Author: Joseph Woelfel / Source: TheStreet
Here are five things you must know for Friday, March 1:
1. — Stocks Get Boost From U.S.-China Trade Progress
U.S. stock futures rose on Friday, March 1, and global stocks traded firmly higher, boosted by a move from one of the market’s biggest index providers to increase the weighting of China stocks on world benchmarks and bullish comments on U.
S.-China trade talks from one of Donald Trump’s top advisers.MSCI, which compiles equity market benchmarks for markets around the world, will quadruple the weighting of China-listed shares, taking them to about 3.3% of the key emerging markets index from around 0.7% between now and November. The provider said the move could unlock fresh investor inflows of around $80 billion as fund managers move to re-balance portfolios around the new benchmarks.
Stocks were given a further boost through comments from White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who told CNBC Thursday that there was “fantastic” progress in trade talks last week, thanks in part to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer reading “the riot act” to Chinese officials.
“We are heading towards a remarkable, historic deal,” Kudlow predicted. “The documents are very clear: I mean, even things like the currency deal … no manipulation; they’ve got to report any interventions in the market.”
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 185 points, futures for the S&P 500 gained 17.50 points, and Nasdaq futures were up 52 points.
The economic calendar in the U.S. Friday includes Personal Income and Outlays for December and January at 8:30 a.
m. ET, the PMI Manufacturing Index for February at 9:45 a.m., the ISM Manufacturing Index for February at 10 a.m., and Consumer Sentiment for February at 10 a.m.Foot Locker (FL – Get Report) posted stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and same-store sales and said it sees double-digit profit growth in the coming year. The stock soared 13.5% in premarket trading Friday.
U.S. automakers, such as Ford (F – Get Report) , will be releasing sales for February throughout the day.
Sales in the U.S. are expected to decline about 1% in February from a year earlier partly due to inclement weather, said industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. They see U.S. total vehicle sales of about 1.29 million units in February.
2. — Tesla Unveils $35,000 Model 3 but Says Expects First-Quarter Loss
Tesla (TSLA – Get Report) launched its long-delayed $35,000 Model 3 electric car on Thursday but the announcement was overshadowed by CEO Elon Musk saying the company probably won’t be profitable in the first quarter.
Musk told reporters on a conference call that expenses associated with launching sales of its Model 3 in Europe and China as well as one-time charges during the quarter mean “we do not expect to be profitable” in the first quarter, CNBC reported.
Tesla…
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