1. Trump rally continues: Markets around the world continue to rise after Donald Trump’s election victory.
After some initial jitters over a Trump win, traders have regained their composure and pushed stocks higher.
Tom Elliott, an investment strategist at deVere Group, said investors are focusing on how Trump policies could help American business interests. Increased infrastructure spending, lower corporate taxes and lighter regulations could be on the cards.
“However, there are concerns that the financial markets are being somewhat short-sighted with yesterday’s rebound,” he said.
U.S. stock futures are pushing higher ahead of the opening bell, with pharma sector stocks leading the way up. Shares in Allergan and Pfizer are getting a boost on the expectation that Trump will not take action on rising drug prices.
Most European markets are higher by about 1% in early trading.
And Asian markets staged strong rebounds after rough sessions on Wednesday. The Nikkei in Tokyo was the biggest gainer, up 6.7% after falling by 5.4% in its previous session.
2. Yahoo deal in doubt: Shares in Yahoo and Verizon could be on the move Thursday after Yahoo admitted in a new regulatory filing that there’s “no assurance” that Verizon’s planned takeover would actually go through.
Verizon might rescind its $4.8 billion offer because of damage from a colossal hack of Yahoo customer data.
The filing also revealed that Yahoo is “facing investigations by a number of federal, state, and foreign governmental officials and agencies” over the hack — and these could result in “potential fines.”
3. Yuan dips: The Chinese yuan hit a six-year low against U.S. dollar on Thursday as investors weighed what a Trump presidency could mean for trade between the world’s two largest economies.
The yuan has fallen around 4.5% against the dollar so far this year after dropping a similar amount in 2015.
Historically, China has kept tight control of the yuan and limited money flows in and out of the country.
4. Fed reaction to Trump?: The head of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s St. Louis branch, James Bullard, is speaking Thursday morning. Traders will be watching to see whether he comments on Trump’s victory.
5. Earnings: A range of retailers are reporting quarterly results Thursday.
Macy’s, Kohl’s and Ralph Lauren are some of the key retailers releasing earnings before the open, while Dillard’s and Michael Kors report after the close.
Some other big names are also jumping into the fray: AstraZeneca is reporting Thursday morning and Disney will release results after the close.
6. Coming this week:
Thursday – Macy’s and Disney earnings, Singles Day begins in China on Friday morning
Friday – J C Penney earnings
