Stock Market Update

Equity futures point to a higher open this morning after Friday's action saw the major averages end the week on a winning note, finishing with gains of 1.5% or wider for the week. 

Trade negotiations with China continue to unfold ahead of the November 10 trade truce expiration. Bloomberg reports that President Trump stated soybeans, rare earth materials, and fentanyl are his main concerns with China that will be addressed in talks set to take place in Malaysia this week.

The market will receive a hefty batch of earnings reports this week that will include nearly one-fifth of the S&P 500. 

While there are no consequential economic data releases today, Friday will see the delayed release of the September Consumer Price Index.

In corporate news: 

• Apple's (AAPL 255.80, +3.51, +1.4%) iPhone 17 outsold the iPhone 16 by 14% in its first ten days of availability in the U.S. and China, according to Counterpoint Research. The stock was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Loop Capital, with a target of $315.
• Amazon (AMZN 213.00, -0.04, -0.0%) AWS cloud computing services experienced a blackout this morning, causing technical issues across a number of sites.
• Blackstone (BX 156.31, -1.66, -1.01%) and TPG are in discussions to purchase Hologic (HOLX +4.13, +5.9%) for more than $17 billion, according to Bloomberg. 

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region had a strong start to the week with Japan's Nikkei (+3.4%) rising to a fresh record high after Japan's LDP and Innovation Party agreed to form a coalition government, putting Sanae Takaichi on track to be officially elected new prime minister tomorrow. Japan's Nikkei: +3.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: +2.4%, China's Shanghai Composite: +0.6%, India's Sensex: +0.5%, South Korea's Kospi: +1.8%, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: +0.3%.

In news:

• The People's Bank of China made no changes to its one-year and five-year loan prime rates.
• Australia's Prime Minister Albanese will meet with President Trump today.

In economic data:

• China's Q3 GDP 1.1% qtr/qtr (expected 0.8%; last 1.0%); 4.8% yr/yr (expected 4.7%; last 5.2%). September Fixed Asset Investment -0.5% yr/yr (expected 0.1%; last 0.5%), September Industrial Production 6.5% yr/yr (expected 5.0%; last 5.2%), September Retail Sales 3.0% (expected 2.9%; last 3.4%), and September Unemployment Rate 5.2% (expected 5.3%; last 5.3%)
• Hong Kong's September Unemployment Rate 3.9% (last 3.7%)
• New Zealand's Q3 CPI 1.0% qtr/qtr (expected 0.8%; last 0.5%); 3.0% yr/yr, as expected (last 2.7%)

Major European indices trade on a mostly higher note while France's CAC (-0.1%) lags with BNP Paribas down more than 7.0% after the bank lost a court case. STOXX Europe 600: +0.6%, Germany's DAX: +1.1%, U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.4%, France's CAC 40: -0.1%, Italy's FTSE MIB: +1.3%, Spain's IBEX 35: +1.3%.

In news:

• Standard & Poor's lowered France's credit rating to A+ from AA- due to persistent fiscal risks.
• Bundesbank President Nagel said that the EU needs to be more forceful with China to protect its own interests.

In economic data:

• Eurozone's August Current Account EUR11.9 bln (expected surplus of EUR22.5 bln; last surplus of EUR27.7 bln). August Construction Output -0.1% m/m (last 0.5%)
• Germany's September PPI -0.1% m/m (expected 0.1%; last -0.5%); -1.7% yr/yr (last -2.2%)