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Wall Street Drops as Fed Held Rates





U.S. equities closed marginally lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged while investors priced in another round of earnings reports. Bank stocks increased broadly as expectations for a June rate hike from the U.S. central bank rose.


The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.04 percent at 20,957.90, as Merck led gains while Walt Disney underperformed the most. The S&P 500 slipped 0.13 percent at 2,388.13, with real estate leading losses while financials were the best performing. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.37 percent at 6,072.55.


The SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) gained 0.75 percent, outperforming the wider stock market. The S&P financial sector closed 0.6 percent higher following the Fed's bullish statement, which led all groups. However, seven of the 11 major sectors ended in negative territory.


Shares of Apple dropped 0.3 percent, adding pressure on indexes, but still managed to pare losses following its quarterly report, in which it posted a sudden decline in iPhone sales.


Among shares active in corporate news, U.S. wireless carrier Sprint plunged 14.3 percent after it failed to give particular details on deals it will pursue, despite its reduced quarterly loss. Facebook Inc slipped over one percent despite posting a 76.6 percent jump in quarterly profit.


The New York Times Co jumped 12.6 percent after the newspaper publisher posted its largest quarterly revenue growth in six years. Delphi Automotive was the largest percentage advancer in the S&P 500 as its shares rose 10.9 percent. The firm said it planned to spin off operations tied to internal combustion engines and eyed technology for electrically powered and self-driving vehicles.


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Australia Performance Of Construction Index Climbs To 51.9 - AiG





The construction sector in Australia continued to expand in April, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group revealed on Friday with a Performance of Construction Index score of 51.9.


That's up from 51.2 in March, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.


Among the actives, house building activity continued to expand in April, while apartment building turned back to expansion - but commercial construction continued to weaken.


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Wall Street Little Changed as Healthcare Bill Passed





U.S. equities were little changed as the sharp decline for the energy sector offset some strong earnings reports after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a health care overhaul.


The House voted to repeal major parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and replace it with the Republican healthcare, sending it to the Senate for consideration.


The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.03 percent at 20,951.47, as Caterpillar lagged behind while 3M outperformed. The S&P 500 added 0.06 percent at 2,389.52, as consumer staples led eight sectors up while energy underperformed. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.05 percent at 6,075.34.


The healthcare sector traded higher for most of the session and was the second-best performer in the S&P. Regeneron jumped 6.7 percent while Zoetis advanced 5.9 percent after results.


The energy sector fell 1.9 percent and was the worst performing group. Exxon Mobil's 1.3 percent drop and Chevron's 1.8 percent tumble added pressure on the S&P.


Among shares active in corporate news, Tesla slipped five percent after the electric automaker's quarterly net loss expanded.


Earnings season continued, as social media heavyweight Facebook exceeded estimates for both profit and revenue,the same goes for Chesapeake Energy and Church & Dwight, among others. The season has mostly been above expectations which encouraged investors.


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French Election: How Much Pro-Eu Is Macron?





This year’s French election second round was similar to a referendum on the European Union. While the now defeated Front National candidate was the most prominent EU-skeptic, the independent candidate who just won with more than 65 percent of the votes is believed to be the most pro-EU candidate among the lot.


There were 11 candidates in this year’s French election. Three were EU-skeptic and the rest eight were pro-EU. So, how much pro-EU is Emmanuel Macron?


He is the candidate, who favors the European Union and wants further integration within the bloc to make the cementing stronger.


One of the biggest drawbacks of the European Union is that it is not a political union and Macron is one of the few who would like to remove that obstacle probably by giving up parts of the French sovereignty if others join in too.


He is an EU-optimist. While many remain skeptical towards the European Union in the current scenario, he believes that good days of the EU are ahead and he believes that the union could become even stronger under the right leadership.


The following instance would give the readers fair idea of his support towards the EU.


After it was clear that Emmanuel Macron is the winner of the election, he appeared in front of his supporters to the sound of the EU anthem Ode To Joy instead of the French instead of French National Anthem La Marseillaise.


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Euro Strengthen on Relief as Macron Secures French Presidency





The euro has rallied after pro-European Union Emmanuel Macron emerged victorious in the French presidential election by a landslide.


The common currency advanced by as much as $1.1024, its highest in around six months, before retreating to $1.0998, unchanged from late U. S. levels in the prior week. The common currency reached a one-year peak point of 124.58 yen versus the Japanese currency and a five-month high of 1.08865 Swiss Franc.


On the other hand, the pound fell 0.1 per cent against the dollar at $1.2968 and weakened the same amount against the euro to €1.1794.


The reaction was muted as Macron's win was already priced in by the market. The former investment banker's promise of reducing corporate taxes and revamping the labour market has made him a highly-favored contender in the presidential race.


The independent candidate was swept to victory in the presidential election, beating the far right-candidate with 65 percent of the vote. Le Pen secured only 35 percent of the total votes. The gap that was broader than the 20 percentage points that pre-election polls had suggested.


During his campaign, Macron has advocated for greater European integration and has proposed a range of policies involving the combination of budget cuts, additional market flexibility, along with public investment and the extension of welfare state.


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India’s Consumer Price Inflation Likely eased Further in April





India’s consumer price inflation for the April month is expected to have eased. According to a DBS Bank research report, the inflation is expected to have stayed below 4 percent for the sixth straight month, slowing to 3.4 percent year-on-year from March’s 3.8 percent. Food prices are expected to have dropped below 2 percent year-on-year on base effects, weaker pulses, while perishables stabilized.


In the meantime, core readings are expected to have remained sticky but below 5 percent. The slowdown in consumer price inflation expected to be at odds with the central bank’s neutral stance.


“Inflation is likely to ease further towards 3.0 percent by June on base effects, pushing the markets to monitor June policy guidance closely”, added DBS Bank.


The Reserve Bank of India is expected to play up the risks to inflation in the second half of 2017, thus justifying an on-hold stance, stated DBS Bank.


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Benchmark Treasury Yield Hits Multi-Weeks High after French Vote





U.S. government bond prices fell and drove up yields after Emmanuel Macron emerged victorious in the runoff for the French presidential election, easing geopolitical worries that anti-EU Marine Le Pen would win.


The yield for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 2.4 bps to 2.376 percent, its highest level in six weeks. Meanwhile, the yield on the two-year Treasury note edged up 1.2 bps to the fourth day in a row to 1.330 percent, its longest winning stretch since early March. The yield for the long bond or the 30-year note advanced 2.5 bps to 3.013 percent.


Risk appetite improved and investors shed their safe-haven assets as Macron's conclusive defeat of the far-right contender Le Pen was perceived as a decisively indicative test for the wave of populism rising over Europe, allaying markets that have become anxious over a rising support for the anti-EU establishment politicians.


The gap or spread between German and French bond yields, has now fallen to 41.7 bps from a peak of 78 bps in February. Traders are also now looking forward to the wave of economic data


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China CPI Climbs To 1.2% In April





Consumer prices in China were up 1.2 percent on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.


That topped expectations for an increase of 1.1 percent and was up from 0.9 percent in March.


On a monthly basis, inflation added 0.1 percent after slipping 0.3 percent in the previous month.


The bureau also said that producer prices climbed 6.4 percent on year - shy of forecasts for 6.7 percent and down from 7.6 percent a month earlier.


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ESPN’s Woes Weigh on Disney





Walt Disney Co. failed to pacify investors' worries regarding its cable unit, as it reported that profit in the business slump in the latest quarter.


ESPN saw a decline in subscriber and drained more money due to its higher programming expenditures. The unit's worries eclipse a quarterly profit that beat projections, causing Disney shares to retreat 2.4 percent in extended trading.


The cable division's sales registered at $4.06 billion, shy of the $4.2 billion average estimates by analysts. The business' profit also fell by 3 percent, according to the firm, due to the higher costs for NBA games and football.


The quarterly results reveal the biggest entertainment company struggling to manage the issues at its biggest business. Investors have been closely monitoring how ESPN will handle the shift in television as viewers turn away from old school pay TV services and shift towards online services. Despite Disney adding new customers on new digital platforms, it was not enough to offset the subscriber losses in its basic cable division.


The cable division's problems overshadowed the strong results in other businesses. Disney's total profit climbed to $1.50 per share in the second quarter, beating estimates of $1.41 per share.


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Japan April Bank Lending Gains 3.0% On Year





Overall bank lending in Japan was up 3.0 percent on year in April, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - coming in at 514.531 trillion yen.


That was in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous month.


Excluding trusts, lending also advanced an annual 3.0 percent to 447.634 trillion yen - again unchanged and matching forecasts.


Lending from trusts gained 2.8 percent to 66.896 trillion yen, while lending from foreign banks spiked 14.7 percent to 2.207 trillion yen.


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