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Briefing.com Summary:
*Mixed action in the Treasury market and oil market is contributing to mixed action in the stock market.
*PTC (PTC) is being acquired for $205.00 per share in cash.
*The ISM Services PMI at 10:00 a.m. ET has potential market-moving impact.
We have a stock market this morning trading in a befitting manner for a Monday. It is mixed with a lack of conviction on both sides of the tape.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are down 10 points and are trading fractionally below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 75 points and are trading 0.3% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 69 points and are trading 0.2% below fair value.
Explanations for this mixed disposition revolve around the usual suspects: elevated Treasury yields, and elevated oil prices, neither of which are moving with much convition this morning either.
The 2-yr note yield is unchanged at 4.82%, and the 10-yr note yield is up two basis points to 5.30%. WTI crude futures are down 0.8% to $90.30/bbl, while Brent crude futures are up 0.4% to $102.63/bbl.
Market participants aren't paying much heed to the corporate headlines, mainly because there isn't much fodder in those headlines to excite the masses.
PTC (PTC) shareholders might be an excited bunch, however. Schneider Electric is buying PTC for $205.00 per share in cash—a 42% premium over Friday's closing price—implying an enterprise value of approximately EUR 21 billion.
With the lack of exciting corporate news, some research calls are gaining some extra attention.
Melius Research is upgrading Microsoft (MSFT) to Buy from Hold, Citigroup is upgrading Harley-Davidson (HOG) to Buy from Neutral, Barclays is upgrading Estee Lauder (EL) to Overweight from Equal Weight, Morgan Stanley is upgrading Wells Fargo (WFC) to Overweight from Equal Weight, BofA is upgrading DraftKings (DKNG) to Buy from Neutral, and Morgan Stanley is downgrading AutoNation (AN) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
A more expansive list of rating changes can be found on Briefing.com's Upgrades/Downgrades Calendar.
Separately, the Economic Calendar features two reports of note today. There is the final September S&P Global U.S. Services PMI (prior 58.7) at 9:45 a.m. ET and the September ISM Services PMI (Briefing.com consensus: 55.7; prior 55.4) at 10:00 a.m. ET.
The ISM Services PMI will be the more important of the two, with the trading response focused most likely on the headline number, first, and then the new orders index and price index.
That report may, or may not, get the stock market in a more active mode, but it will likely hinge on the active line the Treasury market takes in its wake.
