(Boursier.com) – The American rating is oriented down on Monday, against a backdrop of persistent geopolitical tensions and heavy fears about inflation. The S&P 500 lost 0.25% to 4,452 pts, the Dow Jones 0.54% to 34,569 pts and the Nasdaq 0.91% to 13,768 pts. The barrel of WTI crude gained 5.4% on $108, while Brent from the North Sea rose above $114. The ounce of gold stabilizes at $1.933. The dollar index gained 0.1% against a basket of currencies. Bitcoin is moving towards $41,000.
The Chicago Fed’s national activity index for February 2022 came out at 0.51, compared to 0.55 from the FactSet consensus and 0.69 a month earlier.
The trend is therefore pre-market profit taking on Wall Street on Monday, after a sharp rebound last week fueled by hopes of an agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Reuters reports that EU governments are considering imposing an oil embargo on Russia this week, although Germany has expressed reluctance – Germany which has just signed an energy deal with Qatar. Ukraine has rejected a Russian ultimatum asking Mariupol residents to surrender. The Wall Street Journal discussed Vladimir Putin’s considerations aimed at forcing Ukraine to accept Russian neutrality and territorial claims. Concerns are also growing about a spike in global food prices.
On the side of the Fed, Raphael Bostic, head of the antenna of Atlanta, said he expected six rate hikes this year, after an initial tightening last week. Bostic points out that the war in Ukraine has not changed the perception of central bankers on the need for a reduction in the balance sheet of the Fed, which should happen quickly, and even faster than the previous time.
In economic news this week on Wall Street, the Richmond Fed’s manufacturing index is due tomorrow, while new home sales and the weekly domestic oil inventories report come out on Wednesday. Thursday will be marked by announcements of durable goods orders, the current account balance, the flash composite PMI, the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index, as well as several interventions by Fed officials. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index and home sales promises will be released on Friday.
Values
Anaplan, an American publisher of management planning solutions, jumped 27% on Wall Street on Monday to $64. Thoma Bravo will indeed acquire the group for a cash amount of $66 per share, or $10.7 billion in total. Current CEO Frank Calderoni will continue in his role as head of Anaplan after the transaction. The offer features a 46% premium over the five-day weighted average over the period ending March 18. The transaction has been unanimously approved by Anaplan’s Board of Directors, and is expected to close in the first half of 2022, subject to customary conditions, including shareholder and regulatory approval.
Berkshire Hathaway (+2%), the firm of Warren Buffett, announced the acquisition of the insurer Alleghany (+25%) for 11.6 billion dollars. Alleghany Corp is an American insurer based in New York, which owns, for example, the reinsurer TransRe or the firm RSUI. While Buffett recently lamented the lack of investment opportunities, Berkshire is announcing a substantial operation, strengthening its already well-endowed portfolio in insurance, including Geico or General Re. Alleghany, initially a railway holding company, has become an insurance group and investment. Berkshire is offering $848.02 per Alleghany stock, a premium of more than 25% on Friday’s close. Completion of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Nielsen, whose share price had recently soared on Wall Street with speculation about a potential takeover, fell 8% today, the group having announced yesterday Sunday that it had rejected an offer amounting to 9.1 billion dollars from a private equity consortium. The group considers that this offer does not reflect the value of its activities. The American marketing group had notably benefited earlier this month on the stock market from an article in the Wall Street Journal reporting on a potential takeover bid under consideration on the file for an amount of 15 billion dollars including debt, from a consortium comprising Elliott Management.
Nielsen clarified yesterday that the consortium whose offer he had rejected was offering $25.4 per share. The group’s board of directors unanimously rejected this proposal, which would significantly undervalue Nielsen.
Boeing (-5%). A China Eastern 737-800 crashed on Monday afternoon in a mountainous area in southern China (Guangxi region). The circumstances of the accident remain unclear for the moment. The accident was confirmed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which said there were 123 passengers and nine crew members on board. According to ‘FlightRadar’, the plane had only been flying for 6 years. This is the first fatal accident involving a 737-800 since January 8, 2020.
General Motors (-2%) announced the acquisition of SoftBank’s stake in Cruise, a GM subsidiary specializing in self-driving, for 2.1 billion dollars.
Baker Hughes (+5%), Halliburton (+5%) or Schlumberger (+4%) suspend all investment in Russia. Meta Platforms (-3%), parent company of Facebook, would have seized a Russian court to contest, without success, its integration by the Russian authorities in the list of so-called “extremist” organizations.
Nike (-1%) publishes after trading this evening on Wall Street its quarterly accounts. The consensus for the period is housed at 71 cents of adjusted earnings per share for $10.6 billion in revenue. At the end of December, when it was previously published for the second fiscal quarter, the comma brand had made net income of $1.34 billion or 83 cents per share. Revenue had reached $11.36 billion, compared to $11.24 billion a year earlier.