologies were disappointing and this was punished with a price loss of 5.7%. That was in stark contrast to its competitor Lyft, which saw losses shrink and turnover increase. This resulted in a price gain of 7.1%.

Shopify (-18.5%) suffered quite a blow after the figures report, with the forecast for the second quarter in particular disappointing.

For Reddit these were the first figures since the IPO in March. The IPO caused quite a few costs for the social media company, resulting in significant losses. But turnover did increase significantly and the turnover forecast for Q2 was also better than expected. Investors rewarded the fund with a 4% price increase.

Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer, reported a loss that was wider than expected. A redesign that should make production cheaper resulted in higher costs. But the company was forgiven by shareholders, especially because turnover was better than expected: the share price ended 0.2% higher.

Tesla in trouble

Things are going a lot less well with that other, much larger car manufacturer. Then of course we’re talking about it Tesla. Reuters news agency reported that the American justice department is investigating whether Tesla and CEO Elon Musk misled investors and consumers about the capabilities of the self-driving cars that Tesla is developing. These cars drive less autonomously than was suggested. The group was not appreciated for this: the share price fell by 1.7%.

Musk is already working on another project:

After the close, Airbnb, AMC Entertainment and Beyond Meat came through with figures. Airbnb beat analyst expectations, but this was overshadowed by a weak outlook, sending the stock down 8.4% in after-hours trading. AMC Entertainment managed to reduce the loss slightly, despite slightly lower turnover. The price fell by 4% after hours. But that was child’s play compared to the price drop of 13.5% after the close Beyond Meatwhich had to tell investors that sales had fallen and that Q2 was also not going as well as analysts had expected.

The indicators:

The European stock markets are heading for a flat opening.
Mostly higher rates in Asia tonight, especially in China.
The CBOE VIX index (indicator of volatility) is now at 13. We haven’t seen it this low in months.
The euro falls very slightly to 1.0744 against the dollar.
The American ten-year interest rate rose by 2 basis points to 4.50%. The Dutch rate is flat at 2.76%. On a weekly basis, interest rates are still a lot lower.
The gold price is 0.4% higher at $2,318 per troy ounce.
Oil prices are rising slightly as a result of ongoing tensions in the Middle East and a decline in US oil inventories. For a barrel of WTI you now pay $79.34 (+0.2%). Brent costs $83.83 per barrel (+0.2%).
The bitcoin price is also up 0.2% and is worth $61,547. This means the coin increased in value by $4,000 last week.

The AEX is expected to open 0.1% lower

News, advice, shorts and agenda

08:32 Jupiter smaller in Flow Traders
08:30 Jupiter smaller in Signify
08:17 Nexi maintains outlook
08:15 Stock market is looking for triggers: will it be Besi, Tesla or the Fed again?
08:09 Red numbers for Equinox Gold
08:09 Another increase in CTP rental income
08:05 AEX starts trading day probably neutral
07:57 Besi receives large order for hybrid bonding
07:16 European stock markets open flat
07:15 Asian stock markets are divided
07:08 Chinese exports are rising faster than expected
07:03 Exhibition agenda: Dutch companies
07:03 Stock market agenda: foreign funds
07:03 Stock market agenda: macroeconomic
May 8 Beyond Meat records lower sales
May 8 AMC Entertainment narrows losses
May 08 Airbnb performs better than expected
May 8 Stock market update: AEX on Wall Street
May 8 Wall Street closed flat
May 08 Oil price closed higher
May 8 Media: US prosecutors launch Tesla autopilot investigation
May 8 Wall Street heads for a slightly lower close
May 8 European stock exchanges closed in green

The AFM reports these shorts.

Advice

There have been no recommendations or price target changes for Dutch shares today, but the day is still young.

Agenda: Bank of England interest rate decision and four shares

As mentioned, the stock exchange is open today, despite Ascension Day. But we certainly don’t have an overflowing agenda.

Four shares will go ex-dividend (Philips, DSM-Firmenich, TKH and Coca-Cola EP). There is also an interest rate decision: from the Bank of England (BoE). As with the Fed last week, the interest rate decision is unlikely to be that exciting: BoE will probably maintain its main rate at 5.25%. But the forecast for the British economy and especially hints about a first interest rate cut could cause some fireworks on the British stock market.

Here is the full agenda for the rest of the day: