FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Equities Rise Intraday Amid Cisco-Led Tech Rally; Trump-Xi Summit in Focus

By
Equities Rise Intraday Amid Cisco-Led Tech Rally; Trump-Xi Summit in Focus

US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday amid a post-earnings rally in Cisco Systems (CSCO), while markets tracked updates of a high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.8% at 26,614 after midday Thursday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 7,496.6. Both indexes hit fresh record highs in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7% at 50,054.1 intraday Thursday.

Most sectors were in the green, led by technology's 1.6% jump, while materials saw the biggest drop.

Cisco shares were up nearly 13%, the biggest gainer on the S&P 500 and the Dow. Late Wednesday, Cisco's fiscal third-quarter results exceeded Wall Street's estimates, while the networking equipment maker announced a restructuring plan that involves thousands of layoffs.

Cisco's expanded hyperscaler partnerships are paying dividends for the company, as evidenced by management expectations for a surge in artificial intelligence orders, Morgan Stanley said in a note e-mailed Thursday.

Nvidia (NVDA) followed Cisco on the Dow intraday, up 3.6%. About 10 Chinese companies have secured US clearance to purchase Nvidia's H200 AI chip, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang is accompanying Trump in his China trip, along with executives of several other major US tech companies.

Xi told Huang and CEOs of Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA) and other companies that China will "open wider" to doing business, news outlets reported.

Apple shares were down 0.2% intraday, while Tesla rose 0.3%.

Boeing (BA) is set to get an order for 200 jets from China, Fox News reported, citing Trump. The US planemaker's shares fell 3.7%, the biggest drop on the Dow.

US Treasury yields were mixed intraday, with the 10-year rate down 2.6 basis points at 4.45% and the two-year rate little changed at 3.99%.

Xi has pledged not to provide military equipment to Iran, CNN reported, citing Trump.

The two leaders agreed that the crucial Strait of Hormuz should remain a free waterway and Iran shouldn't be able to exact payments for the use of shipping lanes, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a White House readout of the Trump-Xi talks.

"The market could be pinning too much hope on the US-China talks yielding some positive results on Iran," ING Bank said in a note. "Some hope that China could exert pressure on Iran to reach a deal with the US, to end the war and lead to a resumption of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz."

West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.4% at $101.37 a barrel intraday, while Brent edged down 0.2% to $105.46.

In economic news, US retail sales in April rose for the third straight month, with analysts saying the increase largely reflected higher prices as the war in Iran kept fuel costs elevated.

"Surprisingly, firm underlying retail sales in April suggest another quarter of moderate consumer spending growth, though higher inflation is bound to take a toll," BMO Capital Markets said in a note. "Inflation pressures are mounting due to the Iran conflict and could take a larger toll on overall spending."

Applied Materials (AMAT) is scheduled to report its latest quarterly financial results after the closing bell Thursday.

Gold was down 0.4% at $4,687.30 per troy ounce, while silver fell 4.5% to $85.33 per ounce.

Related Articles

Prestige Consumer Healthcare Attributes Soft Results to Low Eye Care Sales, Weak Consumer Backdrop
US Markets

Prestige Consumer Healthcare Attributes Soft Results to Low Eye Care Sales, Weak Consumer Backdrop

Prestige Consumer Healthcare's (PBH) officials said Thursday that weak eye care sales and a difficult consumer backdrop drove disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter results at the consumer healthcare products company.Prestige late Wednesday reported adjusted earnings of $1.23 per share on revenue of $281.6 million. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.39 and $293.6 million. The company owns brands including motion sickness treatment Dramamine and Goody's pain relievers.Fourth-quarter revenue was particularly impacted by lower eye care sales, while some international sales were affected by shipping disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict, Chief Financial Officer Christine Sacco said on an earnings call on Thursday, according to a FactSet transcript."The difficult consumer environment persisted into (the fourth quarter) and was further impacted by global conflict," Chief Executive Ron Lombardi told analysts. "While these dynamics led to certain shipment disruptions late in the quarter, we expect to return to organic growth in fiscal 2027 and are well-positioned to manage ongoing macro pressures, including inflation as we have successfully done in the past."Sales for the Clear Eyes brand were below expectations due to delayed shipments and production shutdowns ahead of line updates, Lombardi said on the call.The company's shares plummeted 10% in Thursday trade, bringing their year-to-date decline to nearly 25%.Prestige guided adjusted EPS for the year ending March 2027 in the range of $4.42 to $4.51 on sales between $1.10 billion and $1.12 billion. The current consensus on FactSet is for non-GAAP EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $1.17 billion.Oppenheimer said it expected a below-consensus guide, but "this was worse than we envisioned," according to a note. The brokerage downgraded its rating on the company's stock to perform from outperform and removed the $65 price target.Prestige on Wednesday announced a deal to acquire LaCorium Health for about $150 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal 2027.Prestige previously agreed to buy the Breathe Right brand from Foundation Consumer Healthcare."With management now digesting two acquisitions, Clear Eyes execution challenges in recent quarters, higher levels of leverage, and a more uncertain consumer backdrop, we see a weaker outperformance case," Oppenheimer analysts, including Rupesh Parikh, said.Price: $47.49, Change: $-4.33, Percent Change: -8.35%

$PBH
Commercial Metals' Stock Price Offers Attractive Entry Point, UBS Says in Upgrade
US Markets

Commercial Metals' Stock Price Offers Attractive Entry Point, UBS Says in Upgrade

Commercial Metals' (CMC) current stock price offers an attractive entry point for investors as downside risks to US rebar pricing have eased, UBS Securities said in a client note sent Thursday.The steel maker's shares have underperformed its peers by about 40% so far this year, "creating attractive entry as key downside risks to US rebar pricing have eased," UBS analysts, including Andrew Jones, wrote.UBS upgraded its rating on the stock to buy from neutral and raised the 12-month price target to $89 from $79.Shares of Commercial Metals were up 3.6% intraday Thursday.UBS' change in view reflects factors including import pressure peaking, with first-quarter imports already tracking in line with historical averages."We now see near-term downside risk to US rebar imports," versus upside risks previously expected, amid a closed import arbitrage window, Jones said.UBS is looking at roughly $1.6 billion in 2027 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for Commercial Metals, compared with the consensus of about $1.4 billion."Domestic capacity also appears less disruptive, with (rival) Hybar nearing steady state (and) most incremental supply concentrated among disciplined incumbents," Jones said, referring Commercial Metals and Nucor (NUE). This reinforces "a more stable, duopolistic market structure," he added.Price: $73.00, Change: $+2.67, Percent Change: +3.80%

$CMC$NUE
Weekly Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected, Continuing Applications Increase
US Markets

Weekly Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected, Continuing Applications Increase

Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US increased more than estimated, while continuing claims also rose, government data showed Thursday.For the week through May 9, the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims grew by 12,000 to 211,000, the Department of Labor said. The consensus was for a 205,000 reading in a Bloomberg poll. The previous week's reading was revised downwards by 1,000.The four-week moving average totaled 203,750, up by 750 from the prior week's average that was revised lower by 250. Unadjusted claims increased by 10,258 to 190,571, the DOL said.Seasonally adjusted continuing claims for the week ended May 2 reached 1.78 million, in line with Wall Street's expectations. Continuing claims climbed by 24,000 from the previous week's level, which was revised down by 8,000, according to the DOL. The four-week moving average fell by 6,750 to about 1.78 million from the prior week's downwardly revised figure."The latest jobless claims figures are largely consistent with other labor market data showing a stable-to-improving job market," Oxford Economics Lead US Economist Nancy Vanden Houten said in a note e-mailed to. "We can't say for certain, but we think the closure of Spirit Airlines earlier this month probably contributed to the rise in claims."The now-defunct Spirit Airlines had an estimated 17,000 workers, according to Oxford Economics.Last week, government data showed the US economy added more jobs than projected in April, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3%."The ongoing (US) conflict with Iran could still have some spillover effects on the labor market, but for now the (Federal Reserve) should feel comfortable leaving policy on hold while it monitors inflation," Vanden Houten said Thursday.Earlier this week, official data showed that annual US consumer inflation accelerated in April to the fastest pace in almost three years, as energy prices surged amid the near-complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz.US President Donald Trump recently rejected Iran's counteroffer to end the war in the Middle East, though a fragile ceasefire between the two countries still holds.