Bloomberg Business
-BP profit slump: BP Plc posted a 45 percent slump in earnings, saying adjusted profit dropped to $720 million from $1.3 billion a year earlier — below analysts’ expectations. Continuing low oil prices and «significant pressure» on refining margins hit the company’s bottom line. Shares in the oil major were 2.4 percent lower in London trading at 5:45 a.m. ET. Oil itself fell to a three-month low this morning, with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate for September delivery trading as low as $42.59.
-BOE policymaker changes mind: Bank of England policy maker Martin Weale has said that he now favors immediate stimulus for the U.K. economy as Brexit has led to a «dramatic deterioration» in short-term indicators. Weale’s comments in an interview with the Financial Times represent a change from his position last week when he said he’d require harder evidence of Brexit’s impact before he’d support additional stimulus. The next policy meeting at the central bank is on August 4. The pound slid after Weale’s comment were published, but had recovered to trade at $1.3126 by 6:20 a.m. ET.
-Apple earnings: Apple Inc. reports earnings after the bell today, and investors will be keep a close eye on iPhone sales and indications of increasing competition pressure in China and India. One analyst has already decided that the company has peaked, with Colin Gillis of BGC Financial L.P. downgrading it with a price target of $85 a share, almost 13 percent below Monday’s closing value.
-Markets slip: There was a mixed session overnight in Asia, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbing 0.5 percent as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at a December high while Japan’s Topix index dropped 1.4 percent, with exporters hit by the strengthening yen. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.2 percent lower at 6:11 a.m. ET as the drop in BP and banks ahead of Friday’s stress test results was offset by gains in miners. S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent.
-Sanders backs Clinton: Bernie Sanders said that he stands with Hillary Clinton in his speech to the Democratic Convention yesterday, to the chagrin of some of his supporters at the event. Backers of the Senator from Vermont are furious over leaked emails which appear to show that the party actively supported Clinton over Sanders. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has seized on the discord the leak has caused within the Democratic party.
CNN Money
– It’s earnings time: Tons of companies are reporting quarterly results ahead of the open Tuesday, including Verizon (VZ, Tech30), 3M (MMM), DuPont (DCDEX), Under Armour (UA), JetBlue (JBLU) and McDonald’s (MCD). After the markets close, investors will hear from Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Twitter (TWTR, Tech30), Chubb (CB) and Panera Bread (PNRA). Traders will be very focused on Apple as there are growing concerns that the iPhone’s popularity may have peaked. These various earnings could set the direction for trading as U.S. stock futures are currently holding steady.
-Stock market movers — Texas Instruments, Gilead Sciences, BP: Shares in Texas Instruments (TXN) are jumping premarket after the company reported better-than-expected results on Monday evening. Shares in Gilead Sciences (GILD) are moving in the opposite direction — down about 4% — following its earnings release. And BP (BP) stock was slipping by about 3% in London after the oil giant released second quarter results. The company reported that the final bill for its high-profile Deepwater Horizon oil spill tallied up to $61.6 billion.
– Sweet deal? Anheuser-Busch InBev (AHBIF) has sweetened its offer to buy rival SABMiller (SBMRY). It’s now promising investors a cash payment of £45 ($58.83) per share, up £1 from its previous offer. There were concerns that SABMiller shareholders were unhappy about the previous price. The deal was agreed months ago, but then the pound dropped significantly after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union in June. That move essentially devalued the offer. To put this in context, the takeover offer of £44 per SABMiller share had been worth $67.59 when the deal was announced in October. Now that same £44 will only get you about $57.69.
– Housing: Two new reports on the state of the U.S. real estate market are due on Tuesday. The Case-Shiller index on U.S. home prices from May is released at 9 a.m. ET. Then the more timely June new home sales numbers are out at 10 a.m. The U.S. Conference Board is also releasing consumer confidence data for July at 10 a.m.
– Global market overview: Even as U.S. stock futures hang tight, there’s a negative mood in European markets. Markets in Asia turned in a stronger performance. «Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic have fallen to 3-month lows as bullish traders found little reason to keep betting on higher prices,» explained Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM. «Ongoing oversupply will likely keep dragging prices lower.»