Kraft Heinz facing turmoil | Calamatta Cuschieri

US markets started the week on a positive note but off from session highs after President Donald Trump tweeted that he would delay additional China tariffs, and that there had been “substantial progress” in trade talks over the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.23% rose 60.14 points, or 0.2%, to 26,091.95 with the S&P 500 index gaining 3.44 points, or 0.1%, to 2,796.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 26.92 points or 0.4% to close at 7,554.46.

European markets also saw slight gains, riding the wave of US-China trade news that lifted stocks in Asia and across the Atlantic. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.3% with autos leading the charge. Persimmon tumbled more than 4% following a U.K. government review into the firm’s practices around government programs. Carrefour tumbled by 0.5% after Europe’s largest food retailer announced a 4% cut to the workforce.

The Maltese market started off the week with a marginal gain of 0.048%. The market was mixed with 2 stocks in the green and two stocks declining. Go plc and BMIT plc where the two gainers closing 0.95 and 0.93% higher respectively. On the other hand PG plc and Mapfre Middlesea plc closed 0.72% and 1% lower respectively.

GE shares up after sale of asset

General electric announced on Monday that it will be selling its biopharmaceutical business to the Danaher for $21.4 billion. Not only will GE get $21 billion in cash but also it will write off its book a number of pension liabilities. GE shares gained 6.4% to close at $11.75 while Danaher gained 8.52% to close at $123.15. From the stocks’ performance investors approve of the deal and believe that the GE life sciences will perform better as part of Danaher. 

Senate to put push out Huawei from the US solar market

A number of senators from both sides of the aisle came together to push for a ban on Huawei Technologies solar systems. The 11 lawmakers asked the Homeland Security and the Energy Department to prevent Huawei from supplying solar inverters that is used to power the grids in the US. Huawei is a new entrant in the US market but has developed a low cost inverter that could be used in homes. The USA has already sought to exclude Huawei from providing equipment such as routers and 5G antennas and is bound to be a braining chip in the trade negotiations.
 

Disclaimer: This article was issued by Aaron Saliba, junior trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view 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.