- Stocks Fluctuate With Focus on Trump’s Picks: Markets Wrap
Stocks in Asia wavered as traders digested Donald Trump’s latest cabinet appointments, a day after his tariff
threats roiled emerging markets. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed, with equities falling in Japan
while those in Hong Kong and China gained. A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar slipped 0.1% to pare some of its
strength in the previous session. The yen gained. - Stocks rise Tuesday, Dow and S&P 500 close at records
Stocks rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping to fresh highs, as
investors shook off the threat of new tariffs from President-elect Donald Trump. The blue-chip Dow advanced
123.74 points, or 0.28%, to close at 44,860.31, reversing course after dropping more than 300 points at
session lows. The S&P 500 added 0.57% to 6,021.63. Both the Dow and S&P 500 notched new intraday and
closing records. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.63% to 19,174.30. Trump on Monday night called for a 25%
tariff on products from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional 10% levy on Chinese goods. He has
already said he would impose a tariff of up to 20% on all imports, and an additional duty of at least 60% on
products from China. - Oil prices steady amid focus on Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, OPEC+ policy
Oil prices steadied in early trade on Wednesday, with markets assessing the potential impact of a ceasefire
deal between Israel and Hezbollah, and ahead of Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting. Brent crude futures fell 2 cents to
$72.79 a barrel by 0114 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $68.73 a barrel,
down 4 cents, or 0.1%. Both benchmarks settled lower on Tuesday after Israel agreed to a ceasefire deal with
Lebanon’s Hezbollah. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah will take effect on Wednesday after both
sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France, U.S. President Joe Biden said on
Tuesday. The accord cleared the way for an end to a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed
thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said he was ready to implement a ceasefire deal with Lebanon and would respond forcefully to
any violation by Hezbollah. - Gold trades in tight range ahead of US inflation data
Gold prices flitted within a narrow range on Wednesday as investors awaited key U.S. inflation data for
insights into the potential scale of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. Spot gold was steady at $2,635.56
per ounce, as of 0222 GMT, moving largely within a slim $9 range during the session. Bullion hit over one
week low on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures rose 0.6% to $2,635.80. - Fed Minutes Show Officials Prefer Future Rate Cuts to Be Gradual
Federal Reserve officials indicated broad support for a careful approach to future interest-rate cuts as the
economy remains solid and inflation slowly cools, minutes from their latest policy meeting showed.
Participants anticipated that if the data came in about as expected, with inflation continuing to move down
sustainably to 2% and the economy remaining near maximum employment, it would likely be appropriate to
move gradually toward a more neutral stance of policy over time, according to the minutes of the Federal
Open Market Committee meeting ended Nov. 7. - Trump’s Tariff Threat to Top Trading Partners Roils Markets
President-elect Donald Trump vowed additional tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, shaking markets with
his first specific threats to the US’s top trading partners since his election win three weeks ago. Subscribe to
the Bloomberg Daybreak podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. Trump said he would impose
additional 10% tariffs on goods from China and 25% tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada, in posts
to his Truth Social network on Monday. The US dollar advanced on Tuesday, with the Mexican peso and the
Canadian dollar among the worst performers. US Treasuries fell, with the yield on 10-year notes rising two
basis points to 4.29%. That partially reversed the reaction to Scott Bessent’s nomination last week as
Treasury secretary, which weighed on the dollar and boosted US bonds amid optimism of a more measured
approach to trade relations. - China’s industrial profits fall by 10% in October as deflation worries linger
China’s industrial profits dropped by 10% in October from a year ago, in another sign that Beijing’s stimulus
measures have yet to reverse a slump in corporate earnings. That marked the third straight month of the
profits decline, following a 27.1% year-on-year plunge in September, the steepest decrease since March. - Israel-Hezbollah permanent ceasefire has been accepted, Biden says
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a permanent ceasefire in cross-border hostilities between the Jewish state and
Hezbollah militants. Effective at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow, local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli
border will end, President Joe Biden said Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the day that he supported the ceasefire deal, which he sent to his Cabinet
for approval. - OpenAI gets new $1.5 billion investment from SoftBank, allowing employees to sell shares in a tender
offer
OpenAI is allowing employees to sell roughly $1.5 billion worth of shares in a new tender offer to SoftBank,
CNBC has learned. SoftBank’s latest investment adds to OpenAI’s recent $6.6 billion funding round at a $157
billion valuation. The deal was spurred by SoftBank billionaire founder and CEO Masayoshi Son, who was
persistent in asking for a larger stake in the company, a person familiar with the matter said. - Kohl’s shares drop as much as 21%, the most intraday since May, after the department-store chain
lowered its annual projections for comparable sales and profit following a weaker-than-expected third
quarter
The company said Monday postmarket that Michaels Cos. CEO Ashley Buchanan will take over as chief
executive of Kohl’s on Jan. 15, replacing Tom Kingsbury. YEAR FORECAST: Sees comparable sales -6% to -7%,
saw -3% to -5%, estimate -4.45% (Bloomberg Consensus); Sees net sales -7% to -8%, saw -4% to -6%; Sees
operating margin 3% to 3.2%, saw 3.4% to 3.8%, estimate 3.6%; Sees EPS $1.20 to $1.50, saw $1.75 to $2.25,
estimate $1.86; Still sees capital expenditure about $500 million, estimate $499.8 million. THIRD QUARTER
RESULTS: Comparable sales -9.3%, estimate -5.19%; Gross margin 39.1% vs. 38.9% y/y, estimate 39.3%; Net
sales $3.51 billion, -8.7% y/y, estimate $3.67 billion; Merchandise inventories $4.10 billion, -3.3% y/y,
estimate $3.79 billion; EPS 20c vs. 53c y/y, estimate 30c; Operating income $98 million, estimate $123.8
million; Operating cash flow $195 million, estimate negative $73.1 million. Sales Remained Soft in Apparel &
Footwear Businesses. Although we had a strong collective performance across our key growth areas,
including Sephora, home decor, gifting, and impulse, and also benefited from the opening of Babies “R” Us
shops in 200 of our stores, these were unable to offset the declines in our core business. - Automakers Stellantis and Volkswagen slide, leading losses among Mexico-exposed European stocks
after President-elect Donald Trump vowed additional trade tariffs on the country
The Stoxx 600 autos and parts index is the day’s biggest decliner, down 2.4% by 9:19 a.m. in Frankfurt vs the
broader market’s 0.6% loss. Carmakers including Volkswagen and Stellantis have plants that produce vehicles
in Mexico and sell them into the US. Stellantis falls as much as 5.9%, the biggest weight on the subsector, VW -3.1%.
Truckmakers also slide, with Daimler Truck -5%, Traton -3.8%. Spanish lender BBVA is down as much as
2.6%, having already fallen sharply when Trump won the election this month; Santander -1.7%. Beermakers
with Mexico-based brands including AB Inbev -2.9% and Heineken -2.4%. - Roche shares fall 1.2% after the pharma giant’s phase III lung-cancer drug missed the primary overall
survival endpoint in the final analysis, although previous analyses of the same study had shown positive
trends
ZKB (outperform): Marcel Brand analysed lung cancer studies of comparable maturity and says statistical
significance in overall survival is no longer to be expected with a longer observation period; Adds
expectations for tiragolumab had already declined sharply in the wake of the negative data; Leaves estimates
unchanged. Roche also announced it agreed to buy Poseida Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company for donor-derived CAR-T cell therapies, for $9 per share in cash and up to $4 in certain milestone
payments. Roche’s Phase III SKYSCRAPER-01 Study did not reach the primary endpoint of overall survival at
the final analysis, according to statement. The overall safety profile observed remained consistent with
longer follow-up, and no new safety signals were identified. Detailed data will be presented at a medical
meeting in 2025. Study was evaluating Tiragolumab combined with Tecentriq compared to Tecentriq alone
for patients with PD-L1-high, locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. - Autodesk shares slide 8.2% in extended trading after the software company reported third-quarter
adjusted operating margin that trailed the average analyst estimate. Otherwise, results largely topped
Wall Street expectations, and the company boosted its annual outlook
The stock had surged 41% from an August low through last close. THIRD QUARTER RESULTS: Adjusted EPS
$2.17 vs. $2.07 y/y, estimate $2.13; Net revenue $1.57 billion, +11% y/y, estimate $1.56 billion; Subscription
net revenue $1.46 billion, +11% y/y, estimate $1.46 billion; Maintenance net revenue $9 million, -25% y/y,
estimate $11.3 million; Other net revenue $104 million, +18% y/y, estimate $98.5 million; Billings $1.54
billion, +28% y/y, estimate $1.5 billion; Adjusted operating income $573 million, +4.8% y/y, estimate $565.5
million; Adjusted operating margin 36% vs. 39% y/y, estimate 36.1%; Free cash flow $199 million vs. $13
million y/y, estimate $199.8 million. 2025 YEAR FORECAST: Sees adjusted EPS $8.29 to $8.35, saw $8.18 to
$8.31, estimate $8.28 (Bloomberg Consensus); Sees revenue $6.12 billion to $6.13 billion, saw $6.08 billion to
$6.13 billion, estimate $6.11 billion; Sees billings $5.90 billion to $5.98 billion, saw $5.88 billion to $5.98
billion, estimate $5.73 billion; Sees adjusted operating margin 35.5% to 36%, saw 35% to 36%, estimate
35.6%; Sees free cash flow $1.47 billion to $1.50 billion, saw $1.45 billion to $1.50 billion, estimate $1.48
billion. FOURTH QUARTER FORECAST: Sees adjusted EPS $2.10 to $2.16, estimate $2.12; Sees revenue $1.62
billion to $1.64 billion, estimate $1.62 billion. - Samsung Electronics appoints co-CEO in leadership shuffle focused on chip divisions; shares drop
Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced changes in the leadership of its memory and foundry chip
divisions, as the company faces intense competition in the semiconductor space. The South Korean tech giant
appointed Jun Young-hyun as co-CEO and head of the memory chip arm, while Han Jin-man will become the
president and head of the company’s foundry business. The company also appointed Nam Seok Woo,
previously head of chip factory engineering and operations, as the chief technology officer of the foundry
business in a newly established position. Samsung shares fell 3%. The company’s stock has been on a steady
decline amid investors worries that Samsung was falling behind competitors such as SK Hynix in building
advanced chips. - Dell Technologies shares drop 7.2% in postmarket trading after the company’s third-quarter reported
revenue missed the average analyst estimate
THIRD QUARTER RESULTS: Infrastructure Solutions Group net revenue $11.37 billion, +34% y/y, estimate
$11.34 billion (Bloomberg Consensus); Servers and Networking revenue $7.36 billion, +58% y/y, estimate
$7.53 billion; Storage revenue $4.00 billion, +4.2% y/y, estimate $3.83 billion; Adjusted EPS $2.15 vs. $1.88
y/y, estimate $2.05; Total net revenue $24.37 billion, +9.5% y/y, estimate $24.59 billion; Client Solutions
Group net revenue $12.13 billion, -1.2% y/y, estimate $12.42 billion; Commercial revenue $10.14 billion,
+3.1% y/y, estimate $10.5 billion; Consumer revenue $1.99 billion, -18% y/y, estimate $2.02 billion; Adjusted
operating income $2.20 billion, +12% y/y, estimate $2.16 billion. Interest in our portfolio is at an all-time
high, driving record AI server orders demand of $3.6 billion in Q3 and a pipeline that grew more than 50%,
COO Jeff Clarke said.
