Yesterday, after a brief foray into the red an hour before closing, Wall Street’s indices found sufficient resources to finish in the green, with gains of 0.3% to 0.4% for the Dow Jones, the S&P500 and the Nasdaq 100. The rebound was spurred by two of the “magnificent seven” worst performers of recent weeks, Tesla and Apple. The Cupertino-based group rallied 2.5% after Bernstein returned to a positive recommendation. This rebound comes at a time when Apple is getting restless in artificial intelligence, after having shown a certain apathy on the subject, at least as seen from the outside. As for Tesla, Elon Musk's efforts were enough for the stock to recover almost 40% in a week. He promised better times ahead, which numbed flagging earnings, and cleared hurdles to the development of driverless car in China after his very publicized visits to the Middle Kingdom this weekend, which had investors spellbound.

All three US indices surged at the very end of the session. This is not an uncommon phenomenon, and could even be explained by the bottleneck of orders placed in the run-up to the close. Bloomberg echoed this last night, explaining, with figures from BestEx Research, that the American trading session lasts 390 minutes, but that a third of all transactions take place in the last 10 minutes. In reality, it's not totally new, but the percentage is only growing (it was 27% in 2021). The phenomenon is closely linked to passive management: ETFs trade as close to the close as possible, because these are the prices used to set the level of the indices they track. These ten minutes are rich in liquidity,” points out Bloomberg, ”which in turn attracts active investors, creating a snowball effect. Europe is following a similar trend. On the Old Continent, 28% of transactions are carried out during the auction period just after the close (source: Bloomberg & Big XYT). This mechanical and opportunistic concentration raises a number of questions, not least about the price inefficiencies it could create. As is often the case in finance, the question is not clear-cut, stresses the financial news agency.

Meanwhile, there are many macro-economic data for investors to sink their teeth into. Two statistics were published overnight in Asia. In China, official PMI activity indicators are once again mixed: both components remain in the expansion zone, but by a small margin for the manufacturing PMI (down from 50.8 to 50.4 points, consensus 50.3 points), and with a deterioration for the services PMI (down from 53 to 51.2 points, consensus 52.3 points). In Japan, industrial production grew faster than expected in March (3.8% vs. 3.3% anticipated). In Europe, France GDP showed a 0.2% growth in Q1, slightly better than expected. Germany’s GDP also gained 0.2%, and the eurozone GDP grew 0.3%, the fastest rate since the third quarter of 2022.

Eli Lilly, Coca-Cola, McDonald's unveil their results during the session, while Amazon's earnings will be the focus of attention after the bell. Tomorrow, the Fed will release its rate decision. The central bank will not be changing its rates, but it will be giving the market an indication of its intentions. Bookmakers believe that Jerome Powell will continue to try to dissuade investors from being too optimistic.

In Asia Pacific this morning, the indices lost some of their enthusiasm of the previous day. Tokyo nevertheless gained more than 1%, but this was only a catch-up as yesterday was a public holiday in Japan. The yen eased after soaring the previous day. Specialists continue to wonder whether the Bank of Japan has intervened to stop the hemorrhaging. The Chinese market was less buoyant than the previous day. Hong Kong is at equilibrium and Shanghai down slightly. The latest statistics were still not an outright recovery. South Korea, India, Taiwan and Australia are slightly up. European leading indicators are mostly in the red, with the notable exception of the British FTSE 100, which gained 0.4%. Futures on the main Wall Street indexes are all down by 0.4%. Exceptionally, the "Today on Wall Street" column will take a break tomorrow and return on Thursday.

Today's economic highlights:

French, German and EU GDP are on the agenda, along with first estimate of European inflation for April, the FHFA house price index, the Chicago PMI and the Conference Board consumer confidence index. The full agenda is here. 

The dollar is slightly up to EUR 0.9339 and GBP 0.7988. The ounce of gold stagnates at USD 2,309. Oil is slightly up, with Brent North Sea crude at USD 87.69 a barrel and WTI US light crude at USD 82.98. The yield on 10-year US debt fell to 4.61%. Bitcoin is trading at USD 63,300.

In corporate news:

  • Coca-cola gained 1.9% in premarket trading after raising its organic sales forecast for this year on Tuesday, following better-than-expected quarterly earnings and sales, as consumers increased their spending on soft drinks and fruit juices.
  • Mcdonald's is down 1.1% in pre-market trading after reporting lower-than-expected first-quarter sales and earnings. The fast-food chain is facing a reduction in consumer spending in its restaurants and a drop in international sales against the backdrop of conflict in the Middle East.
  • Restaurant brands international - Burger King's parent company exceeded Wall Street expectations on Tuesday with its quarterly results, boosted by a recovery in demand and a solid performance by the Tim Hortons chain. The stock gained around 2% in pre-market trading.
  • Eli lilly on Tuesday raised its annual sales forecast to $2 billion on the back of strong demand and plans to increase production of its Zepbound weight-loss treatment and Mounjaro diabetes drug. Shares jump around 7% in pre-market trading.
  • 3m Company - The US industrial giant posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday, as higher prices combined with cost-cutting offset the impact of slowing sales. The share price climbed nearly 8% in pre-market trading.
  • Tesla falls by 1.12% in pre-market trading after reports that Elon Musk, the auto group's CEO, has decided to lay off two senior executives, Rebecca Tinucci and Daniel Ho, and plans to let go hundreds of other employees, against a backdrop of slowing sales.
  • Microsoft will invest $1.7 billion over four years in the development of its cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) services in Indonesia, including the construction of data centers, announced CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday during a visit to the country.
  • Paypal holdings gained 2.6% in pre-market trading, as the payment group raised its adjusted earnings per share forecast for this year from flat to 2023.
  • Ge healthcare technologies plunged 12% in premarket trading after missing expectations on Tuesday with its first-quarter sales, penalized by lower sales in the Chinese market and weaker-than-expected demand for its scanner equipment.
  • Tenet healthcare jumped 9.9% in premarket trading after raising its adjusted earnings per share forecast for this year to a range of $8.37 to $9.41, compared with a previous forecast of $5.76 to $6.90.
  • Paramount global has replaced its CEO Bob Bakish with a trio of executives, announced the company on Monday, which is currently discussing a possible merger with David Ellison's Skydance Media. The stock gained nearly 3% in after-hours trading.
  • Goldman sachs is in talks to transfer its credit card program with General motors to Barclays, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing sources close to the matter. The outstanding balance of this program amounts to around two billion dollars, the WSJ said.
  • Nxp semiconductors on Monday forecast better-than-expected earnings for the current quarter, as inventory lightening at its industrial and mobile customers helped offset the deceleration in revenues from automotive customers, who are suffering from the slowdown in demand for electric vehicles.
  • Microstrategy dropped 4.2%, as the Bitcoin-holding business intelligence software provider reported a net loss of $53.1 million in the first quarter, compared with net income of $461.2 million a year earlier, due to an impairment of its digital assets.
  • Sirius xm climbs 1.9% in pre-market trading after reporting first-quarter sales ahead of Wall Street expectations. The satellite radio group expects subscriber numbers to improve year-on-year, starting in the second half of the year.
  • Mosaic gains 4.1% in pre-market trading after announcing the sale of its stake in a phosphate production joint venture to Saudi group Ma'aden for around $1.5 billion.
  • Coursera falls 13.4% in pre-market trading, as the e-learning platform announces that it expects full-year sales to be below market forecasts.
  • Newmont, Barrick gold, Anglogold ashanti, Harmony gold and Gold fields mining groups fell by 1.9% to 4.1% in premarket trading, while gold lost 1.03% to $2,310.35 an ounce on the first day of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) monetary policy meeting.
  • Everest group reported higher first-quarter earnings of $709 million on Monday, compared with $443 million a year earlier, as the insurer benefited from a better return on its investments.
  • Pfizer is to pay an additional $25.5 million in antitrust litigation over its antidepressant Effexor XR, having already settled for $39 million this month.
  • Comcast - NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, plans to pay an average of around $2.5 billion a year to broadcast several games of the NBA, the North American basketball championship, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing sources close to the matter.

Analyst recommendations:

  • Tesla, Inc: Baptista Research downgrades the stock from "outperform" to "hold" with a reduced price target from $222.30 to $178.20.
  • Freeport-Mcmoran Inc: Johnson Rice maintains its buy recommendation and increases the target price from $46 to $57.
  • Snap Inc: China Renaissance Research maintains its "hold" recommendation and raises the target price from $10 to $13.
  • Alphabet Inc: CITIC Securities Co Ltd maintains its buy recommendation and raises its price target from $175 to $190.
  • Arch Capital Group Ltd: Deutsche Bank maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from $103 to $110.
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb Company: DZ Bank AG Research maintains its buy recommendation and lowers the target price from $61 to $50.
  • Domino's Pizza Inc: BMO Capital Markets maintains its outperform recommendation and increases the target price from $535 to $575.
  • Exxon Mobil Corporation: DZ Bank AG Research maintains its buy recommendation and increases the target price from $120 to $132.
  • Texas Instruments Incorporated: Baptista Research downgrades the stock from underperform to hold, with a raised target price from $165.80 to $192.
  • On Semiconductor Corporation: TD Cowen maintains its buy recommendation and lowers the target price from $90 to $85.
  • Microsoft Corporation: Sealand Securities maintains its buy recommendation with a raised target price from $412.99 to $421.37.
  • Anglo American Plc: AlphaValue/Baader Europe upgrades its recommendation from buy to add, with a raised price target from GBX 3331 to GBX 3333.
  • Antofagasta Plc: Peel Hunt downgrades the stock from "reduce" to "sell" with a raised target price from 1435 GBX to 1695 GBX.
  • Persimmon Plc: Liberum upgrades the rating to buy from under review with a reduced target price from GBX 1600 to GBX 1550.
  • Wpp Plc: AlphaValue/Baader Europe upgrades the stock from "buy" to "add", with a raised target price from GBX 1025 to GBX 1030.