The major news this Tuesday

Global stocks, euro extend French election rally
Global stocks and the euro remained in demand on Tuesday as investor sentiment remained skewed toward riskier assets in the wake of Emmanuel Macron's victory in the first round of Sunday's presidential elections in France.

The MSCI World Index, a gauge of global stocks, hit an all-time high for the second straight session.
On Wall Street, U.S. stock market futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday morning, building on the prior session's 1% gain. The blue-chip Dow futures rose 47 points, or around 0.2%, to 20,801 by 5:35AM ET (09:35GMT), the S&P 500 futures added 3 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 9 points.

In Europe, stocks touched new multi-year highs in mid-morning trade, with Germany's DAX up around 0.3% to a fresh all-time peak of 12,480, while France's CAC 40, which jumped 4.1% on Monday to its best close in nine years, added 0.3%.

In the currency market, the euro was up around 0.3% at 1.0900 against the dollar, not far from Monday’s peak of 1.0918, which was the highest level since November 11. The pair jumped 1.3% on Monday.

Dozens of U.S. earnings ahead
U.S. earnings season gathers momentum on Tuesday, with dozens of companies due to report, including Dow components like Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Dupont (NYSE:DD), 3M (NYSE:MMM), and McDonald's (NYSE:MCD). There are also reports from Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), AT&T (NYSE:T), Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) and a handful of others.

According to Thomson Reuters, 77% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported thus far have beaten earnings per share estimates. Profit growth for the quarter is also tracking at about 11%, the best quarter since 2011.

Oil attempts to break 6-day losing streak
Oil prices were higher on Tuesday, rising for the first time in seven sessions as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations after futures fell to the lowest level in four weeks amid signs of further gains in U.S. crude output.

North Korea conducts live fire drill as tensions rise
North Korea stoked geopolitical tensions further after the hermit state conducted a massive live-fire drill on the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its army, media reports said on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to hold a rare briefing at the White House for the entire U.S. Senate to discuss the situation in North Korea on Wednesday.

U.S. slaps tariffs on Canadian lumber
The U.S. will impose preliminary anti-subsidy duties averaging 20% on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday, escalating a long-running trade dispute between the two neighbors.

The move, which affects some $5.66 billion worth of imports of the construction material, sets a tense tone as the two countries and Mexico prepare to renegotiate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.

Source: Bloomberg

Jr Trader Alexander Kumanov

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