Stocks added to their recent rally as investors await the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to cut rates again later this week, and continue to react to generally better than expected earnings reports. Adding further fuel was the European Union's grant of another three-month extension to the Brexit deadline for the U.K.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the advance goods trade deficit narrowed to $70.4B in September from a revised $73.1B in August. The Chicago Fed's National Activity index declined -.60 point to -0.45 in September. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index dropped 6.6 points to -5.1 in October, which was weaker than expected. In trade news, President Donald Trump said that he anticipates signing a significant part of the trade agreement with China ahead of schedule, though he did not elaborate on the timing of any signature, according to Reuters.
In Europe, Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, announced on Twitter that the EU27 has agreed that it will accept the United Kingdom's request for a Brexit "flextension" until January 31, 2020.
COMPANY NEWS: Microsoft (MSFT) was named the winner in a competition for a public cloud contract for the Defense Department valued at $10B over ten years, beating out Amazon's (AMZN) Amazon Web Services unit in a surprise decision. The contest was closely watched after President Trump, who has been a vocal critic of Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos, said he might intervene.
In M&A news, Tiffany & Co (TIF) surged 31.6% after the luxury jeweler was approached by Louis Vuitton and Givenchy owner LVMH (LVMUY) about a potential acquisition. Though Tiffany said it would review the acquisition offer, many analysts believe it will reject the initial $120 per share offer as being too low. Additionaly, shares of Fitbit (FIT) jumped 30.9% after Reuters said Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) had made an offer to buy the fitness tracker maker.
In earnings news, AT&T (T) reported mixed results for the third quarter. More importantly, the company, which has been in the sights of an activist, announced its three-year capital allocation plan and said its CEO transition is not expected in 2020. AT&T shares rose 4.4% while Dow member Walgreens Boots (WBA) was fractionally higher following its own report.
Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) shares were in focus after Gamesindustry.biz said that its latest game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" shot to the top of the U.K.'s GfK physical video game sales chart for the week, having sold 39% more units than its predecessor did during its launch week last year. In addition, ESPN reported over the weekend that Blizzard intends to unveil a sequel to "Overwatch" at BlizzCon this week.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Liberty Property (LPT), which surged 13.7% after it agreed to be acquired by Prologis (PLD) for $12.6B. Prologis shares were 5.5% lower after the news. Also higher was Spotify (SPOT), which gained 16% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was PG&E (PCG), which fell 24% after implementing a Public Safety Power Shutoff affecting approximately 940,000 customers, an increase of about 90,000 from previous estimates, in portions of 36 counties. The power cut was due to weather forecasts indicating potential for a historic wind event. Also lower was Central European Media (CETV), which slipped 5.2% after it announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of PPF Group in a cash transaction valued at approximately $2.1B.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 132.66, or 0.49%, to 27,090.72, the Nasdaq gained 82.87, or 1.01%, to 8,325.98, and the S&P 500 advanced 16.87, or 0.56%, to 3,039.42.
Microsoft
+3.46 (+2.46%)
Amazon.com
+15.59 (+0.88%)
Tiffany
+31.13 (+31.58%)
LVMH
+ (+0.00%)
Acquired by GOOGL
+1.3 (+30.09%)
Alphabet
+25.43 (+2.01%)
Alphabet
+25.71 (+2.03%)
AT&T
+1.61 (+4.37%)
Walgreens Boots Alliance
+0.39 (+0.70%)
acquired by MSFT
-0.73 (-1.32%)
Liberty Property
+7.07 (+13.98%)
Prologis
-5.05 (-5.56%)
Spotify
+19.37 (+16.03%)
PG&E
-1.215 (-24.32%)
Central European Media
-0.22 (-4.73%)