S&P 500 hits first intraday record since May as Fed abandons ‘patience’ - MarketWatch

• S&P 500 index notches first intraday record since May 1
• The Dow is trading at its highest level since its Oct. 3 all-time high
• Gold surges 2.6% to $1,384.50 an ounce, hitting a 5-year high
• Enterprise-software messaging company Slack Technologies is slated to list on the NYSE

U.S. stock indexes Thursday extended gains to a fourth straight day, testing fresh records after the Federal Reserve signaled that policy easing may be forthcoming to sustain the economy.

How are benchmarks faring?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.69% rose 232 points, or 0.9%, at 27,735, marking its highest trading level since Oct.3. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.67% gained 27 points, or 0.9%, at 2,953, trading above its April 30 closing record at 2,945.83 and touching a new intraday peak at 2,956.20, surpassing its May 1 intraday record. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.74% climbed 88 points, or 1.1%, trading about 1% from its May 3 closing high at 8,164.

What’s driving the market?

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday strongly implied that the central bank would cut benchmark interest rates, currently at a range of 2.25%-2.50%, in the coming weeks if the economic outlook buffeted by U.S.-China trade tensions doesn’t show signs of improvement.

“The case for somewhat more accommodative policy has strengthened,” Powell said at a news conference on Wednesday to discuss the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee’s highly anticipated decision. Policy makers kept rates unchanged as expected but removed the word “patient” from its updated policy statement, suggesting that it is ready to act soon.

Although markets have been widely anticipating that the Fed would respond to growing signs of stress in the economy, the central bank’s posture on looser monetary policy was seen as providing a strong case for the continued rise in stocks despite concerns about lurking economic problems.

The Fed remained mostly optimistic about the outlook, but said inflationary pressures have receded, compelling it to lower its forecast for PCE inflation in 2019 to 1.5% from 1.8%, below its 2% target. At the same time, it left its gross domestic product estimate at 2.1%.

Curiously low inflation has been often cited by FOMC members as one of the key reasons for its doubts about its monetary policy path. The Fed next meets July 30-31, while President Donald Trump is expected to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the coming Group of 20 meeting of well-developed nations in Japan in late June, where a detente on trade policy could be reached.

See: Recap of Fed decision and Powell press conference

Dovish rhetoric from central-bank policy makers across the globe this week has helped to send commodity prices, and particularly gold, rocketing higher, with heightened expectation that interest rates, which can undercut appetite for bullion, will could be lowered.

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda and the Bank of England on Thursday, joined the chorus of bankers including Powell and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, signaling a readiness to increase stimulus should global risks at least partly spurred by trade, worsen.

The BOJ’s Kuroda said “we’ll of course consider expanding stimulus without hesitation,” he told a news conference, according to Reuters.

Which data are in focus?

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index in June fell to just 0.3 after registering a four-month high of 16.6 in the prior month. Any reading above zero indicates improving conditions. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected an 8 reading.

Initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, fell by 6,000 to 216,000 in the seven days ended June 15, the government said Thursday.

What are strategists saying?

“The indices are set to open higher along with soaring gold and oil prices. Mounting geopolitical tensions continue to ignite a rush to safety while hopes of a rate cut dominate the equity markets,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

“Powell’s press conference [on Wednesday] showed some reluctance, but it seems markets are certain the Fed will cut in July. If data deterioration is worst than expected, calls for a 50-basis cut at the July meeting will grow in the coming weeks,” wrote Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda in a daily research note.

Which stocks are in focus

Slack Technologies Inc. WORK, +0.00% is set to make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in an unusual direct listing of the enterprise software company. Here’s what you should know.

How are other assets trading?

Before the U.S. markets opened on Thursday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.23% rose 1.2% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +2.38% rallied by 2.4%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +0.60% meanwhile, closed up 0.6%, while in Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.48% traded 0.6% higher.

Gold futures GCQ19, +2.68% meanwhile, surged 2.6%, to the highest level since 2013 at $1,384.50 an ounce, while the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -1.91% touched a yield below 2%, and the U.S. dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.44% fell 0.5% to 96.67.

Crude-oil prices CLU19, +4.94%  surged amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Iran says it shot down a U.S. drone in its airspace.

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2019-06-20 14:10:00Z
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Slack CEO, ahead of NYSE debut, predicts the end of company email as we know it in 7 years - CNBC

The workplace-messaging firm Slack is confident that it will speed toward ending the world of email as we know it inside companies in the next seven years, predicts co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield.

"Inside our companies, I think that's happening faster and faster. Over the next few years, certainly over the next five-to-seven years, we'll see a faster change," he said. But he added, "The broader world of email will stick around."

Slack's paying customers total over 95,000 — with more than 10 million daily active users, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Conventional email will phase out between those users between five to seven years from now, Butterfield estimated.

"Everyone will choose this," he said of his platform, where companies can set up both public and private channels for employees to collaborate and direct messaging each other.

Butterfield spoke with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on "Squawk Box," ahead of the company's stock debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Slack's listing is different from the slew of other tech IPOs this year, including Uber, Lyft, Pinterest and Chewy.

Like music streaming service Spotify, Slack decided to pursue a so-called direct listing, rather than a traditional initial public offering.

Direct listings allow a company to go public without involving underwriters — those intermediaries who buy shares from the company or insiders and then sell them to the public. Instead, the shares simply begin trading on an exchange.

The NYSE has set a "reference price" of $26 per share for Slack, based roughly on the price of private trades over the last few months.

— CNBC's Bob Pisani contributed to this report.

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2019-06-20 12:57:22Z
52780317080701

S&P 500 hits first intraday record since May as Fed abandons ‘patience’ - MarketWatch

• S&P 500 index notches first intraday record since May 1
• The Dow is trading at its highest level since its Oct. 3 all-time high
• Gold surges 2.6% to $1,384.50 an ounce, hitting a 5-year high
• Enterprise-software messaging company Slack Technologies is slated to list on the NYSE

U.S. stock indexes Thursday extended gains to a fourth straight day, testing fresh records after the Federal Reserve signaled that policy easing may be forthcoming to sustain the economy.

How are benchmarks faring?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.88% rose 250 points, or 0.9%, at 27,747, marking its highest trading level since Oct.3. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.92% gained 28 points, or 1%, at 2,955, trading above its April 30 closing record at 2,945.83 and touching a new intraday peak at 2,956.20, surpassing its May 1 intraday record. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.07% climbed 88 points, or 1.1%, trading about 1% from its May 3 closing high at 8,164.

What’s driving the market?

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday strongly implied that the central bank would cut benchmark interest rates, currently at a range of 2.25%-2.50%, in the coming weeks if the economic outlook buffeted by U.S.-China trade tensions doesn’t show signs of improvement.

“The case for somewhat more accommodative policy has strengthened,” Powell said at a news conference on Wednesday to discuss the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee’s highly anticipated decision. Policy makers kept rates unchanged as expected but removed the word “patient” from its updated policy statement, suggesting that it is ready to act soon.

Although markets have been widely anticipating that the Fed would respond to growing signs of stress in the economy, the central bank’s posture on looser monetary policy was seen as providing a strong case for the continued rise in stocks despite concerns about lurking economic problems.

The Fed remained mostly optimistic about the outlook, but said inflationary pressures have receded, compelling it to lower its forecast for PCE inflation in 2019 to 1.5% from 1.8%, below its 2% target. At the same time, it left its gross domestic product estimate at 2.1%.

Curiously low inflation has been often cited by FOMC members as one of the key reasons for its doubts about its monetary policy path. The Fed next meets July 30-31, while President Donald Trump is expected to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the coming Group of 20 meeting of well-developed nations in Japan in late June, where a detente on trade policy could be reached.

See: Recap of Fed decision and Powell press conference

Dovish rhetoric from central-bank policy makers across the globe this week has helped to send commodity prices, and particularly gold, rocketing higher, with heightened expectation that interest rates, which can undercut appetite for bullion, will could be lowered.

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda and the Bank of England on Thursday, joined the chorus of bankers including Powell and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, signaling a readiness to increase stimulus should global risks at least partly spurred by trade, worsen.

The BOJ’s Kuroda said “we’ll of course consider expanding stimulus without hesitation,” he told a news conference, according to Reuters.

Which data are in focus?

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index in June fell to just 0.3 after registering a four-month high of 16.6 in the prior month. Any reading above zero indicates improving conditions. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected an 8 reading.

Initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, fell by 6,000 to 216,000 in the seven days ended June 15, the government said Thursday.

What are strategists saying?

“The indices are set to open higher along with soaring gold and oil prices. Mounting geopolitical tensions continue to ignite a rush to safety while hopes of a rate cut dominate the equity markets,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

“Powell’s press conference [on Wednesday] showed some reluctance, but it seems markets are certain the Fed will cut in July. If data deterioration is worst than expected, calls for a 50-basis cut at the July meeting will grow in the coming weeks,” wrote Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda in a daily research note.

Which stocks are in focus

Slack Technologies Inc. WORK, +0.00% is set to make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in an unusual direct listing of the enterprise software company. Here’s what you should know.

How are other assets trading?

Before the U.S. markets opened on Thursday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.23% rose 1.2% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +2.38% rallied by 2.4%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +0.60% meanwhile, closed up 0.6%, while in Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.64% traded 0.6% higher.

Gold futures GCQ19, +2.73% meanwhile, surged 2.6%, to the highest level since 2013 at $1,384.50 an ounce, while the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -1.23% touched a yield below 2%, and the U.S. dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.43% fell 0.5% to 96.67.

Crude-oil prices CLU19, +4.07%  surged amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Iran says it shot down a U.S. drone in its airspace.

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2019-06-20 13:52:00Z
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Futures power higher on Fed effect By Reuters - Investing.com

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York

By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures jumped on Thursday after the Federal Reserve indicated that it was ready to cut interest rates as soon as next month to counter growing risks to global and domestic growth.

The central bank left interest rates unchanged at the end of its June policy meeting on Wednesday, but pledged to "act as appropriate" to sustain economic health.

The and the added to gains and are just 0.6% away from their record high closes set in late April, but the more-than-expected dovish Fed led to U.S. treasury bond yields tumbling.

At 7:20 a.m. ET, were up 210 points, or 0.79%. were up 24.25 points, or 0.83%, and were up 94 points, or 1.22%.

Top Chinese and U.S. officials will resume trade talks in accordance with the wishes of their leaders, but China hopes the United States will create the necessary conditions for dialogue, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday.

Among stocks, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) rose 1.2% in premarket trading after Evercore ISI raised its price target on the iPhone maker, saying investors are underappreciating a large growth opportunity.

Boeing (NYSE:) Co gained 1.4% after the planemaker said it is in talks with other airlines for sales of its 737 MAX after receiving a letter of intent for 200 of the grounded planes from British Airways owner IAG (LON:).

Oracle Corp (NYSE:) jumped 6.1% after the business software maker forecast current-quarter profit above estimates as it benefited from demand for its on-premise IT, cloud services and license support businesses.

Cruise operator Carnival (NYSE:) Corp slid 7.2% after cutting its profit forecast for the year on the Trump administration's sudden ban on cruises to Cuba and expected lower ticket prices in the coming months.

Rivals Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd also fell.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

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2019-06-20 12:00:00Z
52780317910922

Slack going public in a red-hot IPO market, with a twist - CNBC

The Slack Technologies application is displayed on an Apple iPhone in an arranged photograph taken in Arlington, Virginia on Monday, April 29, 2019.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Workplace-messaging firm Slack is about to go public in a red-hot IPO market, but it's approach to going public — using a "direct listing" — is slightly different than an IPO.

The "direct listing" method revives some of the same issues and anxieties that came up when Spotify went public using the same method.

But the world is a lot different than when Spotify went public on April 3, 2018.

Direct listings allow a company to go public without involving underwriters — those intermediaries who buy shares from the company or insiders and then sell them to the public. Instead, the shares simply begin trading on an exchange, in this case the NYSE.

Spotify was the first large company to use a direct listing. The worry at that time was simple: direct listings were an untested way to go public. There were two concerns: 1) because direct listings do not have an initial price that is sold to investors, it was not clear where the stock would open, and 2) In a direct listing, most of the shares are immediately available for trading (in Spotify's case, about 96%).

There was effectively no lock-up period. The fear was that insiders would dump the stock en masse on the first day, leading to chaos.

Reference price

Neither concern proved to be a major issue. Instead of an initial price that underwriters set to sell stock, Spotify and its advisors set a "reference price" of $132 that was roughly based on recent private trades. Spotify opened at $165.90 and closed at $149 on its first day of trading, up about 12 percent.

Fast forward to Slack, and those anxieties are much less evident. The NYSE has set a "reference price" of $26, based roughly on the price of private trades over the last few months (it has traded privately in a range of $25.75-$31.50).

As for the amount of shares available to trade, Renaissance Capital, which runs the Renaissance Capital IPO ETF (IPO), a basket of roughly the last 60 large IPOs, estimates that 283 million of the 599 million shares outstanding will be available to trade (47%).

Why isn't the entire share count available to trade? Slack is restricting sales for those who bought private shares less than a year ago, and anyone who is an officer, director, or significant holder of the company.

A bigger concern is who might--or might not--be selling. The six largest shareholders (Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Social Capital, CEO Stewart Butterfield, Softbank, and co-founder Cal Henderson) control about 60% of the stock. Some are restricted, but if the majority who are not decide to sit on their shares, supply/demand could be out of whack and the stock could be much more volatile.

As for the IPO environment, it's hard to envision a more perfect scenario. Investors have been eager to snap up any companies that show signs of growth this year, including those that are losing money:

Recent IPOs

(from initial price)

The two laggards — Uber (down 3%), and Lyft (down 11%), are in a space--ride-hailing — that investors believe may have a very hard time becoming profitable any time in the future.

Concerns

Slack does have high growth with recurring revenues, but it also has plenty of negatives: trading at roughly 34 times trailing revenues, losing money, and with a very low barrier to entry.

A bigger concern may be that growth is decelerating: "2Q and FY20 revenue and billings guidance does suggest a meaningful deceleration from current levels," DA Davidson analyst Rishi N. Jaluria wrote in a recent report, noting that first quarter revenue growth fell to 67% year-over-year from 78%.

The biggest concern, though, may be its size: depending on the price, almost $8 billion in stock could theoretically be available to trade. That is an awful lot for even a bull IPO market to absorb. By comparison, Uber was an $8 billion IPO.

"Big IPOs are harder to get elegantly into the market," Kathleeen Smith from Renaissance Capital told me.

The hope is that Slack will trade better long-term than Spotify, which is trading at $146, below the $149 price it closed at on its first day of trading in April, 2018.

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2019-06-20 11:49:29Z
52780317080701

Sterling slips as Bank of England cuts second-quarter growth to zero - CNBC

The Bank of England held interest rates steady on Thursday amid the possibility of a no-deal Brexit still hanging over the U.K.

The central bank also cut its growth forecast for Britain's economy to zero in the second quarter of 2019, highlighting global trade risks and growing fears of a damaging no-deal Brexit.

Sterling extended its losses against the euro in reaction to the news, falling 0.4% to 89.09 pence, while also falling from 1.2723 to 1.2694 against the dollar.

BOE officials had previously talked of the need for higher borrowing costs in the not-too-distant future, but Governor Mark Carney announced that the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had voted unanimously to hold rates at 0.75%.

U.K. 10-year gilt yields fell to a day's low of 0.809% following the decision. The FTSE 100 extended gains, trading 0.5% higher during the afternoon session. 

The Bank of England on the day after the Brexit vote on June 24, 2016.

Ashley Stringer | CNBC

The BOE stuck to its message that rates would need to rise in a limited and gradual fashion, assuming Britain can avoid leaving the European Union without a deal on October 31.

The decision indicated that the BOE is not planning to reverse direction in accordance with other major central banks, which have set a more dovish tone this week. At the May second-quarter Inflation Report meeting, Carney suggested that markets were underpricing the central bank's rate trajectory, insisting that the next move would be up.

On Tuesday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated that more stimulus may be added to the euro zone, while the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held rates stable, but opened the door to a future rate cut.

Britain's modest rate of underlying inflation is also helping the BoE to hold off on fresh interest rate hikes while it waits for the outcome of the Brexit impasse, although some officials in recent weeks have said increases may be needed sooner rather than later.

U.K. economic data published Wednesday showed the country's inflation rate cooling in May, with cost pressures in factories falling to a three-year low. Consumer prices rose to an annual rate of 2% in May, matching expectations.

BOE Chief Economist Andy Haldane said earlier this month that the time for a rate rise to mitigate inflation pressure was nearing, while MPC member Michael Saunders said Brexit uncertainty was not a reason to delay tighter policy indefinitely.

The ECB and Fed tilt this week had offered the pound some respite. The British currency rose for a second straight day on Wednesday, having previously fallen 5% since early May amid growing concern that Boris Johnson, the favorite to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, would lead the U.K. out of the European Union with or without a deal on October 31.

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2019-06-20 11:00:58Z
52780317731386

Sterling slips as Bank of England cuts second-quarter growth to zero - CNBC

The Bank of England held interest rates steady on Thursday amid the possibility of a no-deal Brexit still hanging over the U.K.

The central bank also cut its growth forecast for Britain's economy to zero in the second quarter of 2019, highlighting global trade risks and growing fears of a damaging no-deal Brexit.

Sterling extended its losses against the euro in reaction to the news, falling 0.4% to 89.09 pence, while also falling from 1.2723 to 1.2694 against the dollar.

BOE officials had previously talked of the need for higher borrowing costs in the not-too-distant future, but Governor Mark Carney announced that the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had voted unanimously to hold rates at 0.75%.

U.K. 10-year gilt yields fell to a day's low of 0.809% following the decision. The FTSE 100 extended gains, trading 0.5% higher during the afternoon session. 

The Bank of England on the day after the Brexit vote on June 24, 2016.

Ashley Stringer | CNBC

The BOE stuck to its message that rates would need to rise in a limited and gradual fashion, assuming Britain can avoid leaving the European Union without a deal on October 31.

The decision indicated that the BOE is not planning to reverse direction in accordance with other major central banks, which have set a more dovish tone this week. At the May second-quarter Inflation Report meeting, Carney suggested that markets were underpricing the central bank's rate trajectory, insisting that the next move would be up.

On Tuesday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated that more stimulus may be added to the euro zone, while the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held rates stable, but opened the door to a future rate cut.

Britain's modest rate of underlying inflation is also helping the BoE to hold off on fresh interest rate hikes while it waits for the outcome of the Brexit impasse, although some officials in recent weeks have said increases may be needed sooner rather than later.

U.K. economic data published Wednesday showed the country's inflation rate cooling in May, with cost pressures in factories falling to a three-year low. Consumer prices rose to an annual rate of 2% in May, matching expectations.

BOE Chief Economist Andy Haldane said earlier this month that the time for a rate rise to mitigate inflation pressure was nearing, while MPC member Michael Saunders said Brexit uncertainty was not a reason to delay tighter policy indefinitely.

The ECB and Fed tilt this week had offered the pound some respite. The British currency rose for a second straight day on Wednesday, having previously fallen 5% since early May amid growing concern that Boris Johnson, the favorite to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, would lead the U.K. out of the European Union with or without a deal on October 31.

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2019-06-20 11:00:40Z
52780317731386