Stock Market Update

The stock market remains on track for a higher opening this morning as semiconductor stocks are poised to extend yesterday's rebound, while a falling price of oil lends support to the broader market.

On the date front, the trade deficit narrowed to $55.9 billion in April (Briefing.com consensus: -$55.5 billion) from an upwardly revised $56.6 billion (from -$60.3 billion) in March. The narrowing was a function of exports being $8.3 billion more than March exports and imports being $7.6 billion more than March imports.

The key takeaway from the report is that the export strength was concentrated in crude oil exports (+$6.4 billion), fuel oil exports (+$1.3 billion), and other petroleum products (+$1.0 billion), which were boosted by the supply disruptions tied to the difficulties traversing the Strait of Hormuz.