The Dow ended the day up more than 160 points, or 0.6%.
Investors are waiting for news about the trade negotiations between the United States and China. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at 4:30 pm ET. They could reportedly announce a summit with President Xi Jinping.
The Nasdaq fell about 0.1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2%.
Tesla (TSLA) plunged more than 8% after the company reported a big drop in deliveries last quarter. CEO Elon Musk also appeared in federal court in New York, the latest chapter in his ongoing battle with the SEC.
Constellation Brands (STZ) jumped 6.5% after the Corona maker reported results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.
And Boeing (BA) finished up nearly 3%. Earlier in the day, Ethiopian officials released a preliminary report that showed pilots followed proper procedures, but were not able to control the 737 Max plane that crashed last month. Boeing says it’s working on a software fix.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has just arrived in a Manhattan court ahead of a hearing where the US Securities and Exchange Commission will ask a judge to hold Musk in contempt for violating a settlement deal.
Oral arguments will begin at 2 pm ET.
Tesla (TSLA) shares have slightly recovered from their earlier lows.
Salesfore (CRM) shares are down roughly 4% today, according to a puzzled Paul R. La Monica:
Deal or no deal?
That’s the question for markets, which are struggling to find direction Thursday amid uncertainty about the status of trade negotiations between the United States and China.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at 4:30 p.m. ET. Multiple news outlets report that they could announce a summit with President Xi Jinping.
As of midday trading:
Tesla (TSLA) shares are still almost 8% lower after the company reported a massive drop in deliveries last quarter.
A new BlackRock report says investors aren’t paying enough attention to how climate change and extreme weather events could hit asset prices.
Particularly at risk: municipal bonds, commercial real estate and US utilities.
From Brian Deese, BlackRock’s global head of sustainable investing:
Context: California utility PG&E recently filed for bankruptcy protection and faces billions of dollars in liability over deadly wildfires. It named a new CEO on Wednesday.
Here’s some problems Facebook (FB) has been dealing with lately:
So, how’s the stock doing? Decently, according to our Paul R. La Monica.
Here’s what the stock has done since the beginning of 2019:
Office Depot (ODP) stock fell nearly 17% after the company announced that its first quarter earnings will come in below expectations.
In a statement, Office Depot said “lower than expected operating performance” by its IT solutions division CompuCom is to blame. The office supplies giant said a combination of reduced revenue from CompuCom’s existing projects and the company’s inability to reduce costs resulted in the division losing $15 million.
Office Depot, which also owns OfficeMax, will release its full earnings report on May 8.
CVS Pharmacy (CVS) is shortening the time customers can get their prescriptions delivered to just hours.
The company said that 6,000 stores will now deliver prescriptions “within hours.” It will cost an additional $7.99 and be delivered by Shipt. The new option will be available on its app or by calling their local CVS Pharmacy.
CVS said thousands of additional other products can be added to their delivery, including over-the counter medicine, feminine care products and first aid items.
Last year, CVS began next-day home delivery across its nearly 10,000 US stores for $4.99. That option will still be available as a lower-cost option for customers, the company said in a release.
Talk about getting close to full employment. The fewest number of people filed for unemployment claims in almost 50 years last week.
The US Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial jobless claims fell to 202,000 – the lowest level since December 1969.
It’s yet another sign of how tight the labor market is right now.
The news comes one day before the US government will report the job figures for March. Job growth slowed to just 20,000 in February and many economists think the US economy is running out of workers who actually need a job. There are more job openings than there are unemployed people to fill them.
Economists are predicting a hiring rebound though, with consensus estimates that 170,000 jobs were added in March according to Briefing.com.
Shares of Constellation Brands (STZ) which owns Corona, Modelo and other beers, liquors and wines, jumped nearly 3% before the market opened after reporting earnings results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.
The company said that sales grew 7% in fiscal year 2019 to $8.1 billion, and 2% in the fourth quarter, adding that its beers have performed particularly well.
On Wednesday, Constellation announced that it is selling about 30 of its inexpensive wine brands to E. & J. Gallo Winery in a $1.7 billion deal.The move will let the company focus on its premium brands, which perform better for the company.
Kenmore is deepening its partnership with Amazon with a new Dash integration that will automatically reorder cleaning products that are compatible with Kenmore dishwashers and laundry machines.
The Sears-owned brand said that a “select number” of Kenmore’s machines can automatically reorder “laundry detergent, dishwasher pods, rinse aid or dryer sheets” from the owner’s Amazon account.
Last year, Kenmore announced that all of its smart refrigerators would provide a similar automatic reordering feature for water and air filters.
A federal judge in New York will hear oral arguments Thursday at 2 pm ET in a lawsuit brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that seeks to hold Tesla CEO Elon Musk in contempt for violating a settlement deal.
Judge Alison Nathan is tasked with weighing the SEC’s request that Musk be held in contempt for violating a settlement agreement reached last year. The agreement required Musk to get pre-approval for social media posts about the electric car company.
It’s unclear whether Musk will be present and when Nathan will issue a ruling.
The pilots of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 followed proper procedures but were not able to control the aircraft before it crashed, Ethiopian Transportation Ministry officials said Thursday.
The findings, part of preliminary report on the tragedy released by the ministry, are likely to place significant pressure on airplane manufacturer Boeing. The crash of the Boeing 737 Max 8 was the second in less than six months.
Boeing (BA) shares opened slightly higher Thursday.
Boeing did not immediately respond to the report, but it has said it will work with global regulators to investigate the cause of the crash.
Tesla (TSLA) stock plunged 9% in early trading after it reported a massive drop in auto sales for the last quarter.
About 63,000 vehicles were delivered to customers in the first three months of 2019 — a 31% drop compared to the previous quarter.
It’s the first quarter-to-quarter drop in sales at Tesla in nearly two years, and the single largest drop ever.
Slowing sales are a concern because Tesla needs to keep its sales pace high to pay down its sizable debts.
The company says it’s still confident, though, it will reach its annual sales goal.
Here’s what investors are watching:
India’s central bank just cut interest rates for the second time in two months, giving the slowing economy a shot in the arm days before national elections.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowered its main rate from 6.25% to 6% on Thursday, citing a slowdown in the economy at home and abroad.
India’s GDP slumped to 6.6% in the quarter ended December, a sharp drop from the 7.1% and 8.2% growth recorded in the previous two quarters.
The rate cut gives Prime Minister Narendra Modi a boost in his attempt to win a second term in office when polling begins next week.
Shilan Shah, India economist at Capital Economics, said in a note Thursday:
