TheStrategyLab.com Price Action Trading Support Forum

Price Action Trade Results of M.A. Perry
Trader and Founder of WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis)
TheStrategyLab Price Action Trading (no technical indicators)
wrbtrader (more info about me): http://www.thestrategylab.com/wrbtrader.htm & http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=127&t=850
Free Chat Room: http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164
Users of WRB Analysis Real-Time Trades - TheStrategyLab Chat Logs (timestamp, entries/exits, position size): http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewforum.php?f=20
Users of WRB Analysis Reviews / Accolades / Testimonials: http://www.thestrategylab.com/Accolades.htm
Review of TheStrategyLab: http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=3167 & http://www.thestrategylab.com/thestrategylab-reviews.htm
Price Action Trading: http://www.thestrategylab.com/price-action-trading.htm
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Today's Trade Log & Price Action Analysis is archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=181&t=2850

All of my trades are posted real-time at the above link for today's archive chat log in the timestamp ##TheStrategyLab free chat room via the user name wrbtrader along with the real-time trades by other users of WRB Analysis for anyone to do a real-time review (you must be a member of the chat room for a real-time review). Also, as stated since the birth of the free chat room TheStrategyLab...we are not a signal calling trade alert room. Thus, there is no trader telling you what to trade, when to buy and when to sell. I'm the moderator (I keep the peace between members) and my own live trades are posted within 3.2 seconds on average after the trade confirmation in my broker trade execution platform via an auto script to minimize delays in posting of my trades. You can review today's price action trade journal about my trades (e.g. time, price entry, contract size, price exit, market analysis) as the trade traversed to its completion.

In addition, sometimes I'll post real-time trading tips in the free ##TheStrategyLab chat room involving WRBs, WRB Hidden GAPs, Key Market Events (KME), WRB Zones, Reaction Highs/Lows, Contracting Volatility or Expanding Volatility...all key concepts from the WRB Analysis free study guide even though the free chat room is not design to be an education chat room because the education is only performed at the forums in the private threads.


##TheStrategyLab Chat Room is free. The purpose of TheStrategyLab is for you to post your real-time analysis or trades so that you can review as feedback for any trading day to provide valuable information about the results in your broker statements. If you join the free chat room and then you decide to not post any WRB Analysis about the price action or you decide to not post your trades or you decide to be silent (lurk without saying a word about today's markets)...you're not using the free chat room properly to help improve your trading and the chat room will be useless to you. In addition, we highly recommend that you use the free chat room with a professional trade journal software like tradebench.com, edgewonk.com, tradervue.com, tradingdiarypro.com, stocktickr.com, journalsqrd.com, tradingdiary.pro, mxprofit.com or trademetria.com because they can provide you with the quantitative statistical analysis of your trading. You can then download your results and post them in your private thread here at the forum.

Access instructions for the free chat room @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164

Price Action Analysis via Advance WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/WRBAnalysisTutorials.htm and there's a free study guide of the WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters 1, 2 and 3 @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=718

Analysis -----> Trade Signals

Trade Signal Strategies via Volatility Trading Report (VTR) @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/VolatilityTrading.htm and there's a free trade signal strategy @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=89 so that you can freely test drive one of our price action trade strategies with support (answering your questions) prior to purchasing the Volatility Trading Report (VTR). All WRB Analysis Tutorial Chapters 1 - 12 are included in the purchase of the Volatility Trading Report (VTR).

Daily Trading Plan Routine @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=352&t=3733 contains brief information about trading plan, market context, brokers, trading time frames, position size management and other discussions.

-----------------------------

Market Context Summaries

The below summaries by Bloomberg, Briefing, Reuters and Yahoo! Finance helps me to do a quick review of the fundamentals, FED/ECB/BOE/IMF actions or any important global economic events (e.g. Eurozone, MarketWatch.com) that had an impact on today's price action in many trading instruments I monitor during the trading day. Simply, I'm a strong believer that key market events causes key changes in supply/demand and volatility resulting in trade opportunities (swing points and strong continuation price actions) that reach profit targets. Thus, I pay attention to these key market events, intermarket analysis (e.g. Forex EurUsd, EuroFX 6E futures, Gold GC futures, Light Crude Oil (WTI) CL & Brent Oil futures, Eurex DAX futures, Euronext FTSE100 futures, Emini ES futures, Emini RTY futures, Treasury ZB futures and U.S. Dollar Index futures) while using WRB Analysis from one trade to the next trade to give me the market context for price action trading before the appearance of my technical analysis trade signals. Therefore, I maintain these archives for easy review to allow me to understand what was happening on any given trading day in the past involving key market events to help better understand my trade decisions (day trading, swing trading, position trading)...something I can not get from my broker PnL statements alone. Further, most financial websites remove (delete) their archives after a few years to make room for new content. Therefore, I maintain my own archives of the news content so that I have it available for me when financial websites no longer archives their content.


click on the above image to view today's price action of key markets discussed by members of TheStrategyLab chat room or private thread discussions

The Market at 04:30PM ET
Dow: -84.83… | Nasdaq: -14.66… | S&P: -3.07…
NASDAQ Vol: 2.8 bln… Adv: 1479… Dec: 1450…
NYSE Vol: 2.4 bln… Adv: 1403… Dec: 1545…

Moving the Market

President Trump approves a tariff of 25% on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods; China responds with a tariff of 25% on $34 billion of U.S. goods

Growth-oriented sectors lag while defense-oriented groups outperform; the top-weighted technology sector is among the weakest performers

Energy sector drops amid a sharp decline in the price of crude oil

Sector Watch
Strong: Consumer Staples, Utilities, Telecom Services
Weak: Energy, Materials, Technology

04:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Trade war fears weighed at the start of Friday's session, but stocks rebounded intraday, leaving the major averages just modestly lower. The S&P 500 was down as much as 0.7%, but ended with a loss of just 0.1%. The Nasdaq slipped 0.2%, retreating from Thursday's record high, while the Dow lost 0.3%.

President Trump confirmed before the open that he's approved a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods and warned of additional tariffs should China retaliate. Unfazed by the threat, Beijing announced that it will impose a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of U.S. goods starting on July 6, which is when the U.S. plans to impose its tariffs. Beijing also noted that a tariff on another $16 billion worth of U.S. goods could be imposed at a later date and said any previously negotiated agreements, including China's offer to buy nearly $70 billion of U.S. goods, will be invalid.

The S&P 500 sectors ended Friday pretty evenly split between green and red. Five groups advanced, led by the countercyclical consumer staples (+1.3%), utilities (+0.7%), and telecom services (+1.2%) spaces, while six groups declined. The energy space (-2.1%) finished at the back of the pack by a wide margin as crude prices tumbled.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 2.7% to $65.06 per barrel, their worst close since hitting a two-month low on June 6. Crude traders have their eyes on next week's OPEC/non-OPEC meeting where oil producers are expected to raise their production targets in order to combat falling output from Venezuela and Iran.

In addition to energy, the top-weighted technology sector (-0.5%) also underperformed, with mega caps Apple (AAPL 188.84, -1.96) and Microsoft (MSFT 100.13, -1.29) dropping 1.0% and 1.3%, respectively. Adobe Systems (ADBE 251.82, -6.28) also struggled, losing 2.4%, despite beating quarterly earnings estimates.

Elsewhere, AT&T (T 33.15, +0.63) completed its acquisition of Time Warner after the Department of Justice decided against applying for a delay of Tuesday's ruling, and shares of General Motors (GM 43.91, +0.34) spiked intraday following a Bloomberg report that the company is having early discussions with banks about strategic options for its self-driving car unit Cruise Automation.

U.S. Treasuries were fairly volatile on Friday, with the yield on the 10-yr Treasury note drifting between 2.89% and 2.94%. The benchmark yield eventually settled two basis points below its Thursday close at 2.92%, while the yield on the 2-yr Treasury note lost three basis points, dropping to 2.55%.

Overseas, the Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate unchanged, as expected, but downgraded its view on inflation.

Reviewing Friday's economic data, which included the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report for May, the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June, and the Empire Manufacturing report for June:

Industrial Production slipped 0.1% in May (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%), while the April increase was revised to 0.9% (from +0.7%). Meanwhile, Capacity Utilization ticked down to 77.9% (Briefing.com consensus 78.1%) from a revised reading of 78.1% in April (from 78.0%).
The key takeaway from the report is that the decline in overall production was driven by weakness in manufacturing production.
The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June rose to 99.3 (Briefing.com consensus 99.0) from 98.0 in May.
The key takeaway from the report is that the Expectations Index declined to its lowest level since the start of the year due to less favorable prospects for the overall economy, which were tied in part to higher inflation expectations.
The Empire Manufacturing Survey for June climbed to 25.0 (Briefing.com consensus 20.0) from the prior month's unrevised reading of 20.1.

Looking ahead, investors will receive just one economic report, the NAHB Housing Market Index for June, on Monday.

Nasdaq Composite +12.2% YTD
Russell 2000 +9.7% YTD
S&P 500 +4.0% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.5% YTD

Week In Review: Little Changed Following Headline-Heavy Week

There was a steady stream of noteworthy news this week, but none of the headlines moved the S&P 500 in a significant way. The benchmark index ended the week almost exactly flat, adding less than one point. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, adding 1.3%, while the Dow lagged, losing 0.9%.

This week's story really began over the weekend when the annual Group of Seven meeting, which was held in Quebec, ended on an uncharacteristically contentious note. President Trump was prepared to sign the customary joint statement, but changed his mind following what the White House deemed as "inappropriate" comments from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The world then turned its attention to Singapore, where President Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday in a historic summit that marked the first ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. The meeting ended with a joint statement in which North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to completely denuclearize and the U.S. promised "security guarantees" -- including the suspension of military exercises on the Korean Peninsula. The two nations will engage in follow-up negations to work out the specific details.

Monetary policy took center stage midweek when the U.S. Federal Reserve released its latest policy directive. The Fed decided to raise interest rates for the second time this year, increasing the fed funds target range by a quarter point to 1.75% to 2.00%, and upped its interest-rate forecast to include a total of four rate increases this year -- up from three in March. The market had expected the rate hike, but the updated forecast took some by surprise.

Overseas, the European Central Bank released its latest policy directive on Thursday. As expected, the ECB left its key policy rate unchanged and announced a plan to end its asset purchase program. The ECB in September will cut its monthly purchases in half, from EUR30 billion to EUR15 billion, and then end purchases altogether three months later -- although it will continue to reinvest the principal from maturing securities. As for interest rates, the ECB said they will remain at their present levels "at least through the summer of 2019." That statement was credited with sending the euro down more than 1.0% against the U.S. dollar.

The Bank of Japan also conducted a policy meeting this week, but made no changes to its key interest rate. However, the BoJ did downgrade its view on inflation, further highlighting the difference between the BoJ, which is struggling to end its crisis-era stimulus, and the Fed, which continues to progress on a path to normalization.

Back in the States, media names were in focus after a federal judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of AT&T (T) in its drawn-out legal battle with the Justice Department. The ruling allowed AT&T to move forward with its acquisition of Time Warner (TWX), which it closed on Thursday, and set the stage for more merger activity in the future. Comcast (CMCSA), for instance, outdid Disney's (DIS) all-stock bid for the bulk of 21st Century Fox's (FOXA) assets following the ruling, offering $65 billion in cash.

In politics, trade war fears were reignited on Friday after President Trump confirmed that he's approved a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. China responded swiftly, announcing that it'll impose a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of U.S. goods on July 6, the same day the U.S. tariffs are scheduled to take effect.
Dow: -84.83… | Nasdaq: -14.66… | S&P: -3.07…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1479/1450. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1403/1545.

03:30PM ET
[BRIEFING.COM]

Energy Settlement Prices
July Crude Oil futures fell $1.65 (-2.48%) to $65.00/barrel
August Natural Gas settled $0.06 higher (2.03%) at $3.02/MMBtu
July RBOB Gasoline settled $0.11 lower (-5.16%) at $2.02/gallon
July Heating oil futures settled $0.09 lower (-4.13%) at $2.09/gallon
Metals Settlement Prices:
Aug gold settled today's session down $29.70 (2.27%) at $1278.50/oz
Jul silver settled today's session $0.08 lower (4.52%) at $16.48/oz
Jul copper settled $0.08 lower (2.48%) at $3.14/lb
Agriculture Settlement Prices:
July corn settled unch at $3.63/bushel
July wheat settled $0.02 lower at $5/bushel
July soybeans settled $0.22 lower at $9.04/bushel

Dow: -90.73… | Nasdaq: -13.29… | S&P: -3.34…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1400/1550. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1334/1565.

03:00PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages are floating at session highs moving into the final hour of trading. The S&P 500 has trimmed its loss to just 0.1%.

Shares of General Motors (GM 44.37, +0.80) have spiked this afternoon, going from -1.5% to +1.9%, following a Bloomberg report that the automaker is having early discussions with banks about strategic options for its self-driving car unit Cruise Automation. Those options reportedly include a public offering of shares, listing a separate trading stock, or spinning off the unit.

Elsewhere, transports are outperforming today, evidenced by a 0.7% increase in the Dow Jones Transportation Average. With today's advance, the DJTA is up 1.4% for the week vs a slim 0.1% gain for the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Dow: -62.68… | Nasdaq: -9.49… | S&P: -1.68…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1386/1436. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1388/1479.

02:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq Composite made fresh highs since our last update, now down 'just' 0.2% vs today's -0.7% lows.

Since our last update some headlines have crossed detailing a Chinese response from this morning's tariffs which were approved by President Trump. Reports suggest China will implement 25% tariffs on U.S. goods starting July 6. Areas which have been rumored as most likely to be impacted include farming, automobiles, and seafood.

The response comes after President Trump approved, as expected, this morning $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports. President Trump also warned of additional tariffs should China impose retaliatory levies.

The U.S. Dollar Index continues to jostle with unchanged levels now showing slight losses at 94.75.
Dow: -168.40… | Nasdaq: -9.80… | S&P: -9.93…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1349/1447. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1358/1496.

02:00PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages still display relative weakness, little changed since our last update.

Gold futures settled at their worst levels of the year on Friday, down 2.3% to $1,278.50/oz. The yellow metal has been pressured the President Donald Trump's approval of tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. Where gold typically enjoys gains in the face of increased economic or political risks, investors aren't flocking to the 'safe haven' investment despite today's political spat.

Elsewhere copper and silver settled worse than 2.5% and 4% lower, respectively. Today's move in metals has turned the S&P Metals & Mining SPDR (XME 36.74, -1.12) lower to the tune of 3.0%, trimming its YTD gains to 'just' 0.9% vs +8.9% at 2018 highs from late-January.
Dow: -224.85… | Nasdaq: -25.30… | S&P: -9.95…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1240/1543. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1160/1696.

01:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major U.S. indices are lower across the board in afternoon trading as renewed trade war fears spook investors.

A look inside the Dow Jones Industrial Average shows that Caterpillar (CAT 149.44, -3.70), Boeing (BA 355.50, -6.92), & DowDuPont (DWDP 67.06, -1.32) are underperforming. Caterpillar & Boeing are lagging as industrials are seen as names to be most affected by an escalating trade feud between the U.S. & China.

Conversely, Nike (NKE 75.32, +0.62) is the best-performing Dow component as consumer discretionary names see modest relative strength in the face of today's broader sell-off.

Heading into the weekend, the DJIA is down 1.4% this week.
Dow: -201.71… | Nasdaq: -15.70… | S&P: -8.71…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1269/1508. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1187/1662.

01:00PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices are down today after President Trump approved tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods and threatened addition tariffs should China retaliate -- which it's promised to do. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hold modest losses of around 0.4% apiece while the Dow is down more substantially, dropping 0.8%.

The energy sector (-1.7%) is pacing today's retreat amid a sharp decline in the price of crude oil. West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down 3.0% at $64.92 per barrel as investors look ahead to next week's OPEC/non-OPEC meeting where producers are expected to raise production targets to combat falling output from Venezuela and Iran.

Materials (-1.2%) is the next-worst performing sector, followed by industrials (-0.8%), financials (-0.5%), and information technology (-0.5%). A decline in Treasury yields -- the benchmark 10-yr yield is down three basis points at 2.92% -- has weighed on the financial space, although yields have been ticking up over the last couple of hours.

In corporate news, Adobe Systems (ADBE 252.40, -5.70) is down 2.2% even though it reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday evening, and AT&T (T 32.80, +0.28) completed its purchase of Time Warner after the Department of Justice decided against applying for a delay of Tuesday's ruling.

Overseas, the Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate unchanged, as expected, and downgraded its view on inflation, further highlighting the BoJ's struggle to end its crisis-era stimulus even though the Fed and, to a lesser extent, the ECB have made progress towards normalization.

Reviewing today's economic data, which included the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report for May, the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June, and the Empire Manufacturing report for June:

Industrial Production slipped 0.1% in May (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%), while the April increase was revised to 0.9% (from +0.7%). Meanwhile, Capacity Utilization ticked down to 77.9% (Briefing.com consensus 78.1%) from a revised reading of 78.1% in April (from 78.0%).
The key takeaway from the report is that the decline in overall production was driven by weakness in manufacturing production.
The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June rose to 99.3 (Briefing.com consensus 99.0) from 98.0 in May.
The key takeaway from the report is that the Expectations Index declined to its lowest level since the start of the year due to less favorable prospects for the overall economy, which were tied in part to higher inflation expectations.
The Empire Manufacturing Survey for June climbed to 25.0 (Briefing.com consensus 20.0) from the prior month's unrevised reading of 20.1.

Dow: -210.80… | Nasdaq: -18.24… | S&P: -9.18…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1198/1588. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1138/1717.

12:25PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 0.4% today, trimming its weekly gain to 1.1%. The Nasdaq has been the best-performing major U.S. stock index this year and is currently up 12.0% year to date. For comparison, the S&P 500 has climbed 3.6% since the start of the year, and the Dow has added just 0.9%.

Technology shares are trading roughly in line with the broader market today, with most names in the red. Adobe Systems (ADBE 252.24, -5.86), for instance, is down 2.3% even though it reported above-consensus earnings and revenues for its fiscal second quarter on Thursday afternoon. The company also issued upbeat guidance.

Meanwhile, Oracle (ORCL 46.17, +0.27) is outperforming with a gain of 0.6% after dropping sharply on Thursday.
Dow: -219.97… | Nasdaq: -28.79… | S&P: -11.45…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1114/1626. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1093/1752.

11:55AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 1.0% today, extending its weekly decline to 1.5%.

Within the Dow, industrial giants Caterpillar (CAT 148.62, -4.51) and Boeing (BA 354.43, -7.99) are leading the retreat with respective losses of 2.9% and 2.2%. Boeing has served as a proxy for trade concerns this year and is down today following news that President Trump has approved tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. The president has also threatened additional tariffs should China retaliate as it has promised to do.

In Europe, the major bourses ended Friday with losses between 0.5% and 1.7%. However, the Euro Stoxx 50 ended with a weekly gain of 1.8%.
Dow: -218.13… | Nasdaq: -32.11… | S&P: -11.92…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1069/1668. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1082/1755.

11:30AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices haven't moved much since the last update. The S&P 500 is still down 0.4%.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down big today, dropping 2.9% to $64.95 per barrel, ahead of next week's OPEC/non-OPEC meeting where producers are expected to up production quotas due to falling output in Iran and Venezuela. The S&P 500's energy sector has moved in tandem with crude prices, sliding 1.8%.

The weekly Baker Hughes oil rig count data will be released this afternoon at 1:00 PM ET. American oil producers added one rig last week, bringing the total rig count up to 862 -- which marks the highest rig count since March 2015.
Dow: -212.61… | Nasdaq: -27.97… | S&P: -11.57…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1112/1594. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1115/1696.

11:00AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages have extended their opening losses a bit in recent trading. The S&P 500 is now down 0.5% while the Dow is lower by 0.9%.

Nine of eleven sectors are trading in the red, including financials (-0.9%), consumer discretionary (-0.1%), industrials (-0.9%), energy (-1.6%), materials (-1.1%), technology (-0.5%), health care (-0.3%), utilities (unch), and telecom services (-0.3%). The consumer staples (+0.5%) and real estate (+0.5%) sectors are the two exceptions.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasuries are solidly higher, pushing yields lower across the curve. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note is currently down six basis points at 2.89%, hitting a fresh June low.
Dow: -214.64… | Nasdaq: -26.28… | S&P: -11.59…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1003/1708. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1031/1748.

10:35AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM]

Commodities are beginning the day lower
Overall, commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, are currently -1.1% at 88.25
Dollar index is currently -0.2% at 94.76
Looking at energy...
July WTI crude oil futures are now -$1.36 at $65.53/barrel
In other energy, Jul natural gas is +$0.06 at $3.02/MMBtu
Moving on to metals...
June gold is currently -$24.00 at $1284.30/oz, while Jul silver is -$0.57 at $16.69/oz
Jul copper is now -$0.06 at $3.16/lb

Dow: -251.27… | Nasdaq: -45.34… | S&P: -18.25…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 951/1771. …NYSE Adv/Dec 946/1817.

10:00AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices are hovering near their opening levels, with the S&P 500 down 0.4%.

Just in, the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June rose to 99.3 (Briefing.com consensus 99.0) from 98.0 in May.
Dow: -154.51… | Nasdaq: -36.19… | S&P: -11.52…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 907/1742. …NYSE Adv/Dec 899/1789.

09:40AM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages are lower in the opening minutes, down between 0.4% and 0.7%.

More than half of the S&P 500 sectors are in the red, with cyclical groups like financials (-0.5%), industrials (-0.9%), technology (-0.6%), energy (-0.8%), and materials (-0.8%) showing particular weakness. On the slip side, the health care, consumer staples, telecom services, and real estate sectors are a tick higher.

As a reminder, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June (Briefing.com consensus 99.0) will be released at 10:00 AM ET.
Dow: -181.92… | Nasdaq: -42.49… | S&P: -12.36…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 699/1879. …NYSE Adv/Dec 735/1867.

09:18AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -14.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -40.50.

Reignited trade war fears have futures pointing towards a lower start for the U.S. equity market. The S&P 500 futures are down 0.5%.

President Trump has approved tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese goods and has threatened additional tariffs should China retaliate, which Beijing has promised to do. The White House is expected to release sometime today a list of Chinese goods that will be targeted.

Just released, Industrial Production slipped 0.1% in May (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%), while the April increase was revised to 0.9% (from +0.7%). Meanwhile, Capacity Utilization ticked down to 77.9% (Briefing.com consensus 78.1%) from a revised reading of 78.1% in April (from 78.0%).

Separately, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for June, which was released earlier this morning, climbed to 25.0 (Briefing.com consensus 20.0) from the prior month's unrevised reading of 20.1. Today's last economic report, the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June (Briefing.com consensus 99.0), will be released at 10:00 AM ET.

U.S. Treasuries are higher, pushing yields lower across the curve. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note is down four basis points at 2.91%.

In Japan, the BoJ kept its key interest rate unchanged, as expected, and downgraded its view on inflation.

08:50AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -14.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -34.30.

The S&P 500 futures are trading 14 points, or 0.5%, below fair value.

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific finished the week on a mixed note. Reports from last evening indicate that President Trump has approved the imposition of tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. An official announcement is expected later today. The overnight report was met with a response from China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said his country will respond swiftly to the developments. South Korea's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said that South Korea's employment report for May was shocking due to continued weakness in job growth. He added that labor difficulties in certain industries are worsening. The Bank of Japan made no changes to its policy stance, keeping its key rate unchanged at -0.10%, as expected.

In economic data:
China's May House Prices +4.7% year-over-year (last 4.7%)
South Korea's May Unemployment Rate 4.0% (last 3.8%)
New Zealand's May Business NZ PMI 54.5 (last 58.9). RBNZ May Offshore Holdings 56.7% (last 57.4%)
India's May trade deficit $14.62 billion (expected $14.23 billion; last deficit of $13.72 billion)

---Equity Markets---

Japan's Nikkei added 0.5%, rising 0.7% for the week. TDK, Eisai, Kikkoman, Konami, Fast Retailing, Toyota Motor, Familymart, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Suzuki Motor, Sony, and Alps Electric gained between 1.0% and 5.7%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.4%, falling 2.1% for the week. China Resources Power Holding was the weakest performer, falling 8.0%. Hang Lung Properties, New World Development, China Life Insurance, Sands China, Geely Automobile, and Sunny Optical Tech dropped between 1.0% and 1.5%.
China's Shanghai Composite surrendered 0.7%, falling 1.5% for the week. Wuhan DDMC Culture, Shangying Global, Beijing Aerospace Changfeng, Huayi Electric, and Changchun Sinoenergy lost between 9.5% and 10.0%.
India's Sensex added 0.1%, extending this week's gain to 1.1%. The slim advance was owed to a handful of large components while most index members retreated. Dr. Reddy's Labs jumped 3.7% after the U.S. FDA approved the company's generic versions of Suboxone. Sun Pharma rose 2.0% while Infosys, Tata Consultancy, Reliance Industries, and Hindustan Unilever gained between 0.7% and 3.4%.

Major European indices trade on a mostly lower note with Italy's MIB (-1.2%) falling behind its peers once again. The decline in Italian equities has taken place despite a rally in the country's debt. British lawmakers are still struggling to agree on a unified position in Brexit negotiations with the EU. The Bank of France increased its 2018 inflation expectations to 2.0% from 1.6% while reducing its GDP growth forecast to 1.8% from 1.9%. Germany's Bundesbank raised its inflation forecast for 2018 to 1.8% from 1.6% and reduced its GDP growth expectations to 2.0% from 2.5%.

In economic data:
Eurozone April trade surplus EUR16.70 billion (expected EUR14.20 billion; last EUR26.90 billion). Q1 Labor Cost Index 2.0% year-over-year (expected 1.9%; last 1.4%). May CPI +0.5% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.3%); +1.9% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.9%). May Core CPI +0.3% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.2%); +1.1% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.1%)
Germany's May WPI +0.8% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.5%); +2.9% year-over-year (last 1.4%)
Italy's May CPI +0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.4%; last 0.3%); +1.0% year-over-year (expected 1.1%; last 1.0%). April Industrial New Orders -1.3% month-over-month (last 0.3%); +6.4% year-over-year (last 2.3%). April Industrial Sales +0.3% month-over-month (last 0.6%); +4.0% year-over-year (last 3.3%)

---Equity Markets---

France's CAC hovers near its flat line thanks to relative strength in select consumer names. Pernod Ricard, L'Oreal, and Danone are up between 0.5% and 1.7%. Michelin and Peugeot sport gains of 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively.
Germany's DAX is down 0.5%. Financials Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank show respective losses of 4.4% and 2.3%. Lufthansa, Daimler, Bayer, Siemens, and BMW are down between 0.3% and 3.7%. On the upside, Adidas has climbed 0.6%.
UK's FTSE has given up 1.0%. Financials are among the weakest performers with Old Mutual, Barclays, RBS, Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking, and Prudential surrendering between 1.9% and 3.2%. On the upside, consumer names like Tesco, Diageo, Unilever, Imperial Brands, and InterContinental Hotels hold gains between 0.6% and 1.9%.
Italy's MIB trades down 1.2%. UBI Banca, Banco Bpm, Mediobanca, Bper Banca, UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, FinecoBank, Banca Mediolanum, and Banca Generali have slid between 1.4% and 3.6%.

08:33AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -12.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -23.50.

The S&P 500 futures are trading 12 points, or 0.4%, below fair value.

Just in, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for June climbed to 25.0 (Briefing.com consensus 20.0) from the prior month's unrevised reading of 20.1.

07:57AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -5.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -3.00.

Reignited fears over a trade war between the U.S. and China have equity futures pointing towards a slightly lower open this morning. The S&P 500 holds a slim weekly gain of 0.1% coming into today's session, but is on course to give it back at the opening bell as the S&P 500 futures are trading six points, or 0.2%, below fair value.

Reports indicate that President Trump has approved tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. The list of goods is scheduled to be announced today, but it's not clear when (if ever) the tariffs will go into effect. China has promised to retaliate by imposing an equivalent amount of tariffs on U.S. goods.

In Japan, the BoJ kept its key interest rate unchanged, as expected, and downgraded its view on inflation. The Bank of Japan has struggled to roll back its crisis-era stimulus, even though the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have both taken steps towards normalization.

On the data front, investors will receive several economic reports today, including the Empire State Manufacturing Index for June (Briefing.com consensus 20.0) at 8:30 AM ET, Industrial Production (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%) and Capacity Utilization (Briefing.com consensus 78.1%) for May at 9:15 AM ET, and the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June (Briefing.com consensus 99.0) at 10:00 AM ET.

U.S. Treasuries are modestly higher ahead of today's economic releases, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-yr note two basis points lower to 2.93%. Meanwhile, WTI crude futures are down 0.1% at $66.85 per barrel, and the U.S. Dollar Index is lower by 0.1% at 94.82.

In U.S. corporate news:

AT&T (T 32.84, +0.32): +1.0% after the DOJ decided against applying for a delay of Tuesday's ruling, allowing AT&T to complete its purchase of Time Warner (TWX).
Qualcomm (QCOM 60.21, +0.75): +1.3% following a Reuters report that China hasn't yet approved the company's acquisition of NXP Semi (NXPI).
Adobe Systems (ADBE 251.00, -7.10): -2.8% despite reporting above-consensus quarterly results and issuing upbeat guidance.

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific finished the week on a mixed note. Japan's Nikkei +0.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.4%, China's Shanghai Composite -0.7%, India's Sensex +0.1%.
In economic data:
China's May House Prices +4.7% year-over-year (last 4.7%)
South Korea's May Unemployment Rate 4.0% (last 3.8%)
New Zealand's May Business NZ PMI 54.5 (last 58.9). RBNZ May Offshore Holdings 56.7% (last 57.4%)
India's May trade deficit $14.62 billion (expected $14.23 billion; last deficit of $13.72 billion)
In news:
Reports from last evening indicate that President Trump has approved the imposition of tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods imported into the U.S. An official announcement is expected later today. The overnight report was met with a response from China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said his country will respond swiftly to the developments.
South Korea's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said that South Korea's employment report for May was shocking due to continued weakness in job growth. He added that labor difficulties in certain industries are worsening.
The Bank of Japan made no changes to its policy stance, keeping its key rate unchanged at -0.10%, as expected.

Major European indices trade on a mostly lower note with Italy's MIB (-1.0%) falling behind its peers once again. The decline in Italian equities has taken place despite a rally in the country's debt. France's CAC unch, Germany's DAX -0.3%, UK's FTSE -0.8%.
In economic data:
Eurozone April trade surplus EUR16.70 billion (expected EUR14.20 billion; last EUR26.90 billion). Q1 Labor Cost Index 2.0% year-over-year (expected 1.9%; last 1.4%). May CPI +0.5% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.3%); +1.9% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.9%). May Core CPI +0.3% month-over-month, as expected (last 0.2%); +1.1% year-over-year, as expected (last 1.1%)
Germany's May WPI +0.8% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; last 0.5%); +2.9% year-over-year (last 1.4%)
Italy's May CPI +0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.4%; last 0.3%); +1.0% year-over-year (expected 1.1%; last 1.0%). April Industrial New Orders -1.3% month-over-month (last 0.3%); +6.4% year-over-year (last 2.3%). April Industrial Sales +0.3% month-over-month (last 0.6%); +4.0% year-over-year (last 3.3%)
In news:
British lawmakers are still struggling to agree on a unified position in Brexit negotiations with the EU.
The Bank of France increased its 2018 inflation expectations to 2.0% from 1.6% while reducing its GDP growth forecast to 1.8% from 1.9%.
Germany's Bundesbank raised its inflation forecast for 2018 to 1.8% from 1.6% and reduced its GDP growth expectations to 2.0% from 2.5%.

07:30AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -9.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -18.80.

06:55AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -10.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -16.00.

06:55AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] Nikkei...22852...+113.10...+0.50%. Hang Seng...30309.5...-130.70...-0.40%.

06:55AM ET
[BRIEFING.COM] FTSE...7707.57...-58.20...-0.80%. DAX...13080...-27.10...-0.20%.

04:30PM ET

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 drifted within a pretty tight range on Thursday, eventually settling with a modest gain of 0.3%. Investors were still wrestling with the Fed's upped rate-hike forecast and received another central bank policy decision, this time from the ECB. The Dow (-0.1%) struggled to keep pace, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq (+0.9%) outperformed, hitting a new all-time high.

As expected, the European Central Bank left its key policy rate unchanged on Thursday morning and announced a plan to end its asset purchase program. The ECB in September will cut its monthly purchases in half, from EUR30 billion to EUR15 billion, and then end purchases altogether three months later -- although it will continue to reinvest the principal from maturing securities. As for interest rates, the ECB said they will remain at their present levels "at least through the summer of 2019."

The euro dove sharply following the ECB's policy release and was down about 1.7% against the U.S. dollar at the closing bell in New York. The yield on Germany's 10-yr bund also slid, going from 0.50% to 0.42%, but U.S. Treasury yields were mostly lower even before the ECB decision. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note slid three basis points to 2.95%, but the 2-yr yield bucked the trend, rising two basis points to 2.58%. That left the 2-10 spread at its lowest level in more than a decade.

Lenders, which make money on the difference between what they charge for loans and what they pay on deposits, dropped with the 2-10 spread, sending the S&P 500's financial sector to the bottom of the sector standings. The financial group lost 0.9% and was one of only three groups -- industrials (-0.4%) and energy (-0.2%) being the others -- to close in the red.

On the flip side, eight sectors advanced on Thursday. The lightly-weighted utilities group (+1.2%) was the top performer, continuing to rebound after a poor start to the month, and the consumer discretionary sector (+1.0%) was also a notable outperformer. Within the consumer discretionary space, media names were in focus once again after Comcast (CMCSA 33.82, +1.50, +4.6%) outdid Disney's (DIS 108.75, +2.44, +2.3%) all-stock bid for the bulk of 21st Century Fox's (FOXA 44.58, +0.92, +2.1%) assets, offering $65 billion in cash.

Meanwhile, in the tech sector (+0.6%), Twitter (TWTR 46.76, +2.69) added another 6.1% and is now up 16.6% since being added to the S&P 500 on June 7. Social media peer Facebook (FB 196.81, +4.40) also did well, adding 2.3%, but Oracle (ORCL 45.90, -2.37) struggled, losing 4.9% after being downgraded to 'Neutral' from 'Overweight' at JP Morgan.

In Washington, the White House is reportedly planning to roll out on Friday a shorter list of tariffs on imports from China, according to CNBC. The updated list is expected to include between 800 and 900 products, down from around 1,300 products originally. The market had a muted reaction to the news.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data, which included Retail Sales for May, weekly Initial Claims, Export and Import Prices for May, and April Business Inventories:

May retail sales rose 0.8% (Briefing.com consensus +0.4%), while the April increase was revised to 0.4% from 0.3%. Excluding autos, retail sales increased 0.9% in May (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%), and the April increase was revised to 0.4% from 0.3%.
The key takeaway from the report is that consumer spending on goods was strong in May, which will feed expectations for a healthy pickup in second quarter GDP growth.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 218,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 223,000. Today's tally was below the unrevised prior week count of 222,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.697 million from a revised count of 1.746 million (from 1.741 million).
The key takeaway from the report is the same as last week: the low level of initial and continuing jobless claims is consistent with a tight labor market.
Import prices excluding oil rose 0.6% in May after rising a revised 0.6% in April (from +0.2%), and export prices excluding agriculture increased 0.5% after rising an unrevised 0.7% in April.
The key takeaway from the report is that import prices continued an upward trend that began in August 2017 and recorded their largest 12-month advance (+4.3%) since February 2017.
Business Inventories rose 0.3% in April (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%). The March reading was revised to -0.1% from 0.0%.
The inventories-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.35 month-over-month and was down from 1.38 in the same period a year ago.

Looking ahead, investors will receive on Friday morning the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report for May, the Empire Manufacturing report for June, and the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for June.

Also, the Bank of Japan will release its latest policy directive overnight. No changes are expected.

Nasdaq Composite +12.4% YTD
Russell 2000 +9.7% YTD
S&P 500 +4.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.9% YTD

Dow: -25.89… | Nasdaq: +65.34… | S&P: +6.86…
NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1690/1250. …NYSE Adv/Dec 1654/1257.

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