Markets retreat as investors take profit

US markets started the week lower on Monday as a better-than-expected US jobs report forced investors to reconsider expectations for a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 116 points, or 0.4%, at 26,806 whilst the S&P 500 index slipped 14 points, or 0.5%, at 2,976. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.8% to end the session at 8,098.

European markets also moved lower as the financial sector weighed on the region’s bourses. The pan-European STOXX 600 index retreated marginally after shares in Deutsche Bank closed 5 percent lower after investors questioned the bank’s restructuring targets. The basic resources sector meanwhile helped limit losses.

Maltese markets moved lower as the MSE Equity Total Return Index retreated 0.669 percent to end at 9,736.647 points. Malita Investments Plc led the losses with shares down 4.05 percent, followed by Simonds Farsons Cisk and FIMBank Plc which both retreated by 3.85 percent. Malta International Airport meanwhile saw the biggest gains with shares closing up 2.14 percent.

Airbus, Boeing reconsider Canada jet fighter

Airbus SE and Boeing Co may pull out of a bidding process to supply Canada with new fighter jets because they say the contest is unfairly tilted toward Lockheed Martin Corp, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said on Monday. Boeing and Airbus have now formally written to Ottawa expressing concerns about the current requirements. The fourth bidder is Sweden’s Saab AB.

Next week the government is due to release the so-called request for proposals – the final list of requirements – for the 88 new planes it wants to buy. The contract is worth between C$15 billion ($11.5 billion) and C$19 billion and the planes are due to be delivered between 2025 and the early 2030s. The three companies competing with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet have already complained about the way the contest is being run, and expressed concern some of the specifications clearly favour the U.S. firm

Qualcomm seeks appeals court

US chip-maker, Qualcomm Inc on Monday asked a U.S. appeals court to pause an antitrust ruling that could drastically alter its business model while it tries to overturn the ruling. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ruled that Qualcomm had engaged in anticompetitive patent-licensing practices to keep a monopoly on the mobile chip market.

The filing with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after Koh last week declined to put on hold her own ruling in a case brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against the San Diego company, which is the largest supplier of modem chips that connect smartphones to wireless data networks.

This article was issued by Peter Petrov, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.