- Asian Stocks Track US Declines, Eyes on China GDP: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia fell, tracking Wall Street shares lower, after the latest evidence of stubborn US inflation spurred bets, the Federal Reserve will be in no rush to cut rates. Equity benchmarks in Japan, South Korea and Australia were all in the red, while stock futures for Hong Kong slipped. - Fed’s Daly Says No Urgency to Cut, Policy in a Good Place
(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly reiterated there’s no urgency to adjust interest rates, pointing to solid economic growth, a strong labour market and still-elevated inflation. Daly said she needs to be confident inflation is heading toward the Fed’s 2% target before reacting. - NY Strikes ‘Landmark’ Budget Deal to Tackle Housing Crisis
(Bloomberg) — New York lawmakers agreed to the most sweeping changes in New York housing policy in years in a $237 billion budget deal, Governor Kathy Hochul said Monday. The tentative spending plan — described cautiously by the governor as the “parameters of a conceptual agreement” — includes a tax break for affordable-housing construction alongside new restrictions on evictions and rent increases for market – rate renters. - Israel Vows Response to Iran as US and Allies Urge Restraint
(Bloomberg) — Top Israeli military officials reasserted that their country has no choice but to respond to Iran’s weekend drone and missile attack, even as European and US officials boosted their calls for Israel to avoid a tit-for-tat escalation that could provoke a wider war. - Fed Hiking Rates to 6.5% Is ‘Real Risk’ for UBS Strategists
(Bloomberg) — The combination of strong US growth and sticky inflation is raising the odds the Federal Reserve hikes rather than cuts interest rates, bringing borrowing costs to as high as 6.5% next year, according to UBS Group AG strategists. - M&T Bank gains about 4% in premarket trading after updating its guidance for the year’s net interest income to $6.8 billion-plus, versus prior guidance for $6.7 billion to $6.8 billion.
FIRST QUARTER RESULTS: Operating EPS $3.09, estimate $3.10 (Bloomberg Consensus); Provision for credit losses $200 million, estimate $161 million; Deposits at end-period $167.20 billion, estimate $162.75 billion; Loans and leases at end-period $134.97 billion, estimate $134.45 billion; Cash and due from banks $1.70 billion, estimate $1.73 billion; Net interest income $1.68 billion, estimate $1.68 billion; Net interest margin 3.52%, estimate 3.56%; Tier 1 ratio 11.1%, estimate 11.2%; Return on average common equity 8.14%, estimate 8.22%; Net charge-offs $138 million, estimate $134.2 million; Non-interest income $580 million, estimate $578.9 million; Efficiency ratio 60.8%, estimate 59.8%. - Global Disinflation? More Like Global Price Divergence
(Bloomberg Intelligence) — The world is facing not one, but multiple inflation problems. The US battle with stubbornly high prices has pushed back our Fed cut call to July. Disinflation is advancing in Europe, paving the way for a cut in June. China’s battle against deflation requires an amped-up policy response – we expect that to happen in the second quarter. - PBOC Weakens Yuan Fixing to 1-Month Low Amid Dollar Gains
(Bloomberg) — The PBOC set the yuan’s reference rate at 7.1028 per dollar, the weakest since Mar. 1 as the dollar maintains its strength. The fixing weakened 0.1% compared with 7.0979 in the last session. A Bloomberg survey of analysts and traders had average forecast the fixing at 7.245. The gap between the yuan’s fixing versus estimates stood at 1429 pips. - Goldman Traders Notch Windfall Driving Surprise Profit Jump
(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s back-to-basics approach is paying off as it posted profits that vaulted past expectations. The Wall Street giant recorded a 28% jump in net income in the first quarter, even as analysts braced for a drop from a year ago. - Marex Group, Shareholders Seek Up to $323 Million in US IPO
(Bloomberg) — Marex Group Plc and a group of the London-based firm’s shareholders are seeking to raise as much as $323 million in a US initial public offering. The financial services platform and the selling shareholders plan to market a total of 15.4 million shares for $18 to $21 each, according to a filing Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. - Bridgewater, Arisaig Terminations Start 2Q; 2024 Paces Fresh Low
(Bloomberg Intelligence) — Hedge-fund mandates have been negative in 2Q so far, with three flagged terminations, after a relatively muted 1Q. This year’s activity is pacing well below 2023’s fresh low, signalling an intact secular slowdown for the industry, based on Pensions & Investments (P&I) data. - Macy’s New Legal Chief Collects $1.5 Million Amid Takeover Fight
(Bloomberg Law) — Macy’s Inc. paid chief legal officer Tracy Preston more than $1.5 million after announcing her hire in December, five days before an investor group’s offer to take the company private was publicized. The department store operator gave Preston $49,900 in salary, $10,200 for relocation costs, and $630,000 in stock awards, a company proxy statement shows. - Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.’s (CATL) reported a bottom line beat with improving product mix and stronger-than-expected cost control despite facing price war and seasonality in the first quarter.
The company’s net income rose by 7% to 10.51 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), which was the manufacturer’s highest gross margin in Q3 2021. CATL’s shares rose 4.6% ahead of its results on Monday. The company plays a key role in China’s grip on the global EV supply chain and has announced that they are determined to continue expanding for battery-powered cars and have no plans to slow down, despite cooling demands. - Adobe shares are up 0.2% on Monday after the software company detailed pricing information for its Acrobat AI Assistant services.
Piper Sandler writes that the pricing news is “an incremental positive that marks the beginning of a new monetization path for ADBE across a large installed base”. “The AI Assistant represents a meaningfully new potential revenue unlock opportunity,” and “every 1% attach-rate could add an estimated $299M in Document Cloud ARR providing a 10%+ boost to overall growth”. Recent weakness in the stock appears overdone. - Siemens and Atlas Copco are both upgraded to buy at Bank of America in a review of the European capital-goods sector. The bank cautions that 1Q earnings in the sector may be weaker than expected, further putting the onus on 2H reports to provide support to FY figures.
Siemens is upgraded to buy from neutral due to its exposure to industrial automation demand, which is set to see an inflection point; also notes stock is down relative to peers year-to-date. Shares gain 2.5% at 10.08am CET to trade at €177. Atlas Copco is also upgraded to buy from neutral on account of its Vacuum Technique division, which manufactures key equipment for the semiconductor industry, for which outlook has “materially improved”. - Adidas rises as much as 4.3% and is the biggest gainer on the Stoxx 600 Consumer Products and Services index on Monday after Morgan Stanley double-upgrades to overweight, with growth in topline momentum now seen outweighing risks to the equity story.
Analyst Edouard Aubin says in note that most recent channel checks show positive sentiment building across the sportswear giant’s product pipeline. Also sees support from improved marketing launches, alongside more favourable and healthier sporting goods backdrop. Room to benefit from “lull” in rival Nike’s product innovation. - Alcoa and Century Aluminium are among companies trading higher after the US and UK imposed new restrictions on trading Russian aluminium, copper and nickel.
Alcoa gains as much as 6.8%, while Century Aluminium climbs 13%, the most intraday in more than three months. Kaiser Aluminium rises as much as 3.7%.
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