US OPEN: Wall Street slightly up at the start of an interesting week

• Wall Street opens marginally higher. US500 gains 0.2% and US100 loses 0.05%

• Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ.US) failed to meet Wall Street's second quarter revenue expectations

• Piper Sandler sees risks around American Express (AXP.US) business 

• AMC (AMC.US) on wave of preference share decision

Wall Street's first trading session of the week brings moderate rallies for the major stock indices as they await quarterly reports from major US technology companies and decisions from the FED, ECB and BoJ on interest rates and monetary policy. 

Today, meanwhile, attention is focused on PMI readings from Europe and the US. Compared to the readings from European countries, the data from the US performs slightly better. The PMI analysts indicate that the overall pace of manufacturing growth, as measured in the industrial and service sectors, is in line with GDP growth at a quarterly annualised rate of around 1.5% at the start of the third quarter. This is down from the 2% pace signalled by the survey in the second quarter.

• Industry: 49.0; Expected: 46.4; Previously: 46.3

• Services: 52.4; Expected: 54; Previously: 54.4

Stocks from Wall Street, table size reflects market capitalisation. Among the largest companies, Amazon (AMZN.US), Tesla (TSLA.US) and Meta Platforms (META.US) are the strongest losers today. Source: xStation 5

The market is almost 100% certain of a 25bp Fed hike this Wednesday. However, Powell's overall message and the FOMC's determination to keep rates at higher levels, for longer, remains key.  At this point, the swaps market is assuming that this will be the last rate hike of the cycle. Source: CME 

Futures on the S&P 500 (US500) are moving in an uptrend, with key support and resistance levels at the moment being the psychological level of 4600 points (resistance and the zone of recent local highs) and the zone of 4550-4500 points (support, the 78.6% Fibo measure of the downward wave from the beginning of 2021 and the psychological barrier of 4500 points). Source: xStation 5

Company news:

• Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ.US) failed to meet Wall Street's second-quarter revenue expectations as increased delivery fees and higher prices to boost margins hurt demand for the company's meals. Domino's US sales grew 0.1% in the second quarter, compared to analyst estimates of around 0.2%. Domino's total revenue fell 3.8% to $1.02 billion, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. On the other hand, however, Domino's reported earnings of $3.08 per share, above Refinitiv's estimate of $3.05.

• AMC (AMC.US) shares gained nearly 38% early in the session in the face of the court's decision to reject a proposed plan to convert preferred shares into common shares. 

• American Express (AXP.US) shares lost nearly 2% early in the session after Piper Sandler downgraded its recommendation on the company's shares to an 'underweight' rating. According to analysts, meeting its revenue and earnings growth targets could be in jeopardy. The target price has fallen from $172 to $149. 

• Wall Street's attention this week will focus on the quarterly earnings readings of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), Microsoft (MSFT.US) and Meta Platforms (META.US). In this aspect, results from the 'cloud' sectors appear to be key, as they are likely to end a near year-long slowdown in these parts of the business. The reports from these companies will be a test of sorts of their valuations and the general euphoria around these AI-driven companies. 

• As reported by Reuters, Apple (APPL.US) has decided to maintain production of iPhones (model 15) at 85 million units (a production scale similar to that of a year ago), despite the anticipated decline in the smartphone market. Furthermore, the company is considering raising the price of Pro models.