Market Commentary | Market rally continues

Positive earnings set the tone for equity markets on Wednesday, as technology stocks and carmakers led European and Asian markets higher. US stock futures were also set for a positive open, which saw the Dow Jones enjoy its seventh day of gains in a row. Shares were lifted higher by Microsoft and Morgan Stanley, whose upbeat earnings report came in well above Wall Street’s expectations.

Shares in Volkswagen shot up some 6% after the German carmaker said it expects adjusted first half profit of €7.5 billion, well ahead of market expectations, “despite the ongoing economic impact from the diesel issue”. Shares of SAP were also trading around 6% higher after the German business software maker posted a 73% jump in second-quarter net profit. SAP and Volkswagen were among the biggest gainers on Germany’s Dax, which rose 1.6%.

Financials were also having a good day, despite a profit and revenue warning from Moody’s Investor Services. Shares of HSBC, Lloyds and Deutsche Bank all traded in the green. Morgan Stanley was also trading considerably higher, after its profit topped analysts’ estimates, thereby rounding off upbeat results from the six biggest Wall Street banks.

Unilever shares were in the spotlight on Wednesday, as the maker of Dove soap and AXE body spray said it planned on buying Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion in cash. Dollar Shave Club is a male grooming brand that ships disposable razors and other grooming products to customers for a flat monthly fee.

The earnings season has, so far, delivered more positive surprises than negative ones. Microsoft was one of the companies enjoying a surge in share price, after their quarterly results came in above expectations. Shares were up as much as 6.5%, boosting the benchmarks after disappointing quarterly results from Netflix on Tuesday. However, Netflix shares rebounded on Wednesday, and enjoyed a rise of around 2.5%.

Also helping stocks higher was a reversal in oil prices. Crude oil staged an impressive turnaround on Wednesday, by reversing early losses and ending the day in the green. Crude oil futures rallied 1% after the US Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies fell slightly more than expected.

But the biggest drag on the S&P had to be Disney. Shares sank 1.27% after a Stifel rating downgrade from a “buy” to a “hold”.

Intel, American Express and eBay are among the companies scheduled to report results after the bell. Shares in all three companies were trading higher during pre-market trading. Corporate earnings are helping to sustain a run that has added more than $4.5 trillion to the value of equities worldwide in the past three weeks. That, along with better-than-estimated US economic data, is providing comfort to investors, even as concern mounts that the Brexit decision will damp global growth.

Meanwhile, investor attention will turn towards the European Central Bank, which will issue its first monetary policy decision since the Brexit vote on Thursday. While ECB President Mario Draghi may offer strong hints of more easing, analysts widely expect very little action from the central bank on Thursday.

This article was issued by Rebecca Naudi, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt . The information, views and opinions provided in this article are 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.