Pre-Market Down On Tough German PMI; Plus TIF, HIBB

Friday, March 22, 2019

Pre-market futures are down at this hour, following downward trading across the globe overnight. The Dow is currently registering 150 points in the red, the Nasdaq is down 325 points and the S&P 500 -14.

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in Germany came in disappointingly low today, which sent the DAX market down 0.8%, and pushed the German 10-year bund into negative territory. The global equities index, MSCI, was also sent on a downward trajectory.

Elsewhere in global economic news, the Pacific Rim showed weakness, particularly in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But the questions analysts have this morning still revolve around the German PMI read: how much lower could it go? After all, Germany is the steadiest economy in the European Union (EU); regardless what issues we’ve seen regarding the UK, Italy, Spain, Greece, etc., we always could rely on Germany’s economy to backstop the EU.

Here at home, new talks between the U.S. and China are scheduled to pick up again next week. However, they will be going forward without the services of Clete Willems, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council (NEC). Willems is also the Deputy Assistant to the President on International Economics. The deputy has not officially stepped down as of yet, but reports are sourced from within the White House this morning.

Earnings Wrap Up

Luxury brand Tiffany’s (NYSE:TIF) posted a mixed Q4 report ahead of today’s open, with $1.67 per share surpassing expectations of $1.60 on quarterly sales of $1.32 billion missing the Zacks consensus $1.34 billion. Further, comps came in at -1%, a swing to the negative from the +0.8% expected. Shares are down 4% in pre-market trading from year-to-date highs ahead of the release.

Hibbett Sports (NASDAQ:HIBB) , on the other hand, is seeing its share price surging 25% on its impressive Q4 earnings report: 57 cents per share easily topped the 38 cents expected and the 44 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues beat estimates by more than 2% to $306 million in the quarter. Comps were up higher than expected, and full-year guidance was raised. For more on HIBB’s earnings, click here.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor

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