ECONOMIC SILUET: Watch these media giants, consumer staples stocks and bank ETFs in trading tomorrow

Senin, 19 Desember 2022

Watch these media giants, consumer staples stocks and bank ETFs in trading tomorrow

MON, DEC 19, 2022

The goal of this newsletter is to get you ahead of the next day of investing and trading. It's your first look at tomorrow and last look at today powered by the team of people who direct CNBC TV's stock market coverage.

Tomorrow's Top CNBC Stories Tonight

Tumultuous trading for large media names

It was a rough day for many media giants. Warner Bros. Discovery fell 6.66%, now off by roughly 18% in a week. Fox Corporation dropped 4%, and Paramount Global and News Corp. each fell more than 2%. Paramount is down 15% in December. Walt Disney, which is by far the largest of these names, fell almost 5% to close at its lowest level since March 2020 (just two cents lower and it would've been its lowest close since 2014).

Meta shares suffer amid regulatory heat in Europe

Elsewhere, Meta Platforms fell more than 4% as regulatory scrutiny heats up overseas. That stock is among the worst performers in the communication services sector this year, down 65%, though it has rallied around 30% off its early-November low. Nonetheless, Meta has shed over $600 billion in market cap this year, having started 2022 in striking distance of the trillion-dollar market cap club. The stock is now worth about $304 billion.

Cruise and airline operators suffer as holidays kick off

Travel names fell across the board Monday. Cruise lines Norwegian, Carnival and Royal Caribbean fell each fell more than 3%, and shares are off roughly 10% in the past week. Casino operators Wynn Resorts, Caesars, MGM and Las Vegas Sands were firmly in negative territory. In airlines, Alaska Air, American and Southwest dropped over 2%. Delta and United were relative outperformers, down half a percent and 1%, respectively.
A quick note on the two big booking stocks: Booking Holdings was an outperformer Monday, finishing just below the flatline. It's down 7% in December and is still around 20% off its October low. Expedia, on the other hand, fell 3% to its lowest level since August 2020 and is down 20% so far this month.

Seeking shelter in consumer staples

Several stocks within the consumer staples sector finished in positive territory as investors look for potentially defensive areas of the market. Molson Coors, Keurig Dr Pepper, Walgreens and PepsiCo were among those outperformers. J.M. Smucker, Lamb Weston and Campbell Soup also hit intraday records, though Campbell ultimately finished lower. While the S&P 500 is down more than 3% in the past month, more than half of the staples sector is in positive territory.

Energy utilities pop over the past month

The same is true of the utilities sector, which is up 1.8% in a month. Energy utilities lead the pack: Exelon, FirstEnergy, PG&E, Edison International, Evergy and Southern Company are up 5% or more in a month. NRG Energy is the outlier, down 25% in a month on its announcement to buy Vivint Smart Home. NRG actually rose more than 1.5% on Monday, following an upgrade to neutral from underperform at Bank of America.

Bank ETFs post gains and break a losing streak

The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) and SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) posted their first gains in five sessions on Monday, though both are on track for their worst month since March 2020. In regionals, First Bancorp, ServisFirst, Heritage Financial and United Community Banks were among the leaders. Among the big banks, Wells Fargo and Bank of America both gained over 1%, though both are still down double digits in December.