Quotes of futures for US stock indices are declining due to the general decline in interest in risk in world markets.
Statistical data, published on Thursday, confirmed the contraction of US GDP in the second quarter. The country’s economy in April-June 2022 decreased by 0.6% on an annualized basis, according to the final data of the US Department of Commerce, which coincided with the previous estimate and forecasts of analysts surveyed by Trading Economics.
The number of new jobless claims in the US, meanwhile, reached its lowest level since May. The indicator decreased last week by 16,000 to 193,000 from 209,000 a week earlier, the country’s Ministry of Labor reported. Analysts, on average, expected an increase in the number of applications to 215K compared to the previously announced level of the previous week (213K), according to Trading Economics.
The price of shares of CarMax Inc., engaged in the sale of used cars, collapsed during preliminary trading by 15% due to weak reporting of the company. Last quarter, CarMax’s net income more than halved to $0.79 per share from $1.72 per share a year earlier, worse than the average forecast of experts surveyed by FactSet at $1.39 per share. Quarterly revenue increased 2% to $8.14 billion, also falling short of market expectations ($8.54 billion).
Alibaba Group Holding shares lost 3.1% after JPMorgan Chase analyst Alex Yao lowered the company’s target price to $135 from $145. The expert retained an overweight recommendation for Alibaba shares, but noted that he is cautious about the company’s outlook given the weakening consumer spending in China.
The price of Kraft Heinz Co. stable in pre-trading despite UBS’s upgraded recommendation for US food maker shares to Neutral/Sell.
The share price of Occidental Petroleum rose 0.1%. On the eve it became known that the investment company of the American billionaire Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway bought another 6 million shares of Occidental, increasing its share to 20.9%.
Berkshire fell 0.95%.
The share price of the American pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp. fell by 12%. The company’s net loss in the second financial quarter ended August 27 more than tripled year-on-year to $331.3 million, or $6.07 per share, from $100.3 million, or $1.86 per share. Rite Aid wrote off $252.2 million last quarter due to a business reorganization.
The value of the December E-mini futures contract for the S&P 500 fell by 1.2% by 15:55 CST on Thursday and amounted to 3686.5 points. The quote of the December E-mini futures on the Dow Jones index decreased by this time by 0.99%, to 29456 points. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 for December fell 1.5% to 11381.25 points.
NNEGC “Energoatom” refuted the information about a fire at the second power unit of the Zaporozhye NPP, circulated in Telegram channels about an hour ago.
“We officially inform you that this is not true. As of 15:40 on September 29, 2022, no fires and fires were recorded at the power units of the Zaporozhye NPP,” the company wrote on its Telegram channel on Thursday.
World central banks, according to preliminary data, bought 19.6 tons of gold in gold reserves in August, follows from the data of the World Gold Council (WGC).
This is the fifth consecutive month of growth, although its pace is declining, said WGC analyst Krishan Gopaul.
Turkey, the biggest buyer of gold this year, added another 8.9 tons to its reserves. In total, since the beginning of the year, it has purchased 84 tons of gold and brought its volume in reserves to 478.2 tons.
Uzbekistan bought 8.7 tons of gold in August, from the beginning of the year – 19.3 tons, increasing reserves to 381.3 tons.
In third place in terms of purchases in August was Kazakhstan with 2 tons, although in total since the beginning of the year it has reduced the volume of gold in reserves by 27.6 tons, to 374.8 tons.
Gopaul notes that according to the Central Bank of Qatar, he also bought gold in August, but so far the exact figures have not been disclosed and therefore are not reflected in the WGC statistics.
NNEGC Energoatom, in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, did not confirm the information that appeared in the Telegram channels about the fire at power unit No. 2 of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP).
“We are preparing a refutation,” the company said.
As reported, a number of Telegram channels reported a few minutes ago about an emergency situation at the ZNPP – a fire at unit No. 2.
Agroholding KSG Agro harvested sunflower from 5 thousand hectares, which is 60% of the planned 8.4 thousand hectares, the harvesting of this crop is scheduled to be completed by October 12.
According to a press release from the agrarian group, the average sunflower yield was 18 centners per hectare.
“Of course, the current sunflower yield is lower than last year, but our weather pattern is completely different, since spring precipitation was very uneven even within the same farm. c/ha up to 29 c/ha, but on average 18 c/ha,” the holding company quotes the head of its crop production division, Dmitry Emelchenko.
According to him, the completion of the sunflower harvesting campaign depends on weather conditions and is scheduled, tentatively, for October 12.
KSG Agro also sows winter wheat on a total area of 4.2 thousand hectares and cares for winter rape crops on an area of 2.15 thousand hectares.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding, as well as the production, storage, processing and sale of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares.
According to the agricultural holding, he is in the Top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
In 2021, the holding increased its net profit by 16 times compared to 2020, to $20.27 million, revenue by 44%, to $30.75 million, while doubling EBITDA to $12.28 million.
The owner and chairman of the board of directors of KSG Agro is Sergey Kasyanov.
The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 by 11:41 a.m. fell by 1.6% and amounted to 383.18 points.
The British stock index FTSE 100 falls by 1.67%, the German DAX – by 1.43%, the French CAC 40 – by 1.44%. Italian FTSE MIB loses 1.51%, Spanish IBEX 35 – 1.57%.
The market was supported the day before by the Bank of England’s decision to suspend the start of the previously announced government bond sale program and instead start buying government bonds amid a sharp increase in their yield. The spike in yields on UK public debt was triggered by the previously announced massive tax cut, which, according to the British authorities, will increase the budget deficit in the current fiscal year by more than 70 billion pounds.
At the same time, investors continue to worry about the consequences of rising borrowing costs amid persistently high inflation and the worsening energy crisis in the region, writes Trading Economics.
Belgian retailer Etablissementen Franz Colruyt N.V. led the decline among the components of the Stoxx Europe 600 index, losing 20.9%.
Meanwhile, preferred shares of luxury car maker Porsche AG rose moderately on Thursday, the first day of trading after Europe’s biggest IPO in a decade. Porsche shares, which trade under the ticker “P911”, are worth 84.84 euros, compared to the placement price of 82.50 euros.
Next Plc shares are down 8.3% in early trading on Thursday. The British chain of clothing stores in the first financial half of the year received revenue less than expected and worsened its full-year forecast.
Swedish Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) lost 2.4%. The owner of Europe’s second-largest clothing chain saw a sharp decline in net profit in the third financial quarter due to a massive write-down caused by the winding down of operations in Russia.
