Stock market news: Opening bell, August 29, 2018

Canadian
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to journalists outside
the U.S. Trade Representative’s office in Washington.
Reuters/Chris Wattie

Here is what you need to know. 

The Turkish lira is diving after Moody’s warned the worst is yet
to come for the country’s banks. The lira was
down about 2% at 6.4035 per dollar after the ratings agency
Moody’s said there’s a “heightened risk of a downside
funding scenario, where a deterioration in investor sentiment
limits access to market funding.”

The US Senate confirms the Fed’s vice
chair. Richard Clarida, a managing
director at fund manager Pimco and an economics professor at
Columbia University, was confirmed by a vote of 69 to 26, Reuters
says.

Trump freezing Canada out in NAFTA negotiations is ‘straight from
the Art of the Deal’. President Donald Trump
used a page from his book “Art of the Deal,” which discusses
successful negotiations as zero-sum games won by keeping others
on their toes and maximizing leverage, by freezing out Canada in
NAFTA talks. 

Morgan Stanley is urging its super-rich clients to pull out of
one of the market’s hottest corners.  Morgan
Stanley Wealth Management has told its clients to “consider
taking profits” in the consumer-discretionary sector and has
offered three alternatives.

There’s a new area of the stock market that’s quietly crushing it
— and a few simple trades can get you in on the
action. S&P 500 healthcare stocks have
quietly returned 10% since the start of the third quarter — two
full percentage points more than any other sector. 

Thomson Reuters is buying back a ton of
stock. The news and data company will buy back
$9 billion worth of stock, using the proceeds of the sale of
the majority of its Financial and Risk business to Blackstone
Group, Reuters says. 

Aston Martin has plans to go public. The
high-end British car maker is expected to go public at a
valuation of around £5 billion ($6.44 billion).

Stock markets
around the world are mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
(+0.23%) led the gains in Asia and Britain’s FTSE (+0.5%) lags in
Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,899.

Earnings reports keep coming. American Eagle and
Dick’s Sporting Goods will report ahead of the opening bell while
Salesforce releases its quarterly results after markets
close.  

US
economic flows. The second estimate of
second-quarter GDP will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and pending
home sales will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year
yield is down 1 basis point at 2.87%.