Whether that picture of buoyant services is mirrored stateside later on Friday remains to be seen, but it contrasts with Thursday's U.S. soundings on unemployment claims and business readings from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve. And it also comes after the mood on Wall St darkened somewhat on Thursday over incoming first-quarter earnings and the looming government debt ceiling standoff. Results from Tesla saw it shares tumble almost 10% after the electric vehicle giant posted its lowest quarterly gross margin in two years amid serial price cuts. Along with outsize earnings-day stock losses for AT&T, U.S. equity benchmarks beat a retreat. But in a tumultuous week for owner Elon Musk, whose SpaceX venture saw its next-generation Starship explode minutes after lift-off on Thursday, Tesla shares rebounded a touch into the weekend after the firm said it moved to lift U.S. prices for its Model S and X premium vehicles. With next week's Big Tech earnings reports hoving into view, the overall U.S. corporate healthcheck remains pretty mixed.
The overall estimated annual profit drop for S&P500
companies is now expected at 4.7% for the first quarter - a
slight improvement on aggregate estimates at the start of the
month, even if more than 5 points down on where it was in
January. Estimates for the remaining quarters of 2023 have been
pared back a bit.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the overall global stock market
direction remains equivocal. Although Asia bourses had initially
followed Wall St's Thursday swoon, European indexes and S&P500
futures were little changed on Friday.
Even with debt ceiling jitters building in the background,
making for an anxious summer period, U.S. Treasury yields
slipped lower on Friday after Philadelphia Fed chief Patrick
Harker said overnight that the central bank was "pretty close to
where we need to be". Crude oil prices continued their retreat
to hit the lowest since March 12.
The dollar was generally firmer.
In politics, President Joe Biden may announce his
re-election campaign by video as soon as Tuesday - setting the
stage for a possible rematch with his Republican predecessor
Donald Trump.
And all NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will eventually
become a member of the alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg said on Friday.
In banking, Credit Suisse investors who held a
total of more than 4.5 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion) of the
bank's Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds have sued the Swiss banking
regulator, challenging the legality of writing them down.
Events to watch out for on Friday:
* Flash S&P Global business surveys for April from the U.S. and
around the world
* U.S. corporate earnings: Procter & Gamble, HCA Healthcare,
Schlumberger, Regions Financial etc
* U.S. Federal Reserve Board governor Lisa Cook speaks. European
Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos and ECB Executive
Board member Frank Elderson speak
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One-year U.S. CDS rise, signaling default risk US tech stocks brace for Q1s Leading economic index Global fund flows still show cash is king Within bonds, junk wins out this week ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(By Mike Dolan; editing by Christina Fincher;
mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com. Twitter: @reutersMikeD)
