Reuters/Damir SagoljFireworks exploding over a mass dance in the capital’s main ceremonial square, a day after the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea wrapped up its first congress in 36 years, in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Here is what you need to know.The Staples-Office Depot merger is off. The merger between the two office-supply businesses was called off after a federal judge raised antitrust concerns, Reuters reports. According to Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the Federal Trade Commission was able to show with “reasonable probability” that the merger would “substantially impair competition.” Shares of Office Depot and Staples are both under pressure, falling 26% and 10% in late Tuesday trade.
Disney whiffed on earnings. The media behemoth announced earnings of $1.36 a share on revenue of $13 billion. Those numbers were shy of the $1.40 and $13.21 billion that was forecast by the Bloomberg consensus. Cord-cutters helped drop cable-network revenue by 2%, but ESPN was a bright spot, helping propel the cable area to a 12% jump in profit. Studio Entertainment revenues were strong, up 22% versus a year ago. Shares of Disney were down more than 6% in after-hours action.
Fossil is getting destroyed. The accessory maker earned $0.12 a share, missing the $0.14 that Wall Street was anticipating. Revenue fell 12.3% to $659.8 million, shy of the $667 million that was expected by the Bloomberg consensus. Also missing was comparable sales, which fell 3% versus the 0.4% drop that analysts were looking for. The big news was Fossil cutting its full-year earnings forecast to $1.80 to $2.80 a share versus its previous projection of $2.80 to $3.60 a share. Fossil shares fell more than 28% in after-hours trade.
SALT 2016 gets underway. The SkyBridge Alternatives Conference kicks off in Las Vegas. The event will feature speakers from around the investment community as well as athletes, politicians, and actors. Speakers include Mark Mobius, T. Boone Pickens, Sam Zell, Kyle Bass, and Jim Chanos, among others.
Sanders and Trump win West Virginia. Democratic challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the West Virginia primary by taking 51.4% of the vote, compared with 36% for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The win gives Sanders 16 delegates (11 for Clinton), and slows Clinton’s path to the nomination. On the Republican side, presumptive nominee Donald Trump took 76.9% of the vote and at least 31 of the 34 delegates.
Bank of Thailand kept policy on hold. Thailand’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 1.50%, as expected. The BOT said that “the global economic recovery remained fragile” and that the Thai economy “faces greater downside risks on the domestic front.” As for inflation, the central bank suggests it will be driven by oil prices and domestic demand. The Thai baht is little changed at 35.270 per dollar.
British manufacturing is back in recession. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that industrial production fell 0.4% in the first quarter, making for a second consecutive quarterly decline. According to the Financial Times, Britain’s manufacturing sector has entered its first recession since 2012. The British pound is weaker by 0.1% at 1.4434.
Global stock markets trade mixed. Spain’s IBEX (-0.8%) lags in Europe after Australia’s ASX (+0.6%) led the way overnight. S&P 500 futures are down 5.00 points at 2,072.50.
Earnings reporting slows down. Macy’s and Wendy’s are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell. Weibo will release its quarterly results after markets close.
US economic data remains light. Crude-oil inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET, and the Treasury budget will cross the wires at 2 p.m. ET. The US Treasury will auction $23 billion worth of 10-year notes at 1 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down one basis point at 1.75%.