US OPEN: US100 in key support zone at the end of the week 💡

• US100 down 0.8% early Friday
• Nike down 5% after quarterly earnings
• Starbucks under pressure from holiday strikes
• FedEx to spin off freight unit
• Eli Lillly gains on weak Novo Nordisk clinical data

US markets open Friday's cash session in mixed mood. 15 minutes after Wall Street opens, Nasdaq down 0.55%, while S&P500 down 0.14%. Investors' attention today is focused on corporate news and US PCE data.

Current volatility observed on Wall Street. Source: xStation

US100

The Nasdaq-100 index, represented by the US100 contract, is trading 0.8% lower today than yesterday's close. The index is still in a strong uptrend, although at the time of writing the supply side is retesting a key support point, the 50-day EMA (blue line). From a technical perspective, it seems that the key to maintaining the gains may be whether the bulls can defend this zone, as they did twice in November.

Source: xStation 5

Corporate News

Nike (NKE.US) shares are down 5.2% in early trading after CEO Elliott Hill warned that the company’s turnaround efforts could hurt near-term results. At the same time, On Holding (ONON.US) shares are down 3.9%, Lululemon Athletica (LULU.US) is down 2.3%, Under Armour (UA.US) is down 2%, and Foot Locker (FL.US) is down 1.5%.

Nike Quarterly Results Highlights:

• Revenue $12.35 billion, -7.7% y/y, estimated $12.13 billion
• Total Nike brand revenue $11.95 billion, -7.2% y/y, estimated $11.64 billion
• Footwear revenue $7.66 billion, -11% y/y, estimated $7.74bn
• Apparel revenue $3.74bn, -1% y/y, estimated $3.4bn
• Equipment revenue $544m, +14% y/y, estimated $470.6m
• Gross margin 43.6% vs. 44.6% y/y, estimated 43.1%
• EPS 78c vs. $1.03 y/y, estimated 63c
• Nike brand total operating income before interest and tax (EBIT) $1.90bn, -18% y/y, estimated $1.71bn
• Inventories $7.98bn vs. $7.98bn y/y, estimated $7.65bn

Starbucks Corp (SBUX.US) barista unions plans to go on holiday strikes for five days starting Friday after the latest negotiation session reached an impasse, the group said. The union represents workers at more than 500 of Starbucks’ 10,000 U.S. stores. The stock is currently down 1%.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks are losing ground today after Bitcoin fell below the $93,000 barrier before paring some of its losses in the second half of the session. MicroStrategy (MSTR.US) and Coinbase (COIN.US) are down 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively.

FedEx Corp. (FDX.US) shares gained 8.3% after the company said it plans to spin off its freight division into a separate public company in a deal that will streamline the shipping giant’s operations. The cargo unit is set to be spun off as a public company within 18 months and valued at about $30 billion.