But the strong corporate results, improving economic data and the Senate's passage of a large infrastructure bill are all boosting investor morale.

Markets are still keeping an eye on the renewed strength of the pandemic and the new rise in producer prices in the United States, as well as on China, where infections are on the rise. The resurgence of the coronavirus is indeed slowing down production and shipments in some areas of the country, while shortages are already present everywhere in the production chains and sea freight rates are high.

Some of last big corporate results of the Q2 earnings season came in yesterday, such as Walt Disney, DoorDash and Airbnb. Disney was up 5.4% pre-bell after posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings, thanks the popularity of its streaming services and the return to profitability if its U.S. theme parks.

Today, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones look set to build on yesterday's record finishes...

 

Today's economic highlights:

To end the week, we have the European trade balance for June and the University of Michigan consumer confidence index.

The dollar/euro pair is little changed at EUR 0.8502, while the ounce of gold is still nibbling at some gains at USD 1758. In the oil market, the barrel is up slightly, with Brent at USD 71.12 and WTI at USD 68.85. The U.S. government bond is paying 1.35% over 10 years, while Germany's remains firmly in negative territory at -0.46%. Bitcoin is above USD 46,000.

 

On markets :

* Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines for immunocompromised people. In addition, South Korea signed an agreement to purchase 30 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer. Moderna shares are up 2% in premarket trading.

* Walt Disney reported better-than-expected quarterly results Thursday as the entertainment giant attracted more subscribers than expected to its video-on-demand service and benefited from the return of visitors to its theme parks. The stock gained 5.5% in pre-market trading.

* The Boeing Company - The launch of Boeing's Starliner space capsule could be delayed for several months because of needed repairs, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

* Tesla - Elon Musk said Friday he hopes the company's new "Gigafactory" in Berlin, which is behind schedule, will produce its first Tesla in October or soon after.

* AirBnB announced Thursday that bookings for the current quarter could be hurt by the Delta variant and the slowdown in the pace of vaccinations in the United States. The stock is down 3% in pre-market trading.

* Virgin Galactic - Richard Branson, the founder of the space tourism group, sold about 10.4 million shares at prices ranging from $25.51 to $34.76. The stock, which ended Thursday at $25.94, is down 3.3 percent in premarket trading.

* Kansas City Southern announced Thursday that it has rejected Canadian Pacific Railway's $27 billion bid and said it plans to postpone a shareholder vote on Canadian National Railway's $29 billion proposal if the rail regulator does not rule on the deal within the next five days.

* DoorDash lost 4.3% in pre-market trading in response to news that its second-quarter losses widened more than expected.

 

Analyst recommendations:

  • Activision Blizzard: Citigroup upgrades to "buy" from "neutral".
  • Apple: JP Morgan advises its customers to buy the stock. The target price remains unchanged at USD 175.
  • Baidu: Nomura lowers price target to $187 from $217, keeps at neutral
  • Brinker International : UBS adjusts price target to $58 from $71, maintains neutral rating
  • Cimarex: Mizuho Securities raised the recommendation to buy from neutral. PT soars by 46% to $95
  • Coca-Cola HBC: Jefferies remains a Hold with a target price raised from GBp 2,950 to GBp 3,000.
  • Cytokinetics, Incorporated : Mizuho Securities lifts price target to $45 from $36, buy rating kept
  • eBay : UBS adjusts price target to $70 from $67, maintains neutral rating
  • Meggitt : Investec downgrades to hold from buy, boosts pt
  • National CineMedia : Barrington Research trims price target to $4.50 from $5.50, keeps outperform rating
  • Palantir Technologies : Jefferies adjusts price target to $30 from $28, maintains buy rating
  • Signify Health : UBS lowers price target to $27 from $31, maintains neutral rating
  • Stock Spirits: Berenberg upgrades its Buy rating to Hold with a target of GBp 377. 
  • Tesla : UBS lifts price target  to $725 from $660, maintains neutral rating
  • Trane Technologies : UBS adjusts price target to $196 from $191, maintains neutral rating
  • Upstart: Barclays raised the recommendation to overweight from equal-weight. PT up 29% to $230