US open: S&P 500 at record high, Brent futures fly on Middle East tensions

Stocks jumped out of the gate on Thursday, with the S&P 500 notching up a fresh record high and investors waiting for the first trades in Slack and Grocery Outlet on the day of their stock market debut, even as crude oil futures leaped higher as tensions in the Persian Gulf worsened sharply.

Stocks jumped out of the gate on Thursday, with the S&P 500 notching up a fresh record high and investors waiting for the first trades in Slack and Grocery Outlet on the day of their stock market debut, even as crude oil futures leaped higher as tensions in the Persian Gulf worsened sharply.

Iran made a very big mistake!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2019

Overnight, Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, pledged to do what it takes to keep the US economic expansion going, with the economic projections published alongside the policy statement revealing that 7 of 17 FOMC menbers believe two interest rate cuts will be needed in 2019.

As of 1531 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials was trading 0.73% higher at 26,700.25, with the S&P 500 adding 0.77% to 2,949.91 alongside and the Nasdaq Composite trading 0.89% stronger to 8,057.99.

"This is nuts. The Fed is still not saying it will cut, the risks to trade remain with no end in sight for a deal between the US and China. Anyway the market can stay irrational longer than bears can stay solvent," said Markets.com's Neil Wilson.

"Now that investors feel that the Fed has their back, it's over to Trump and Xi to deliver the news they truly desire," chipped-in Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.

On that note, on Thursday afternoon, the editor of China's Global Times, which was seen by some as mouth piece for Beijing, tweeted: "Are China and the US set to have new decisive negotiations? People around me and myself are less optimistic than we were when two leaders met last December. I tend to believe Trump's call is a result of fight of Chinese side. More battles may be needed for making the US fairer."

Crude oil and gold futures were also moving sharply higher, after Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down a US military drone, near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the US President to say on his Twitter account that "Iran made a very big mistake!"

Front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were climbing by 5.12% to $56.51 a barrel on the NYMEX and August-dated gold futures on COMEX jumping by 2.69% to $1,385.10/oz..

US dollar weakness in the aftermath of the FOMC's decision was also boosting commodity prices, with the US dollar spot index down by 0.47% to 96.6640.

In corporate news, Slack was set to debut on the NYSE via a so-called direct listing, having set a reference price of $26 per share for its stock market float, valuing the messaging service at approximately $15.7bn.

Investors in Grocery Outlet were also waiting to cash in after the company priced its initial public offering at $22 a pop, which was far above the $15 to $17 markets had been anticipating under a week ago.

Shares of cruise line operator Carnival on the other hand were plummeting by 10% after the company slashed its full-year outlook, although its fiscal second quarter earnings did come in ahead of analysts' forecasts.

Carnival said that pricing on bookings since March were running below year ago levels and that a US government ban on cruises to Cuba would cuts its eanrings per share by four to six cents.

Full-year earnings per share were now pegged at $4.25-4.35, down from $4.35-4.55 before.

Grocery chain Kroger's shares were marginally lower despite posting better-than-expected fiscal first quarter earnings and sales.

Total first quarter sales were $37.3bn, down marginally on the $37.7bn recorded a year earlier, following the sale of Kroger’s convenience store business. Once the impact of that and fuel was stripped out, total sales rose 2%.

Stock in Oracle on the other hand was trading on the front foot after the software maker guided towards faster topline growth and a double-digit jump in earnings per share for the financial year 2020.

Apple had not yet taken a decision regarding whether to shift production away from the People's Republic of China, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Dow Jones - Risers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $85.36 2.17%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $57.25 2.00%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $76.67 1.79%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $129.00 1.77%
3M Co. (MMM) $173.68 1.72%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $132.73 1.62%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $139.25 1.58%
Visa Inc. (V) $173.14 1.44%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $210.70 1.33%
American Express Co. (AXP) $126.18 1.20%

Dow Jones - Fallers

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $109.55 -0.33%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $57.51 -0.22%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $195.80 0.08%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $151.91 0.20%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $109.85 0.21%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $205.22 0.33%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $141.41 0.35%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $251.32 0.45%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $111.21 0.72%

S&P 500 - Risers

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $57.10 8.39%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $326.71 5.11%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $21.44 4.64%
HollyFrontier Corp (HFC) $43.33 4.59%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $129.33 4.49%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $37.86 4.13%
Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) $37.99 4.04%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $22.65 3.85%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $146.09 3.83%
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $90.90 3.77%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Carnival Corp. (CCL) $48.07 -9.03%
Kroger Co. (KR) $23.01 -2.66%
Regions Financial Corp. (RF) $14.25 -2.20%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $52.74 -2.17%
Keycorp (KEY) $16.59 -2.15%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $120.32 -1.90%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $87.09 -1.77%
SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) $62.00 -1.74%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $115.40 -1.71%
Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $43.61 -1.69%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $326.71 5.11%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $129.33 4.49%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $29.66 3.49%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $268.89 3.43%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $203.26 3.27%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $87.75 3.21%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $40.01 3.02%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $170.30 2.82%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $120.68 2.44%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $18.54 2.43%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $77.23 -1.34%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $32.96 -0.75%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $12.70 -0.73%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $234.50 -0.26%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $27.58 -0.22%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $226.15 -0.13%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $26.90 -0.09%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (TFCFA) $49.69 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class B (TFCF) $49.61 0.00%