High Yield and corporate updates | Calamatta Cuschieri

European markets closed mixed on Tuesday after the United States 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 3% for the first time since January 2014. Investors also kept an eye on corporate earnings and the meeting of US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Peugeot and SAP were among companies which announced their quarterly results earlier in the day, while Shell, Volkswagen, Airbus, Daimler and many others are due to report later this week.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.36%. The best performance was recorded by Shire, whose shares jumped 3.03% after the pharmaceutical company confirmed it is in sale talks with Japanese firm Takeda. The DAX declined 0.17%. Adidas led the losses as its shares dropped 3.26%. The CAC 40 lost 0.04% as Sodexo and Atos fell over 1.8%.

High 10-Year Treasury note

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note hit 3% for the first time in the last four years. The higher yield signals a possible interest rate hike on May 2 when the Federal Open Market Committee convenes. Following a higher open on Wall Street earlier, major stock market indices turned red, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 trading in the red. The biggest companies with names, Alphabet, Apple, Facebook and Netflix all were under the weather. Meanwhile, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft are set to report their respective quarterly earnings this week.

Facebook

Facebook, Inc. revealed its detailed policy and criteria regarding the process of content removal. Guidelines on how moderators remove content related to spam, harassment, self-harm, terrorism, intellectual property theft, violence and hate speech were made public for the first time.

A combination of artificial intelligence and reports from people to identify posts, pictures or other content that likely violates the platform’s Community Standards are being used. These reports are being reviewed by Facebook’s Community Operations team.  Moreover, the social media giant introduced the option for users to appeal when a post is removed, which will prompt a new review by the company.

Lockheed Martin

American aerospace and defence giant Lockheed Martin Corporation reported diluted earnings per share stood at $4.02 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. This marks a rise of 33% compared to the same period of 2017.

Total net sales amounted to $11.6 billion in the first three months of the year, rising 4% compared to the period ending on March 26 2017. Aeronautics led the gains in revenue, with $4.4 billion, rising 6% year-over-year. Total consolidated operating profit stood at $1.7 billion, climbing 23% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The results came from strong operations in the first quarter which allowed the company to increase their financial guidance for sale, profits and earnings per share.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Rodrick Duca, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.