STOCKS
On Tuesday, Pfizer Inc. (PFE, -1.93%) will report first quarter earnings. Investors will be closely watching if the pharmaceutical giant has managed to cope with their product line slowly being depleted which came about as a result of expiring patents. Market expectations are that Pfizer’s profits and revenue will be down compared to the same period last year. Despite this bearish outlook on this drug-making company, the shares of Pfizer keep climbing. Interestingly, Pfizer has now slipped into 4th place in terms of the world’s top pharmaceutical company after holding the No. 1 spot for quite some time. Added to this, Pfizer is quickly losing exclusivity on certain drugs such as arthritis treatment Celebrex, cholesterol drug Lipitor, and erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. According to analysts polled by FactSet, Pfizer is expected to report adjusted earnings of 49 cents a share which will be 6 cents down from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Estimize’s expectation on adjusted income is at 51 cents a share. Also, Pfizer is expected to report revenue of $10.7 billion which is down 5% from last year’s revenue of $11.3 billion in the same quarter. Pfizer stocks are currently trading between $34 to $35 a share which is close to both its 10 year and 52 week highs.
INDICES
On Monday, U.S. stocks declined with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq sliding down from their record highs reached on Friday. This decline came as a result of investor caution in response to the Federal Reserve policy meeting which will begin today. At the close of trading, the Nasdaq Composite index (COMP) declined 0.6%, or 31.84 points, to 5,060.25. Losses on the tech heavy index were led by biotechnology stocks as Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) rejected an acquisition bid by Tel Aviv-based Teva Pharma Industries Ltd (ARCA:TEVA). Also, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 0.2%, or 42.17 points, to 18,037.97. The worst performer on the blue chip index was McDonald`s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) which declined 2.37 percent to 96.40. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index (SPX) closed down 0.4%, or 8.76 points, to 2,108.93. The top performer on the index was Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX), which gained 4.80 percent to 21.82. This advance came in response to a $25 increase in gold futures.
CURRENCIES
On Monday, the U.S. dollar (USD) pared gains in quiet trading. This came after the USD recovered from a decline as a result of downbeat data released on Friday on industrial production, home sales and retail sales while investors shift their focus to the policy statement by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The EUR/USD held steady and traded at 1.0869 while the GBP/USD also traded steady at 1.5178. Meanwhile, the greenback traded steady against the Swiss franc and up against the Japanese yen with USD/CHF at 0.9546 and with USD/JPY trading at 119.23, up 0.21 percent. Also, the U.S. dollar index was steady at 97.13.
COMMODITIES
On Tuesday, in early Asian trading, crude oil prices declined. This came as investors showed concern regarding increased conflict in Yemen while industry supply data is expected out of the U.S. today when the American Petroleum Institute will report on crude, distillate and gasoline stockpiles for the end of last week. This will then be followed by the more closely watched weekly report from the Department of Energy on Wednesday. WTI crude for delivery in June traded at $56.71 a barrel, down 0.50%, on the NYMEX. Meanwhile on Monday, Brent crude for delivery in June traded at $64.86 a barrel, down 0.64% or 0.42.
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