Good-bye, July | Calamatta Cuschieri

Global markets traded in and out of positive territory on Monday, as investors reacted to key economic data and digested earnings reports during the last trading day of the month.

European stocks mostly advanced, lifted by a rally in mining stocks and with trade in July wrapping up with a stable reading of inflation for the Eurozone. The Stoxx Europe 600 was in the green, with all sectors except for the technology sector in positive territory. Monday marked the last trading session for July, and the pan-European benchmark was in line to record a small rise for the month.

Stocks in America traded mixed though. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a good session, as it inched ever closer to a psychological milestone at 22,000. The 30-component Dow industrials hit the latest in a string of all-time highs on Monday, and was up 0.3% at 21,887. But in other trade, the S&P and Nasdaq both closed slightly lower with tech and materials being the biggest drags.

Oh Snap!

Shares of Snap Inc, owner of the Snapchat messaging app, fell as much as 5% during pre-trading on Monday as its IPO “lockup” period ended, allowing early investors and employees to sell up to 400 million shares.

Starting on Monday and extended into August, early investors, employees and other insiders were able to sell shares for the first time since its $3.4 billion IPO.

The social media company disappointed analysts after its first earnings report in May, largely because many of its features are being limited by its rival, Facebook. Snapchat added just 8 million users during that quarter, far below the 59 million added by Facebook globally over the same period.

Shares of Snap fluctuated between small gains and losses during Monday’s session, eventually closing the day just over 1% lower, at $13.67.

HSBC impresses

Europe’s banking sector moved higher on Monday amid better-than-expected earnings.

HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, led the way with gains after it reported a set of financial results that inspired and beat estimates in the first half of the year. Other good news was that the bank announced a $2 billion share buyback on the back of a growing capital base. The London based, Asia focused lender posted a second quarter profit increase of a healthy 57%, to $3.87 billion.

HSBC shares gained 2.35% in America and 1.95% in London.

No spark for Tesla

Shares in electric car manufacturer Tesla were down 3.46% on Monday. Chief Executive officer Elon Musk detailed the price of the Model 3 at a launch party, when he said reservations for the new model stood at more than half a million. Tesla is expected to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday; the stock has gained nearly 60% thus far this year.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Rebecca Naudi, 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.