Morning Update: Trade concerns weaken earnings

First Look

Markets are slightly higher ahead of the opening bell Tuesday morning. Yesterday's earnings misses from Caterpillar (CAT) and disappointing forward guidance from Nvidia (NVDA) are signs that the ongoing trade war could be weakening China's economy and slowing global growth. Trade tensions are on the rise as U.S. prosecutors announced criminal charges against Chinese firm Huawei Technologies just days ahead of the scheduled meetings between China's Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday and Thursday. In a meeting Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May had ideas to abandon part of the proposed Brexit deal she has been working on in favor of a move to re-write the deal, hoping to gain favor from all sides as time draws near before the U.K. leaves the European Union. All eyes will be on Apple (AAPL) after the closing bell, as the company will release their quarterly earnings. Investors will be watching for further signs of economic slowdown, as Apple CEO Tim Cook already issued lackluster guidance back in January, warning of lower expected revenue and a decrease in iPhone sales. The Dow Jones is up 0.22%, the Nasdaq is up 0.17%, the S&P 500 is up 0.09%.

Today's Sentiment

Quote of the Day

Time makes more converts than reason.
Thomas Paine

Stocks on the Move

Corning Incorporated (GLW), PACCAR Inc (PCAR) and Xerox Corp (XRX) are moving higher this morning, while Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG), Whirlpool Corporation (WHR) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE) are headed lower. Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT), BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) and American Express Company (AXP) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while Square Inc (SQ), Fiserv Inc (FISV) and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) were downgraded.

International Markets

Stocks in Asia are down. The Australia ASX All Ordinaries is down -0.53%, the Mumbai Sensex is down -0.18%, the Hang Seng is down -0.16% the Shanghai SE Composite Index is down -0.11% and the Nikkei 225 is up 0.08%. In Europe stocks are up. The FTSE 100 is up 1.29%, the CAC 40 is up 0.95%, the Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.6% and the DAX is up 0.21%.

Futures & Currencies

Energy futures are up today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is up 0.48 at 52.47 per barrel. Brent crude is up 0.57 at 60.5 per barrel. Natural Gas is up 0.02 at 2.93. Precious metals are up this morning. Gold is up 7.54 at 1310.9 per ounce. Platinum is up 6.83 at 818.9 while silver is up 0.11 at 15.87. The dollar is mixed compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is up against the euro, up against the Yen and down against the Pound.

Put/Call Ratio

Yesterday, 820,662 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 624,306 put contracts. The single-session put/call was 0.76 while the 20-day moving average is now at 0.63.

Today's Economic Calendar

Earnings Expected Today