Morgan Stanley downgrades Salesforce
Morgan Stanley is taking a pause on share of Salesforce, downgrading the software company to equal weight.
“While confident in Salesforce’s longer-term opportunity to further penetrate large enterprises with more vertically oriented solutions, near-term catalysts, including margin expansion and price increases, are now in rear-view mirror,” wrote Keith Weiss in a Monday note.
The analyst upped his price target to $278 from $251 a share, reflecting 23% upside from Friday’s close. Shares have rallied more than 70% so far this year, but pulled back 1.5% in the premarket.
Weiss also expects artificial intelligence monetization opportunities for the company to take time to come to fruition.
— Samantha Subin
Euro zone GDP beats expectations
The euro zone economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the second quarter. GDP in the region expanded by 0.3%, while economists polled by Reuters expected an increase of 0.2%.
This is yet another sign of economic resiliency around the world. In the U.S., the economy expanded at a 2.4% pace, exceeding a Dow Jones consensus estimate of 2%.
— Fred Imbert
Treasury yields little changed as investors assess inflation outlook
U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Monday as investors digested the latest inflation data, which could affect Federal Reserve monetary policy, and considered the outlook for the economy.
At 4:45 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield was up by just under one basis point to 3.9787%. The 2-year Treasury was down by less than a basis point to 4.8911%.
India’s growing commodity demand can make up for the global gap left by China: ANZ
China’s growth slowdown is set to hurt global demand for commodities, but India could make up for some of that shortfall, ANZ bank’s analysts said in a note.
India’s economic growth is likely to outpace China’s, and that means India’s demand for commodities will likely surge to cover more than half of China’s demand shortfall. According to ANZ, energy commodities will see the most significant pick-up.
India’s annual demand for major commodities — like oil, coal, gas, copper, aluminum and steel — is expected to rise collectively by more than 5% from now till 2030, the bank estimated. In contrast, China’s demand for these same commodities will slow to between 1% to 3%,
—Lee Ying Shan
China’s factory activity contracts for fourth straight month
China’s factory activity remained in contraction territory for the fourth straight month, with the purchasing manager’s index coming in at 49.3 compared to the 49.2 expected by economists polled by Reuters.
According to the country’s national bureau of statistics, the PMI level is also higher than the 49.0 recorded in June.
The PMI for the non-manufacturing sector in July came in at 51.3, compared to June’s figure of 53.2.
— Lim Hui Jie
Japan’s industrial production in June lower than expected
Japan’s industrial output climbed 2% in June compared to the month before, lower than the 2.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The preliminary report also showed that on a year on year basis, industrial output fell 0.4%, a sharp reversal from the 3.1% rise seen in May.
Japan’s ministry of economy, trade, and industry said that the production of motor vehicles, electronic parts and devices, as well as machinery mainly contributed to the increase in June.
— Lim Hui Jie
CNBC Pro: China’s electric car game amps up. One stock has doubled this year
Just as Chinese electric car companies may need cash, foreign automakers need the market — not only in China but globally.
Xpeng’s cash and cash equivalents nearly halved in the first quarter from the end of 2022, and its deliveries have stagnated at several thousand a month.
Volkswagen isn’t faring much better in China’s electric car market, with an average of just over 10,000 vehicles delivered each month in the first half of the year. But the German automaker has far more cash.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Evelyn Cheng
Strong earnings so far
So far this earnings season, of the 254 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported numbers, 78.7% reported above analyst expectations, according to Refinitiv. In a typical quarter since 1994, 66% of companies beat estimates, the firm said.
ON Semiconductor, Arista Networks and Western Digital are set to report earnings on Monday. Heavy hitters Apple and Amazon will report later in the week.
— Yun Li