Stocks fall after Trump threat; Oil drops; Occidental presses - CNN

The move could reignite a trade conflict between the world's two largest economies following months of relative calm in the markets and solid returns for investors.

US stock futures were sharply lower. S&P 500 futures dropped 1.7%, Dow futures were down 1.8% and Nasdaq futures were off 2.2%. Losses for US crude oil futures exceeded 2%.

Trump risked derailing trade talks scheduled for this week by warning on Sunday that he could increase tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25% from 10% from Friday.

China's Shanghai Composite plunged 5.6%, while the Shenzhen Composite, which includes many of the country's tech companies, shed 7.4%. The Hang Seng declined 3% in Hong Kong.

European markets opened with losses. In export-driven Germany, the DAX was down 1.6% in early trading. Losses on France's CAC 40 approached 2%.

Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale, said trade experts were unsure how to interpret Trump's threat.

"Is he trying to apply pressure to get a deal done this week? And if so, will this work, or will it backfire?" Juckes asked. "It's in both US and Chinese interests to get a deal done."

2. Occidental offer: Occidental Petroleum (OXY) has sweetened its offer for Anadarko Petroleum (APC), the latest development in its battle with Chevron (CVX) for prized US shale assets.

The revised offer hikes the amount of cash included in the $76 per share offer to $59.

Occidental was backed last week by Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA) Warren Buffett, who invested $10 billion in the company to help finance its takeover of Anadarko.

Vicki Hollub, the CEO of Occidental, increased pressure on Anadarko in a letter to its board of directors dated Sunday.

"We remain perplexed at your apparent resistance to obtaining far more value for Anadarko shareholders which has been expressed clearly through our interactions over the last week," she wrote.

The bidding war for Anadarko reflects an intense desire by US oil companies to acquire America's best shale assets. Occidental is already the No. 1 oil producer in the vast Permian Basin.

Occidental reported Monday that its net income in the first quarter was $631 million, a decline of 11% from the final three months of 2018.

3. Global market overview: The Dow closed up 0.8% on Friday after another solid US jobs report. The S&P 500 added 1.0%, while the Nasdaq gained 1.6% to close at a record high.

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4. Earnings and economics: Sysco (SYY) and Tyson Foods (TSN) will release earnings before the opening bell.

Del Taco (TACO) and Hertz Global (HTZ) will follow after the close.

5. Coming this week:
Monday — Sohn Investment Conference; Occidental Petroleum (OXY) earnings
Tuesday — US JOLTS; Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) earnings; Papa John's (PZZA) earnings
Wednesday — SALT Conference; GE (GE) annual meeting
Thursday — SALT Conference; China consumer price inflation; US jobless claims and trade data for March, Ford (F) annual meeting
Friday — US consumer price inflation; UK GDP; Marriott (MAR) earnings

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/06/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html

2019-05-06 09:32:00Z
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