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December 16, 2024

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Cardiex Limited (CDX:AU) has announced Trading Halt

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BPH Global (BP8:AU) has announced Private Placement

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Stock futures are trading slightly lower Monday morning as investors gear up for the final month of 2024. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.18%, alongside declines in Dow Jones Industrial Average futures and Nasdaq 100 futures, which dropped 0.13% and 0.17%, respectively. The market’s focus is shifting to upcoming economic data, particularly reports on manufacturing and construction spending, ahead of this week’s key labor data releases.

November was a standout month for equities, with the S&P 500 futures rallying to reflect the index’s best monthly performance of the year. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average achieved all-time highs during Friday’s shortened trading session, with the Dow briefly surpassing 45,000. Small-cap stocks also saw robust gains, with the Russell 2000 index surging over 10% in November, buoyed by optimism around potential tax cuts.

As trading kicks off in December, investors are keeping a close eye on geopolitical developments in Europe, where France’s CAC 40 index dropped 0.77% amid political concerns, while Germany’s DAX and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 showed smaller declines.

S&P 500 futures will likely continue to act as a key barometer for market sentiment, particularly as traders assess the impact of upcoming economic data and global market developments.

S&P 500 Index Chart Analysis

This 15-minute chart of the S&P 500 Index shows a recent trend where the index attempted to break above the resistance level near 6,044.17 but retraced slightly to close at 6,032.39, reflecting a minor decline of 0.03% in the session. The candlestick pattern indicates some indecisiveness after a steady upward momentum seen earlier in the day.

On the RSI (Relative Strength Index) indicator, the value sits at 62.07, having declined from the overbought zone above 70 earlier. This suggests that the bullish momentum might be cooling off, and traders could anticipate a short-term consolidation or slight pullback. However, with RSI above 50, the overall trend remains positive, favoring buyers.

The index’s recent low of 5,944.36 marks a key support level, while the high at 6,044.17 could act as resistance. If the price sustains above the 6,020 level and RSI stabilizes without breaking below 50, the index could attempt another rally. Conversely, a drop below 6,020 could indicate a bearish shift.

In conclusion, the index displays potential for continued gains, but traders should watch RSI levels and price action near the support and resistance zones for confirmation.

The post Stock Futures Lower after S&P 500 futures ticked down 0.18% appeared first on FinanceBrokerage.

Stock futures climbed on Wednesday, driven by strong performances from Salesforce and Marvell Technology, following upbeat quarterly earnings. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 215 points (0.5%), while S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures advanced by 0.7%.

Salesforce surged 12% after reporting fiscal third-quarter revenue that exceeded expectations, showcasing robust demand in the enterprise software sector. Meanwhile, chipmaker Marvell jumped 14% after surpassing earnings estimates and providing optimistic fourth-quarter guidance, indicating resilience in the semiconductor industry.

This movement follows a mixed session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed with small gains, while the Dow dipped slightly. The broader market has experienced a modest start to December, contrasting with November’s robust rally, but analysts anticipate a resurgence in momentum. LPL Financial’s George Smith pointed out that December historically sees strong market performance, particularly in the latter half of the month.

However, economic data introduced some caution. ADP’s report revealed that private payrolls grew by just 146,000 in November, missing estimates of 163,000. This signals potential softness in the labor market, with investors now awaiting Friday’s November jobs report for further clarity.

S&P 500 Index Chart Analysis

Based on the provided stock chart, which appears to be a 15-minute candlestick chart for the S&P 500 Index, here’s a brief analysis:

The chart shows a clear upward trend, with higher highs and higher lows indicating bullish momentum over the analyzed period. The index has steadily climbed from a low of approximately 5,855 to a recent high of 6,053.58, suggesting strong buying interest.

Key resistance is observed near 6,050-6,053 levels, as the price has struggled to break above this zone in the most recent sessions. If the index breaches this level with strong volume, it could lead to further upward movement. Conversely, failure to break out may lead to a pullback, with potential support around the 6,000 psychological level and 5,980, where consolidation occurred previously.

The candlestick patterns show relatively small wicks, indicating limited volatility, which could imply steady market confidence. However, the bullish rally could be overextended, warranting caution for traders, especially if any negative catalysts emerge.

In summary, the short-term trend is bullish, but traders should monitor resistance levels and volume for signs of a breakout or reversal. It’s also essential to watch broader market factors, as indices are often influenced by macroeconomic data and sentiment.

The post S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures jumped 0.7% appeared first on FinanceBrokerage.

Within a day of their $25 billion merger’s falling apart in court, Kroger and Albertsons were each planning to move forward with share repurchases to boost their stock prices and reward investors.

America’s two largest grocery store operators had argued that they’d be better able to lower prices for shoppers by joining forces. Doing so, they said, would boost their negotiating power with suppliers and make it easier to take on much bigger retailers that compete with them in grocery sales, such as Walmart, Costco and Amazon.

The Biden administration disagreed, with the Federal Trade Commission saying in a lawsuit countering the merger that the deal threatened to drive down workers’ wages and bargaining power and reduce industry competition, potentially pushing food prices higher.

With the deal now dead, it’s impossible to know whether any of that would have happened. But U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson of Oregon sounded a note of skepticism, writing in her decision Tuesday that the chains’ promises to invest in lower prices were “neither merger-specific nor verifiable, so there is no guarantee” that shoppers would benefit.

“The promise to make a price investment is not legally binding, and the Court must give limited weight to a non-binding promise made during these proceedings,” she said. A Superior Court judge in Seattle agreed with Nelson’s ruling and issued an injunction against the merger Tuesday. On Wednesday, Albertsons terminated the deal and sued Kroger, alleging its erstwhile partner didn’t do enough to secure regulators’ blessing.

The drama unfolded just as the federal government released new inflation data for November showing grocery prices continue to inch higher.

The costs of food eaten at home were 1.6% higher last month than they were the same time last year — a smaller uptick than the 2.7% annual inflation rate overall but accelerating 0.5% from the previous month after a 0.1% rise from September to October. Food prices tend to be volatile, but a broad range of items from produce to poultry notched increases in a wholesale inflation report that came in hotter than expected Thursday.

Kroger on Wednesday reiterated its “commitment to lower prices,” saying it has invested billions in cost reductions over the past two decades. The chain also said it has spent $2.4 billion on pay hikes since 2018 and up to $3.8 billion in annual store improvements. Albertsons similarly promised to stay focused on “improving our value proposition with customers.”

Neither company offered more details about their price-cutting plans, and Albertsons declined to comment further. Kroger said only that it provides value to customers “through competitive pricing, loyalty discounts, personalized offers, fuel rewards and a unique private label portfolio.”

At the same time, both grocery chains said this week that they’d be pouring billions of dollars into moves that will benefit their shareholders.

Kroger said it would repurchase $7.5 billion of its shares after a more than two-year pause, with $5 billion of that to be repurchased in an accelerated fashion — the same sum that Kroger estimated Wednesday it has spent to lowering prices over the past 21 years. Albertsons said it would repurchase $2 billion of its shares and increase the dividend it pays to owners of its stock by 25%.

Stock repurchases — which reduce the number of shares available, driving up the value of those that remain — and dividend payments benefit all investors but especially those with the biggest stakes. Top shareholders typically include large Wall Street firms with the financial firepower to buy and hold millions of shares of publicly traded companies.

Wall Street investment firm Cerberus Capital Management is by far the largest shareholder in Albertsons, followed by the Vanguard Group, which is the country’s largest mutual fund provider, and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, with over $11.5 trillion under its supervision. Vanguard, BlackRock and billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate are the top owners of Kroger shares.

“With both of these companies, there was a lot of hope [put] into the merger — that it was a way of generating growth. Those things aren’t happening now,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail consultancy GlobalData. Repurchasing shares could help inject more “optimistic sentiment” among investors, effectively reassuring them “‘we’ll generate good returns for you,’” he said.

Kroger’s stock has been trading roughly 3% higher since Wednesday, while Albertsons’ had clawed back roughly all its losses following the ruling by late Thursday.

In the meantime, consumer groups and labor advocates are hailing the blocked merger as a victory for shoppers and workers and as a vindication of the Biden administration’s antitrust efforts during its final weeks in office.

The judges in the case “correctly saw the merger as a huge threat to the jobs and benefits of thousands of their members working for those chains and the communities in which they live,” said Seth Harris, a law and policy professor at Northeastern University and a former top labor adviser in the Biden White House.

Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, said, “Combining two of the four largest food retailers would have also reduced consumer choice, leading to fewer alternatives to low-quality, ultra-processed foods.”

“Unfortunately, the Trump administration seems unlikely to build on this important step towards restoring competition in food retail,” Gremillion said, citing President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Andrew Ferguson to replace Lina Khan atop the FTC. That’s a sign that “Big Food will only be getting bigger over the next four years,” he predicted.

In a September campaign stop at a grocery store in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, Trump slammed the Biden-Harris administration over the costs of everything from eggs and cereal to ground beef. “Bacon is through the roof,” he said.

Trump said Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange that increasing oil and natural gas drilling would help lower inflation, including for food prices, a promise energy analysts have viewed skeptically. But in a Time magazine profile published Thursday, he said of groceries: “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”

CORRECTION (Dec. 13, 8:40 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misidentified Kroger’s and Albertsons’ largest shareholders. Cerberus Capital Management, not the Vanguard Group, has the biggest stake in Albertsons; Vanguard, not Cerberus, owns the most shares in Kroger.

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