Tech Stocks Lead US Indices to Another Positive Day
Overnight trade data out of China showed a surplus of $18.16 billion for the month of April, more than the $16.15 billion that was expected. The corresponding 14.7% annualized increase in exports brought up a number of questions over the validity of the report, including the possibility of fake transactions.
US equities were higher on the day after dipping into the negative for the briefest of instances near the opening moments of the trading day. Tech was the leading sector, up 0.59%, with Google (GOOG) notably up 2%. European and Asian stock indices closed in positive territory as well.
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Delta Airlines (DAL) initiated its first quarterly dividend payment in over a decade. The company will buy back $500 million in common stock and pay a $0.06 quarterly dividend with the goal of returning $1 billion to shareholders over the next three years.
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The Treasury sold $24 billion 10-year notes at a high yield of 1.810%, 1.5 basis points worse than the when-issued level. Direct bidders were the notably weak part of the auction, purchasing 16.9%, below the 24% 10-auction average. This could be attributed to higher real money demand, which caused Treasury allocations in the Stone-McCarthy money manager survey to reach 6-year highs during April.
Tomorrow's Financial Outlook
Tomorrow will be two of the only data points for the week in the US. Weekly initial jobless claims will be reported in the morning with estimates calling for an increase to 335,000 claims from the 7-year low of 324,000 claims the week prior. The 4-week moving average of claims currently stands at 342,300. March wholesale inventories will also be reported in the morning.
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Abroad, China will release consumer and producer prince inflation data and the Bank of England will make its monthly rate decision. After being voted down 6-3 over the past two months, the dovish side of the central bank will attempt to increase the monthly asset purchase by 25 billion pounds.
Notable US earnings include Carlyle Group (CG), Nvidia (NVDA), priceline.com (PCLN), Skechers (SKX), and Sotheby's (BID).
Twitter: @Minyanville
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