Growing expectations of looser monetary policy across major European and American central banks have helped extend equity gains this morning, ahead of the US Independence Day holiday.

Note: The US stock market will close at 1:00pm today, and remain closed on Thursday, in celebration of the Fourth of July holiday. 

Hopes for deeper dovishness helped set this morning’s pace, as investors assessed the nomination of Christine Lagarde as the next president of the European Central Bank - a move which analysts anticipate will take up departing President, Mario Draghi’s, mantle in providing stimulus.

Meanwhile, onshore developments had seen US President Donald Trump’s tweeted plans to nominate Christopher Waller and Judy Shelton to serve on the US Fed Board; both seen as likely to advocate for the lowering of interest rates.

Trump has been a fierce critic of Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell; having argued that the central bank shouldn't have raised rates last fall. Most economists currently expect an interest rate cut from the Fed at its end-of-July meeting.

These developments come after yesterday’s session, where US stocks closed at a record high, for the second day in a row, as Wall Street overcame a slow start where the US threatened tariffs against the EU.

The S&P 500 turned positive in afternoon and eventually closed at a session high, up +0.26%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite finished +0.40% higher, while the Dow Jones added +0.26% its value.

Today’s economic calendar is a busy one, including; the ADP National Employment Report for June at 8:15am EST, Weekly Jobless Claims, Imports and Exports data at 8:30am EST, a Services PMI for June at 9:45am EST, Factory Orders for May and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for June at 10am EST, concluded by Oil Inventories for the week ended June 28 at 10:30am EST.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Politics: Trump Picks Two Fed Nominees Likely to Support Easier Policy. (Bloomberg)
After a yearlong assault on the Federal Reserve and its chairman, President Donald Trump has tapped two wildly different economists to the central bank’s board who seemingly have one important thing in common; they’re both likely to support the president’s call for lower interest rates.

ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Today's Economical Announcements.

08:15AM - ★★★ - ADP Nonfarm Employ. (Jun) (Previous: 27K)
08:30AM - ★☆☆ - Weekly Jobless Claims (Previous: 227,000)
08:30AM - ★★☆ - Exports (Previous: 206.85B)
08:30AM - ★★☆ - Imports (Previous: 257.64B)
08:30AM - ★★☆ - Trade Balance (May) (Previous: -50.80B)
09:45AM - ★★☆ - Services PMI (Jun) (Previous: 50.7)
10:00AM - ★★☆ - Factory Orders (MoM) (May) (Previous: -0.8%)
10:00AM - ★★★ - ISM Non-Manuf. PMI (Jun) (Previous: 56.9)
10:30AM - ★★★ - Crude Oil Inventories (Previous: -12.788M)

STOCKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Pre-Market Movers & News Related Stocks.

Tesla (TSLA): [NEWS] Reported record delivery and production numbers. The auto maker said it delivered 95,200 vehicles in the second quarter and produced just over 87,000.

USANA Health Sciences (USNA): [GUIDANCE] Lowered its full-year earnings outlook and now sees its annual profit ranging between $3.70 per share and $4.10 a share. 

Symantec (SYMC): [NEWS] Is in talks to be acquired by Broadcom (AVGO).

Canopy Growth (CGC): [NEWS] Co-CEO Bruce Linton said he was fired from his post. 

Dell (DELL), Microsoft (MSFT), HP Inc (HPQ): [NEWS] Nikkei reported that Dell, Microsoft, and HP were among a number of US tech companies looking to shift “substantial” production operations out of China. 

AT&T (T): [NEWS] Looking to sell its regional sports networks as part of a debt-reduction plan, according to Bloomberg.

Starbucks (SBUX): [REVIEW] Stifel raised its price target on Starbucks to $86 per share from $65 a share, noting it expects the company’s second-quarter same-store sales to come in above Wall Street expectations. 

Merck (MRK): [RATING] Mizuho Securities initiated Merck with a “buy” rating and a price target of $97 per share, implying an upside of 13.4%. Mizuho highlighted how the drug Keytruda is driving Merck’s “dominance in immuno-oncology.”

MOMENTUM STOCKS
GAINERS: AMRN, CARS, KTOS, WYNN, RUN, VIAV, SPWR, BX
DECLINERS: WMGI, SM, APA

TODAY'S IPOs
None.

 

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