Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open After Israel Retaliates Against Iran

[ADVFN]( [[Global Email] World Daily Markets Bulletin]( Friday, 19 April 2024 09:35:00 [ADVFN Twitter]( [Monitor]( [Quote]( [Charts]( [News]( [Toplists]( [Boards]( US Market Bitcoin [Bitcoin]( DAX [DAX]( Dow Jones [Dow Jones]( Nasdaq [Nasdaq]( The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Friday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after trending lower over the past several sessions. The futures had been pointing to a lower open earlier in the morning after Israel launched strikes against Iran, in what appeared to be limited retaliatory action for last week's drone and missile barrage by Tehran. However, negative sentiment has waned after Iranian state media downplayed the attacks, saying explosions heard in Isfahan were a result of the activation of Iran's air defense systems. The semi-official news agency Tasnim also reported the nuclear facilities in Iran's central Isfahan province are completely safe. Nonetheless, a steep drop by shares of Netflix (NFLX) may still weigh on the markets, as the streaming giant is plunging by 6.8 percent in pre-market trading. Netflix is under pressure after reporting better than expected first quarter results but providing disappointing revenue guidance. Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) is also seeing pre-market weakness after reporting first quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates but weaker than expected sales. On the other hand, shares of American Express (AXP) are edging higher in pre-market trading after the financial services giant reported first quarter results that exceeded expectations. Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data likely to keep some traders on the sidelines. After once again failing to sustain an early upward move, stocks came under pressure over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ending the day in negative territory. Reflecting weakness in the tech sector, the Nasdaq slid 81.87 points or 0.5 percent to 15,601.50, while the S&P 500 dipped 11.09 points or 0.2 percent to 5,011.12. The narrower Dow bucked the downtrend, inching up 22.07 points or 0.1 percent to 37,775.38 With the downturn on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 extended their losing streaks to five days, falling to their lowest closing levels in almost two months. The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, as traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness. However, as with other recent rebound attempts, buying interest waned over the course of the session amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Potentially adding to the interest rate worries, the Philadelp... [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you day trade? Trader Alerts streams stocks reaching new highs and lows as well as stocks breaking out of previous volume highs as they happen. It's a powerful tool for day trading ideas. [Learn More / Upgrade]( --------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Economic Reports CADUSD [CADUSD]( Oil [Oil]( Gold [Gold]( EURUSD [EURUSD]( Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee is scheduled to participate in a moderated question-and... [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Stocks in Focus Shares of Paramount Global (PARA) are moving sharply higher in pre-market trading following reports Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management have been discussing a joint bid to acquire the media company. Homebuilder KB Home (KBH) is also likely to see initial strength after announcing a $1.0 billion stock repurchase plan and raising its quarterly dividend t... [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sell every Stock except ONE]( Markets are down... But Jeff Clark couldn't care less because he ignores almost every stock in the market except ONE. He lives financially free trading this One Stock Once per month... [Ticker Revealed.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Europe European stocks have fallen on Friday as tensions soared in the Middle East in the aftermath of Israel's retaliatory strikes against Iran. Hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials have also led investors to scale back their expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year. Most market participants believe that the U.S. central bank will wait until September to cut its key interest rate. In economic news, German producer prices continued to decline in March, though at the slowest pace in nine months, data published by Destatis showed. Producer prices registered an annual decrease of 2.9 percent after declining 4.1 percent in January. Prices have been falling since July 2023. Elsewhere, U.K. retail sales came in unchanged on a month-on-month basis in March, defying expectations for a gain. Retail sales including automotive fuel grew 0.1 percent from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics. Economists were looking for a 0.3 percent gain fo... [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Asia USDCAD [USDCAD]( USDEUR [USDEUR]( USDGBP [USDGBP]( USDJPY [USDJPY]( Asian stocks sank on Friday, while the dollar surged, oil prices climbed and gold held near a record high below $2,400 per ounce after Israel launched strikes against Iran, in what appeared to be limited retaliatory action for last week's drone and missile barrage by Tehran. Brent crude futures leapt more than 4 percent to more than $90 a barrel as the latest move by Israel threatened to push the region deeper into conflict. However, oil gave up most initial gains and last held little changed after Iranian state media downplayed the attacks, saying the explosions heard in Isfahan were a result of the activation of Iran's air defense systems. Also, the nuclear facilities in Iran's central Isfahan province are completely safe, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also confirmed that there has been no damage to Iranian nuclear sites. Meanwhile, fresh hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials also spurred risk aversion and sent investors flocking to buy safe-haven assets. China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3 percent to 3,065.26, outpacing its Asian peers on hopes of more government stimulus. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.0 percent to 16,224.14. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Commodities Crude oil futures are falling $0.56 to $82.17 a barrel after inching up $0.04 to $82.73 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after climbing $9.60 to $2,398 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $3 to $2,395 an ounce... [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this news bulletin or edit your mailing list settings click [here](. 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