The Market In 5 Minutes: Oil Pushes Markets Higher To Kick Off The New Year
Below is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day -- it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.
Macro Focus
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 154 points to 19,874.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 18.25 points to 2,254.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 42 points to 4,906.00.
Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 2.24 percent to trade at $58.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 2.25 percent to trade at $54.93 a barrel.
Oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday on hopes OPEC’s deal to cut production that set in on Sunday will help stabilize the market in 2017.
The Markit manufacturing PMI for December will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
The ISM manufacturing index for December is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Data on construction spending for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The Treasury will also auction 4-and 52-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The Gallup's Economic Confidence Index for December is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.
BZ News Desk Focus
The new earnings reporting season doesn't really kick off until mid-month, but a few quarterly results of note will highlight this otherwise quiet week. Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), Monsanto (NYSE: MON) and Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA) are on deck to share their latest numbers.
The analysts' consensus forecast calls for the leading beer, wine and spirits purveyor to show year-over-year growth on the bottom line for the period when it said it was considering expanding into marijuana. The agricultural products giant may have swung to a tiny profit as its merger with Bayer proceeds. And a merger is on the minds of the leading drug store operator as well, as it has been looking to divest stores to make its tie-up with Rite Aid happen. Marginal growth will be seen in its report, if it lives up to expectations.
Sell-Side Themes
After a stellar 2016, some of the top-performing stocks that Wall Street loves seem poised to deliver huge returns again in 2017. However, it’s important to remember that there’s always two sides to each trade. Here's a bearish contrarian take on some of the hottest stocks on Wall Street.
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
Mizuho downgraded McKesson (NYSE: MCK) and Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) to Neutral.
Jefferies downgraded DSW (NYSE: DSW) and Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO) to Hold.
RBC Capital upgraded Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) to Sector Perform.
Credit Suisse upgraded Xerox (NYSE: XRX) to Outperform.
Deal Talk
Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) has filed a formal bid to buy a minority stake in the commercial unit of K Raheja Corp, one of India's top three owners of tenanted offices, vying with Singapore's Temasek Holding and rival private equity investor Warburg Pincus, people directly familiar with the matter told Times Of India.
KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR) is said to still be interested in acquiring Depomed (NASDAQ: DEPO) and would combine it with Arbor Pharmaceuticals, according to sources as reported by the New York Post on Friday. Depomed has set Wednesday as the deadline for final bids, the sources said. Mizuho Securities stated in a note in November that Depomed would be sold for $25 per share.
In The News
Apart from the well-known Consumer Electronics Show, January will see some of the market’s most notable events in the technology, finance and healthcare domains. Here is a brief overview of various influential events set to unfold in January.
See why European dividend stocks are among the best income bets for the year ahead, according to the latest Barron's cover story. U.S. dividend stocks and electric utilities also look attractive, but there are certain sectors that should be avoided in 2017.
Blogosphere
"Outside Sweden, Daniel Ek isn't a household name. That will probably change this year when the 33-year-old seeks to turn Spotify, the music streaming business he founded a decade ago in Stockholm, into a publicly traded company that could be worth $8 billion."
"Investing in biotech is meant to be a romantic journey from years of cash-burning R&D to the launch of a drug and perhaps a takeover at a generous price by a big pharma company. But what if a takeover of Swiss pharma group Actelion gave investors a chance to repeat the painful first stage of the odyssey all over again?"
Trending
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Back at it again, Donald Trump called out General Motors (NYSE: GM): "General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!"
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