Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during morning trading on Dec. 14, 2023, in New York City.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Treasury yields weigh on Wall Street
The S&P 500 snapped its three-day winning streak as Treasury yields climbed. Despite Nvidia‘s continued rise since its earnings report last week, the tech giant couldn’t prevent the Nasdaq Composite from falling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also declined, shedding 400 points, with insurer UnitedHealth leading losses. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose for a second consecutive day following a lackluster auction of government bonds on Tuesday. Rising yields can dampen consumer spending and make Treasurys and money market funds more appealing than stocks. Oil prices also slipped.
Salesforce plunges
Shares of Salesforce slumped more than 17% in extended trade after the cloud software company reported weaker-than-expected revenue and issued earnings and revenue guidance that missed analysts’ expectations for the current quarter.
Peltz dumps Disney stake
Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold his entire stake in Disney, according to a person familiar with the matter. Peltz sold all of his Disney stock at roughly $120 a share, the person said, making about $1 billion on the position. In early April, Peltz lost a proxy battle at Disney to elect himself and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the company’s board. Peltz had long taken issue with Disney’s governance, particularly the company’s streaming strategy and a failed succession plan for CEO Bob Iger.
American sales strategy backfires
Shares of American Airlines slid more than 13% after CEO Robert Isom said the airline would slash capacity in the second half of the year. It comes a day after the carrier parted ways with its chief commercial officer, Vasu Raja, and cut its revenue and profit forecast. Raja led a plan to drive direct bookings at the airline in lieu of third-party sites and travel agencies, a strategy that included gutting the airline’s sales department. Raja will leave the company next month.
Asia-Pacific markets slide
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were trading lower after another U.S. Treasury sale was met with lackluster demand. A slew of economic data due to be released on Friday also weighed on investor sentiment. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.3% and Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.5%. Japan and South Korea will release industrial production figures on Friday. China will release the official purchasing managers index for May. Mainland China’s CSI 300 index slipped 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4%.
[PRO] The summer trade
The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all hit record highs in May, but there are doubts that the momentum can carry on through June to August. CNBC’s Brian Evans explores historical data and shares what to expect from markets as well as which sectors typically perform the best.
The bottom line
The world can be a confusing place at times. You would think we were in the midst of an energy transition, only for that environmental nirvana to be shattered by a multibillion dollar shale deal. ConocoPhillips is set to buy Marathon Oil in a $17 billion deal that would boost its portfolio and push its market cap past that of BP, according to Enverus M&A analyst Andrew Dittmar.
No amount of federal aid for an energy transition — through Biden’s $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — can bring about an immediate end to our addiction to oil.
Toyota, which has been dragging its feet on rolling out all-electric vehicles, unveiled a new range of hybrid engines on Tuesday that can use biofuels to meet tougher emissions standards. The Japanese marque is not the only one resorting to hybrid vehicles as EV sales stall due to range anxiety and insufficient charging infrastructure.
Meanwhile Chinese automaker BYD introduced a hybrid engine that, when fully loaded with battery and gasoline, can cover 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles).
Conoco’s deal couldn’t juice markets, which, after clocking some record highs, are under pressure from rising Treasury yields. With earnings season mostly in the rearview mirror, the focus has returned to the Fed, the economy and inflation.
Atlas Merchant Capital CEO Bob Diamond told “Squawk on the Street” the Fed would “want to see some economic weakness before they cut rates. I mean 25 basis points doesn’t matter in the scheme of things. Maybe there’s 25 [points] there for signaling reasons. I don’t see the Fed, the FOMC, taking the risk of stoking inflation.”
While markets are on pace to end on a high this month, Wolfe Research chief investment strategist Chris Senyek expects trading to become a lot “choppier over the summer.” He suggests sticking with large-cap technology stocks. This month, information technology stocks have outpaced all other S&P 500 sectors, up more than 13%. Nvidia alone has advanced more than 30% in May.
“If we’re correct and trading becomes choppier, our sense is that investors are likely to stick with what has worked so far this year,” Senyek wrote. “Said differently, our sense is that the ‘Mag 7,’ Secular Growers, and Momentum stocks will outperform over the summer.”
— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Pia Singh, Spencer Kimball, Sara Salinas, Scott Wapner, Jordan Novet and Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.
