Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Friday, June 14:
1. Broadcom tumbles as U.S.-China trade dispute causes chip demand slowdown
Shares in Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) tumbled around 9% in premarket trade Friday as the company forecast a slowdown in demand for chips, blaming the trade dispute between the U.S. and China as well as the export ban on Huawei.
“It is clear that the U.S.-China trade conflict including the Huawei export ban is creating economic and political uncertainty and reducing visibility,” Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan said on a conference call with analysts.
The warning caused waves across the sector dragging down European chipmakers such as Infineon, ASML and STMicroelectronics during their regular session, while other U.S. rivals – like Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) and Skyworks (NASDAQ:SWKS) – also fell in premarket trade.
2. China industrial output growth hits 17-year low amid trade conflict
China’s industrial output growth unexpectedly slowed to its slowest rate in over 17 years in May, the latest sign of weakening demand in the world’s second-largest economy as the U.S. ramps up trade pressure.
Although hopes remain that some type of deal could be reached at an expected meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in two weeks, both sides show little sign of backing down.
China said on Friday it was raising anti-dumping duties on certain alloy-steel seamless tubes and pipes used at utilities and imported from the United States and the European Union.
3. Oil prices correct after tanker attack surge as IEA increases output forecast
Oil prices dropped on Friday after suspected attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman sent crude soaring a day earlier.
The U.S. government showed a video of the attacks and laid the blame on Iran, although Tehran denied involvement.
G20 ministers plan to hold a meeting to discuss the attacks ahead of their summit at the end of the month.
Also putting downward pressure on oil, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report that non-OPEC production was expected to surge by 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2020 while OPEC members sit on 3.2 million bpd of spare capacity.
4. Retail sales, consumer sentiment data ahead
On Friday’s economic calendar, market focus will be on the state of the American consumer.
The Commerce Department will release retail sales for May at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), while the University of Michigan will publish its preliminary data on consumer sentiment for June at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
Although the Fed is not expected to make any changes to interest rates at the June 18-19 policy meeting, weak numbers would support market conviction that the U.S. central bank could begin cutting rates as early as July. Fed funds futures price in the probability at 88%.
5. U.S. futures dip on China worries, Chewy rounds off strong week for IPOs
The double-whammy of weak Chinese industrial production and Broadcom’s warning sent U.S. futures lower on Friday, with particular pressure on the tech sector.Dow futures dropped 30 points, or 0.1% by 5:37 AM ET (9:37 GMT), S&P 500 futures fell 6 points, or 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 47 points, or 0.6%.
Outside of trade developments and economic data, traders will pay attention to the stock market debut Petsmart’s Chewy, which priced its IPO above the high end of the marketing range at $22 a share.
It’s been a strong week for IPOs despite the steady drumbeat of negative news. Cybersecurity company Crowdstrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) has doubled since its debut on Wednesday, while gig economy company Fiverr (NYSE:FVRR) rose 90% Thursday on its debut.
— Investing.com
