Liveblog Archief woensdag 23 juni 2021

TOP NEWS
• Iran official says U.S. has agreed to lift oil, shipping sanctions
Iran said that Washington had agreed to remove all sanctions on Iran's oil and shipping, and take some senior figures off a blacklist, at talks to revive Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with global powers which are now on a pause.

• U.S. senator presses Amazon, Google on Matter smart-home effort
Amazon.com and Alphabet's Google need to offer more details about how their smart-home devices and virtual assistants will support competition and user privacy, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote to the companies on Tuesday.

• Euro zone business growth at 15-year high as demand unleashed -PMI
Euro zone business growth accelerated at its fastest pace in 15 years in June as the easing of lockdown measures unleashed pent-up demand and drove a boom in the dominant services sector but also led to soaring price pressures, a survey found.

• Alfi shares set to fall from record highs, 'meme stock' Torchlight sinks
Shares of software firm Alfi fell in early deals after more than doubling in value in the previous session, in a move evocative of the so-called "meme stock" frenzy that has gripped equity markets this year.

• Tesla opens first charging station in China with energy storage facilities
Electric-vehicle maker Tesla said it has opened its first charging station in China with its own solar and energy storage facilities.


BEFORE THE BELL
Wall Street futures rose with investors razor focused on business activity data after Federal Reserve officials sought to calm fears of a sharp tapering of monetary stimulus. European stocks edged lower as inflation worries overshadowed data showing a rise in June business activity. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index was subdued as gains in chip-related heavyweights, which tracked Nasdaq overnight, were offset by losses in drugmakers. Gold prices ticked higher, buoyed by weakness in the dollar after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's reassurance that interest rates would not be hiked too quickly. Oil rose after an industry report on U.S. crude inventories reinforced views of a tightening market as travel picks up in Europe and North America. New home sales, building permits and current account data are also due on the U.S. economic schedule.


STOCKS TO WATCH
Deals Of The Day
• KKR & Co Inc: KKR has agreed to acquire a majority stake in New Zealand-based online education company Education Perfect from Mulpha International for $318.82 million, documents filed with Malaysia's stock exchange show. Mulpha, which originally invested NZ$16 million in the online education platform in 2017, will sell its entire stake of 38% for NZ$455 million, its filing showed. In a separate statement, KKR said it would help speed up global expansion of Education Perfect, already used by about 3,000 schools, 50,000 teachers and 1 million students in more than 50 countries. "Education Perfect aligns with our focus on lifelong learning by democratising access to quality digital tools for teachers and students," said Chee-Wei Wong, KKR's head of global impact for Asia.

In Other News
• Alphabet Inc: A group of state attorneys general may file a lawsuit against Google as early as next week, accusing the search and advertising giant of violating antitrust law in running its mobile app store, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The anticipated lawsuit follows complaints from app developers about Google's management of its Play Store for Android devices, according to one source. The lawsuit has been in the works since last year and has already been delayed, but seems close again, the sources said. The investigation by the state attorneys general is being led by Utah, Tennessee, North Carolina and New York. It is unclear how many states will participate. Two sources said the case is likely to be filed in federal court in Northern California, where related cases are being heard. These include a lawsuit that video game maker Epic Games Inc filed against Google last year, accusing it of having anticompetitive app store rules. It is expected to go to trial in 2022.

• Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc & Apple Inc:Amazon.com and Google need to offer more details about how their smart-home devices and virtual assistants will support competition and user privacy, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote to the companies on Tuesday. In a letter, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee said testimony last week by attorneys from the companies left her with concerns about their dominance of the fast-growing field. She asked the companies which of their products will support - and which will not - a recently revamped industry alliance known as Matter. The group, which includes Apple, Ikea and others, aims to allow home-automation gadgets such as internet-connected lights and speakers from various companies to sync with one another.

• Amazon.com Inc: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada, is stepping up efforts to unionize workers at Amazon.comby creating a company-specific division to aid workers, it said on Tuesday. Representatives from 500 unions, which together account for 1.4 million workers in the United States, have come together at the 30th international convention of Teamsters to support and help improve the livelihoods of Amazon workers. The union tweeted that delegates will vote on a resolution to make the campaign at Amazon a 'top priority'. It is also planning pressure campaigns involving work stoppages, petitions and other collective action to push Amazon to bargain over working conditions and meet workers' demands.

• Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc & Walt Disney Co: Britain's streaming services and broadcasters should be on a level playing field, as traditional broadcasters now compete with "one hand tied behind their backs", Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said. Dowden is to unveil plans for a white paper on broadcasting that aims to make streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ follow the code of British regulator Ofcom, he said in the Times newspaper. "Every "linear" broadcaster - BBC, Sky and so on - has to comply with stringent content and audience protection standards," Dowden said in an article published on Wednesday. "You might assume the same is true of video-on-demand services such as Amazon Prime and Disney+. You'd be wrong." The government will consult this summer on whether it is time to set the same basic rules for video-on-demand services as is done for traditional broadcasters, he added.

• Amgen Inc: The company said that Japan had approved its drug aimovig, used for suppressing the onset of migraine attacks in adults. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has granted marketing approval for the U.S.-based drugmaker's aimovig, making it the first approved treatment in the country to block the receptor that plays a critical role in migraine.

• Biogen Inc: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday released a sweeping series of memos revealing a clear struggle within the agency ahead of its controversial decision to approve Biogen's Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm. The memos reveal disagreements within the agency, with some departments in support of traditional approval and others arguing against. One of those members, Dr. Aaron Kesselheim of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, wrote in his resignation letter that it was the "worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history." The drug was approved in spite of the fact that one of its two large-scale clinical trials failed to show a benefit to patients.

• Exxon Mobil Corp: Investors calling for Exxon to study the impact of getting its oil and gas business to net-zero emissions by 2050 will push for talks later this year with what they hope is a more sympathetic board. Exxon shareholders voted 49.4% in favor of the study, a regulatory filing showed on Monday. Companies typically respond to proposals that get majority support from investors. "We were validated," said John Geissinger, chief investment officer at Christian Brothers Investment Services, which wants Exxon to quantify the financial impact of a net-zero strategy. "A significant number of shareholders believe that assessing the risks to the company under different climate scenarios is critically important." Geissinger expects to hold talks with Exxon this fall on the proposal, and hopes to collaborate on the outlines of the report.

• Intel Corp: The chipmaker said on Tuesday it would create two new business units that would focus separately on software and high-performance computing and graphics. Intel also said current executives Sandra Rivera and Raja Koduri will take on new senior leadership roles, while technology industry veterans Nick McKeown and Greg Lavender will join the company. Lavender, who most recently served as senior vice president and chief technology officer of VMware, will be the general manager of the new software and advanced technology group, while Koduri will lead an accelerated computing systems and graphics group. Koduri, a veteran of Apple and Advanced Micro Devices, will lead the new group tasked with competing against rival Nvidia, whose graphics chips have gained ground in data centers thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning software.

• Morgan Stanley: The company's staff and clients will not be allowed to enter the bank's New York offices if they are not fully vaccinated, according to a source familiar with the matter. Employees, clients, and visitors will be required to attest to being fully vaccinated in order to access the bank's offices in New York and Westchester, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters late Tuesday. Those who are not fully vaccinated will need to work remotely, the source added. The new policy will come into effect on July 12, the source said, adding that the policy will allow removal of COVID-related restrictions on face coverings and maintaining physical distancing inside office premises.

• Ryanair Holdings Plc: Ryanair bookings are recovering very strongly, Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in an interview with Reuters, adding he thought fully vaccinated passengers in Europe should not be subject to any travel restrictions. "Bookings have recovered very strongly over the last eight weeks," O'Leary said ahead of a news conference in Lisbon, with particularly high volumes of bookings to Portugal from Germany, Scandinavia, and the Benelux countries. The company is on track to fly 80 to 100 million passengers by March 2022, O'Leary said, up from 27.5 million last year but still below pre-pandemic levels of 149 million. The Irish CEO dubbed the UK and Ireland's reluctance to open travel "political cowardice", adding that he hoped the UK would join the EU's digital certificate travel scheme.

• Tesla Inc: Electric-vehicle maker Tesla said it has opened its first charging station in China with its own solar and energy storage facilities. The charging station in Lhasa city will generate power from sunlight and store it in the energy storage facilities for electric vehicles to charge, the company said in a Weibo post. Tesla moved into the solar business in 2016 with its $2.6 billion purchase of California-based SolarCity, and has said it is keen to develop its energy business. The company's solar services include Solar Roof, a power generating system meant to look like normal roof tiles, and Powerwall, which can store power generated by solar panels.


ANALYSIS
From game-changer to back-up: J&J's COVID vaccine struggles in Europe
Despite the J&J shot's clear logistical advantage of not requiring a booster, the European Union has only administered about half of the delivered doses - an uptake rate much lower than any rival COVID-19 vaccine, including AstraZeneca's, which has also been dogged by supply and safety issues.


ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Karuna Therapeutics Inc: RBC raises target price to $173 from $164, on increased confidence in the success of ph.III pivotal trials for lead drug KarXT.

• Kinross Gold Corp: Credit Suisse raises target price to $8 from $7.50, saying impact of operational hurdles from the Round Mountain pit wall instability and Tasiast fire is mainly limited to 2021 and 2022-23 is still looking like strong production years.

• Nutanix Inc: RBC raises target price to $50 from $45, feeling encouraged about the company's prospects, which could point to accelerated growth, improved profitability, and multiple expansion.


ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0800 (approx.) Building permits R number for May: Prior 1.681 mln
0800 (approx.) Building permits R change mm for May: Prior -3.0%
0830 (approx.) Current account for Q1: Expected -$206.8 bln; Prior -$188.5 bln
0945 Markit Composite Flash PMI for June: Prior 68.7
0945 Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash for June: Expected 61.5; Prior 62.1
0945 Markit Services PMI Flash for June: Expected 70.0; Prior 70.4
1000 New home sales-units for May: Expected 0.870 mln; Prior 0.863 mln
1000 New home sales change mm for May: Prior -5.9%


COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
IHS Markit Ltd: Expected Q2 earnings of 83 cents per share


CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 Patterson Companies Inc: Q4 earnings conference call
0900 Apogee Enterprises Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
0900 Intellia Therapeutics Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1000 Brightsphere Investment Group Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1000 Equity Commonwealth: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1000 Winnebago Industries Inc: Q3 earnings conference call
1100 Allegiant Travel Co: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1200 Axonics Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1200 Veeva Systems Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1300 Cannae Holdings Inc: Annual Shareholders Meeting
1700 KB Home: Q2 earnings conference call
1700 Simulations Plus Inc: Shareholders Meeting


EX-DIVIDENDS
Amerco: Amount $0.50
Carrier Global Corp: Amount $0.12
Covanta Holding Corp: Amount $0.08
Getty Realty Corp: Amount $0.39
VICI Properties Inc: Amount $0.33

Update 23 juni:
De markt trekt na het herstel van maandag door en we zien de donkere wolken wegtrekken. Vrijdag was er even de vrees dat we nog wat lager zouden geraken maar de DIP werd duidelijk weer opgekocht en met kracht. Het lijkt erop dat de verwachtingen rondom de rente en de inflatie weer wat naar achteren worden geschoven. Wel blijf ik voorzichtig want de waarderingen blijven zeer hoog wat betreft de aandelen maar soms moeten we dat terzijde schuiven en mee gaan met de flow.

Na het stevige herstel vanaf de bodems maandag zien we ook gisteren een markt die hoger wil, de tech indices trekken nog altijd de kar en dat zie je ook bij de AEX waar ASML alles weer op gang trekt. Vanaf de bodem van maandag staat de AEX weer dicht bij de 730 punten en dat is zo'n 8 punten onder de recordstand. Die 736 punten zal nu het richtpunt worden wat betreft de AEX. Ook de DAX herpakt zich mooi en staat weer boven die belangrijke 15.500-15.550 punten. Wat ook belangrijk is, de Dow Jones is ook bezig om zich te herpakken maar heeft nog een weg te gaan om in de buurt van de recordstand uit te komen.

Hoe dan ook, de markt vertikt het momenteel nog om door te zakken na de poging van vrijdag en het blijft vooral de technologie sector die via de 7 grote bedrijven de markt voorziet van kracht. Nu de Nasdaq en de Nasdaq 100 gisteren afsluiten op nieuwe records moeten we er vanuit gaan dat er nog wat meer aan zit te komen, tot waar blijft een open vraag. Dat kan de rest mee trekken omhoog, ook Europa zou wel eens nieuwe records kunnen neerzetten deze week maar we blijven voorzichtig. Met dat doel heb ik gisteren wat long posities opgenomen, we proberen te blijven zitten tot die records worden bereikt.

Mogelijkheden deze week:
We blijven in ieder geval ook deze week zoeken naar mogelijkheden om op de handelen met wat indices en er werden al wat kleine posities opgenomen dinsdag. We blijven rustig handelen en ik zal zeker geen te grote risico's nemen. Eerst maar eens zien wat de markt gaat doen zodra we de record standen bereiken, voor nu zitten we dus in de markt om te anticiperen op dat scenario, het opzoeken van die record standen.

Mis de volgende kans in ieder geval niet, als u de signalen wilt ontvangen wordt dan vandaag nog lid via de nieuwe aanbieding die loopt tot 1 september ...

Vrijdag wat leuke posities kunnen afronden:
Vrijdag werden de short posities op het beste moment gesloten en er werd daarop een mooie winst gemaakt, zoals we nu kunnen zien was die beslissing de juiste want dat pakte goed uit gezien het herstel van maandag. Intussen lopen er weer wat kleine posities op wat indices, deze keer long dus we zitten mee met het herstel richting de topzone hier in Europa en op Wall Street. Zo staan we deze maand in ieder geval op een mooie winst en het is al de 7de maand op rij dat het handelen met onze signalen goed verloopt. Weinig transacties, een mooi momentum kiezen en waar er winst staat neem ik die, bij verlies nemen we snel de posities weer uit de markt.

Maak nu gebruik van de nieuwe aanbieding tot 1 SEPTEMBER voor €39 (Polleke Trading €49) https://www.usmarkets.nl/tradershop

Hieronder het resultaat van deze maand (JUNI) en dit jaar (2021):

Technische ontwikkeling markt:
Vrijdag en in het weekend gaf ik het al aan, let op het onverwachte moment dat de DIP weer kan worden opgekocht en dat er een zeer snel herstel volgt, wel we hebben allemaal gezien dat het ook deze keer zo was. We zien veel indices weer richting hun record oplopen, alleen de Dow Jones en de Dow Transport blijven nog achter maar herpakken zich ook heel sterk nu. Wel blijven deze 2 onder hun 50-MA en dat is geen goed teken. In tegenstelling tot de S&P 500 en de technologie indices die wel op recordjacht zijn toch weer divergentie tussen de verschillende sectoren. We gaan zien hoe dat deze week verder zal verlopen want op een gegeven moment zullen de sectoren weer naar elkaar toe bewegen.

Overzicht markt:

Technische conditie AEX:
Na een test van het 50-daags gemiddelde op 713 punten maandag gelijk na de opening zien we de AEX helemaal terugkomen tot net onder de 730 punten. Het record zien we op 736 punten dus de index krijgt die hoogste stand ooit weer in beeld. Weerstand nu dat record op 736 punten, later de 740 en daarna moeten we al letten op de 750 punten.

Steun blijft nu eerst weer die 718-719 punten, later de 713-714 en de 708 punten. Het ging snel eind vorige week en maandag daalde de AEX al even tot onder die steunzone 718-719 punten maar de veerkracht was sterk en de index kwam meteen weer helemaal terug. De komende dagen maar eens bekijken hoe de index zich verder zal ontwikkelen, ASML blijft belangrijk daarbij en nu de Nasdaq nieuwe records neerzet denk ik dat de AEX snel weer naar die 736 punten kan.

Technische conditie DAX:
De DAX blijft dan wel wat achter bij het herstel maar na maandag de zware horde 15.500-15.550 punten te herpakken zit de DAX weer op recordjacht waar de 15.802 punten als eerste weerstand wacht. We zijn er nog niet maar de index is er wel naar onderweg zo te zien. Later weerstand rond de 15.900 en de 16.000 punten. Steun wordt nu weer die zone 15.500-15.550 punten, daaronder eerst het 50-daags gemiddelde dat nu rond de 15.400 punten uitkomt en de bodem van vorige week rond de 15.310 punten.

De DAX kreeg het vrijdag zeker even heel moeilijk maar zo te zien werd na het opkopen van de DIP de DAX opnieuw op gang gebracht met als doel een nieuwe aanval op de hoogste stand ooit.

S&P 500 analyse:
De S&P 500 herpakt zich sterk en komt al 10 punten onder het record terecht na gisteren, de 4257 punten blijft het richtpunt omhoog waar de recordstand uitkomt. Dat record wordt nu de eerste weerstand, later de 4275 en de 4300 punten als richtpunten. Steun blijft de 4185 punten waar nog steeds zowel de steunlijn onder de bodems samen met het 50-daags gemiddelde uitkomen, pas onder deze steun moeten we opletten want dan kan het snel naar de 4150, de 4125 en de 4100 punten.

Analyse Nasdaq:
De Nasdaq zet een nieuw record neer op 14.253 punten bij het slot, de hoogste stand ooit komt nu uit op 14.269 punten en dat wordt de eerste weerstand nu. Later richten we ons op 14.300 en later de 14.400 en de 14.500 punten. De Nasdaq blijft uiteraard volatiel en zit in een sterke fase waar correcties snel worden opgekocht, de grote 7 trekken nog altijd de kar. Steun nu de eerdere top rond de 14.211 punten, later de 14.000 en de 13.800 waar we het 50-MA zien uitkomen.

Na de uitbraak maar eens kijken waar de index naartoe kan en of er nog veel meer in zit, de draai na de daling van vrijdag blijft sterk en hoopvol maar aan de andere kant moeten we ook opletten voor een draai naar omlaag eens er een duidelijke nieuwe top staat.

Euro, olie en goud:
De euro zien we nu rond de 1.193 dollar, de prijs van een vat Brent olie komt uit op 75,3 dollar terwijl een troy ounce goud nu op 1781 dollar staat.

De LIVEBLOG en Twitter:
Via de LIVEBLOG en tussendoor ook via mijn Twitter account laat ik gedurende de dag ook wat grafiekjes met korte uitleg voorbij komen over de markt. Op Twitter kunt u mij volgen via @USMarkets dan kunt u deze snelle informatie die ik deel uiteraard ook inzien .... https://twitter.com/USMarkets , ook opvallende beursfeiten komen er vaak langs !

Met vriendelijke groet,
Guy Boscart