European Daily Market Review

European stocks are without a clear market direction today as market momentum wanes.

The regional Stoxx-600 lost 0.04% at 9:50 a.m. in London, with retail stocks rallied 1.65% as travel stocks fell 0.65%.

The German DAX secured 64.45 or 0.35% from 18,448. The French CAC-40 gained 8.77 or 0.11% from 8193.FTSE-100 slipped 22.29 or 0.28% from 7,908.

Swedish retailer H&M rallied 12% after largely coming off predictions for its fiscal first quarter operating profit.

The Spanish inflation data, which came in at 3.2% for March, and French consumer confidence figures, which showed a cautious a rising sentiment.

H&M shares were on track to surge at their sharpest rate since June 2023 on Wednesday after the Swedish retailer announced greater than predicted first quarter numbers.

The Swedish krona was slightly less versus the common currency and the USD U after the Riksbank held its key interest rate at 4.

U.S. Daily Market Review

The S&P-500 jumped today following a weaker session.The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 254 points, or 0.6%.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%.Shares of Coinbase tumbled around 2% this morning after a judge ruled the Securities and Exchange Commission has pleaded that the crypto services company operates as an exchange under federal securities law.

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) rallied a whole 14% today in its second day of trading on the Nasdaq.

In fact, the parent company of Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social surged 16% in its first official trading day on Tuesday.

GameStop shares retreated around 14% after the video retailer announced a large loss in fourth-quarter revenue from the year-ago period.

Moreover, in its fourth quarter, the company posted revenue of $1.79 billion, less than the $2.23 billion it reported in the same quarter the previous year.

Merck shares added around 4% in the premarket after the Food and Drug Administration approved yesterday  the use of Winrevair, a drug aimed at treating adults patients.

Cocoa Supply Shortage Likely To Persist

Cocoa Price Daily Chart

Cocoa is not typically a closely watched commodity, but for those who have been watching significant profits may have already been collected with more to come as the delicious product is now reaching record levels, with little relief in sight.

The issue is a supply concern as cocoa farmers in West Africa have been hit by a trifecta of bad weather, diseases, and failing trees. The combination is creating one of the worst supply deficits for cocoa in decades, with prices more than tripling over the past 12 months and up 129% since the start of 2024.

Tuesday’s price action saw cocoa futures for May delivery surging to an all-time intraday high of $10,080 per metric ton before ending the day down 0.3% to settle at $9,622.

The world is currently seeing the largest cocoa deficit in 60 years, with expectations of a shortfall of 374,000 tons, and, while chocolate producers like Hershey’s and Nestle have been able to hedge their positions and keep consumer prices in check, it’s expected that chocolate prices for consumers will see increases by the end of this year.

Because there’s no easy fix to the problem cocoa prices are expected to remain elevated for the remainder of 2024 at the least. The Ivory Coast and Ghana produce some 60% of the global supply of cocoa, but both countries are seeing poor weather conditions and several cocoa-related diseases. Compounding the issue is the fact that many of the remaining healthy trees are beyond their peak yield potential. Neither country has had a major round of new planting since the early 2000’s.

Analysts believe much of the current run-up in prices is due to speculation from producers trying to lock in prices.

Asian Daily Market Review

Asian markets were mixed in cautious trade on Tuesday as investors across the region reacted to the overnight losses on Wall Street while also preparing for an upcoming reading on U.S. inflation that could give some clues to upcoming moves from the Federal Reserve. Also in focus was the weakness in the Yen, which remains at levels not seen since 1990.

Japan’s Nikkei was flat on the day, ending with a slight loss of less than 0.1%. Market participants are speculating on whether the Bank of Japan will move to prop up the Yen, which remains unaccountably weak despite the Bank of Japan raising interest rates into negative territory for the first time in 17 years. Shares of Softbank Group fell by 1.2%, while Sony shares finished 0.5% higher. Among the major exporters Toyota and Canon each added 0.5%, while Panasonic shares declined by 0.9%.

In Australia the S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.4%, with the big four banks contributing to the broader market weakness. Shares of ANZ and NAB were 0.3% lower each, Commonwealth Bank dropped by 0.2%, and Westpac underperformed with a loss of 0.8%. The major miners had a similar performance as BHP shares slipped 0.6% lower and Rio Tinto edged lower by 0.2%.

Mainland Chinese markets managed some small gains as the benchmark Shanghai Composite advanced by 0.2% and the smaller cap Shenzhen Composite ended 0.3% higher. Over in Hong Kong the Hang Seng outpaced the mainland, posting a gain of 0.9% for the session.

In South Korea the Kospi finished 0.7% higher, while Taiwan’s Taiex closed out the day with a 0.3% loss.

Southeast Asian markets were mixed as Singapore’s Straits Times Index led gains for the region with a 1.1% advance, while Malaysia’s KLCI edged lower by 0.1%.

European Daily Market Review

European markets tumbled today as investors continue to ponder last week’s central bank policy reports from Europe and the U.S.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 fell 0.05% at 9:40 a.m. London time as Monday’s lackluster performance continued.

Travel stocks soared 0.75% while mining stocks lost 0.6%.

The German DAX gained 44.80 or 0.25% from 18,306.

The French CAC-40 inclined 1.33 or 0.02% from 8152. FTSE-100 slipped 8.63 or 0.11% from 7,908.

Grocery delivery service Ocado advanced 2.7% after declaring a10.6% year-on-year revenue rally.

German consumers came slightly above in March, though the recovery in sentiment is still into a slow motion.

Hungary is very likely to move to a lower gears the rate of its rate reductions. This is the case amid downfalls of the forint limits.

The National Bank of Hungary is very likely to drops its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to 8.25%.

U.S. Daily Market Review

The Dow Jones Industrial Average are in red at the start of the new trading week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 118 points, or 0.3%. The S&P-500 fell 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was little changed.

Crude oil futures advanced as Ukrainian drone strikes negatively impacted the Russian production abilities and the Kremlin orders output reductions to meet OPEC+ targets.

Shares of Intel led the market lower, with the semiconductor firm sliding 1% after The Financial Times reported that new China guidelines would cease Intel chips in government servers and computers.

United Airlines stock tumbled 4% after the Federal Aviation Administration announced that will require greater security measures after a series of safety incidents.

President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign will include massive fundraising event Thursday having leading figures from the entertainment industry, along with former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.