Stocks have been weak following some troubling signs from China, on both the economic and trade fronts. A Bloomberg report claims that Chinese officials are warning that they won't budge on some issues that have been pushed by the U.S. and that they remain concerned about President Donald Trump's impulsiveness, casting doubt on the potential to reach a long term trade deal. Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted that China and the USA are working on selecting a new site for the signing of their "phase one" agreement, which he identified as "about 60% of total deal." The new location will be announced soon and "President Xi and President Trump will do signing," according to his tweet. U.S. economic data this morning was mixed, with the lowlight being a much worse than expected Chicago PMI reading. In terms of Chinese data, PMIs for both manufacturing and services for October came in softer than expected.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., initial jobless claims bounced 5,000 to 218,000 in the week ended October 26. Personal income rose 0.3% in September, with spending up 0.2%. The Chicago PMI dropped 3.9 points to 43.2 in October, which was weaker than expected.
In China, the manufacturing PMI reading of 49.3 missed the consensus of 49.8 and the non-manufacturing PMI reading of 52.8 was below the 53.6 forecast.
In Europe, an an advance Q3 GDP report estimating 0.2% quarter-over-quarter growth was a bit firmer than the 0.1% growth expected. The flash Eurozone CPI reading for October was also a bit firmer at up 1.1% year-over-year compared to the 1.0% growth forecast.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Apple (AAPL) are up 2% after the iPhone maker last night delivered upside on both its September quarter results and December quarter outlook. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, who raised her price target on Apple shares to $296 from $289, said the company's guidance reflects a positive start to the iPhone 11 cycle and she thinks strength across iPhone, Wearables, and Services are sustainable.
Shares of Facebook (FB) are also up 2% after the social media giant's revenue and profit beat expectations in the third quarter. While some on Wall Street raised their targets on the stock and pointed to the bullish signs they saw in the results, others trimmed their targets given that the company's operation expenditure guidance came in higher than expected.
Twitter (TWTR) made headlines last night during rival Facebook's earnings call as the microblog operator's CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that the company has made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally, adding that "political message reach should be earned, not bought."
Altria Group (MO) reported better than expected third quarter revenue and profit and affirmed its 2019 adjusted EPS outlook, but the bigger headline from its quarterly update regards Juul, the e-cigartette maker in which the traditional tobacco giant had invested. Altria recorded a Q3 non-cash pre-tax impairment charge of $4.5B related to its investment in Juul, citing the company's view of increased odds of U.S. FDA action to remove flavored e-vapor products from the market, various e-vapor bans put in place by certain cities and states in the U.S. and in certain international markets, and other factors.
In M&A news, Peugeot S.A. (PUGOY) and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) announced that their respective boards have each unanimously agreed to work towards a full combination of the businesses by way of a 50/50 merger, as foreshadowed by media reports yesterday. Both boards "share the conviction that there is compelling logic for a bold and decisive move that would create an industry leader with the scale, capabilities and resources to capture successfully the opportunities and manage effectively the challenges of the new era in mobility," the automakers stated in their press release regarding the agreement.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Agile Therapeutics (AGRX), which skyrocketed 263% to $1.35 per share after announcing an FDA advisory committee voted 14 to 1, with 1 abstention, that the benefits of Twirla in the prevention of pregnancy outweigh the risks to support approval. Also higher were Murphy USA (MUSA), Cirrus Logic (CRUS), and Kraft Heinz (KHC), which gained a respective 19%, 15%, and 13% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Twilio (TWLO), which slid 12% after reporting quarterly results and lowering its earnings and revenue guidance for fiscal 2019. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Merit Medical (MMSI), Wayfair (W), and Western Digital (WDC), which fell 32%, 17%, and 14%, respectively.
INDEXES: Near 1 pm ET, the Dow was down 244.41, or 0.90%, to 26,942.28, the Nasdaq was down 38.10, or 0.46%, to 8,265.88, and the S&P 500 was down 20.39, or 0.67%, to 3,026.38.
Apple
+3.97 (+1.63%)
Ticker changed to META
+3.26 (+1.73%)
-0.23 (-0.77%)
Ticker changed to STLA
+0.53 (+3.54%)
Ticker changed to STLA
+ (+0.00%)
Altria Group
-0.66 (-1.44%)
Agile Therapeutics
+1.0174 (+273.05%)
Murphy USA
+16.9 (+17.86%)
Cirrus Logic
+9.14 (+15.64%)
Kraft Heinz
+3.89 (+13.65%)
Twilio
-13.11 (-12.17%)
Merit Medical
-9.11 (-31.33%)
Wayfair
-16.83 (-16.66%)
Western Digital
-8.96 (-14.41%)