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Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

(Bloomberg) --

Good morning. Asian stocks were mainly lower overnight after Intel Corp.’s earnings weighed on U.S. tech, European bank results keep coming, there are some concerning international trade statistics out and cinemas are bracing for a record-breaking weekend. Here’s what’s moving markets. 

Trillion On Hold

Investors wondered Thursday whether Amazon.com Inc.’s latest numbers, published after the U.S. close, would push the company’s market value firmly above $1 trillion (Microsoft Corp. briefly got there on an intraday basis yesterday). But it was Intel’s report that garnered most attention, as the world’s biggest semiconductor maker forecast its first annual revenue decline in a decade, sending its shares lower by 7 percent in after-market trading. Amazon’s update, meanwhile, was a relative non-event, with most focus on added spending to reduce delivery times for top customers. $1 trillion will have to wait.

Volumes Slipping

Think concerns over global trade might be overdone? New data suggests otherwise, indicating that volumes are falling at the fastest pace since 2009. Overnight, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech on his criticized Belt and Road infrastructure program, vowed that his country would negotiate and sign high-standard free trade agreements with more countries. U.S. and Japanese negotiators had a second round of trade talks in Washington on Thursday, ahead of a summit between Trump and Abe.

No Let-Up

Don’t expect a quiet end to the week: We’ve got earnings from various sectors to keep you on your toes. Already today, Deutsche Bank AG has cut its 2019 sales outlook, while Spain’s Banco de Sabadell SA’s quarterly net income beat estimates. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, which is now on the hunt for a new boss, reports shortly. Outside of financials, cancer-drug maker AstraZeneca Plc and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG and are among other key reports  to look out for.

Endgame

The wait is over. Avengers: Endgame hits U.S. cinemas today following its release in the U.K. and some other regions earlier this week. Global opening weekend takings are tipped to surpass $1 billion, and the release could mark “just the beginning” of a healthy summer for the cinema industry ahead of other blockbuster pictures like Toy Story 4 and The Lion King, according to analysts at investment bank Cowen Inc. That could bode well for London-listed Cineworld Group Plc in particular. 

Coming Up...

Bayer AG faces a key shareholder vote as the German health care and chemicals conglomerate attempts to contain growing unrest over its Monsanto acquisition. The biggest data release is U.S. gross domestic product for the first quarter, with that economy looking a lot rosier than a few weeks ago. World leaders doing the rounds include Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who both head to China for separate meetings.

What We’ve Been Reading

This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net

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