U.S. Homebuilder Confidence Improves Much More Than Expected In June

The National Association of Home Builders released a report on Monday showing homebuilder confidence in the U.S. has improved by much more than expected in the month of June.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped to 55 in June from 50 in May. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 51.

The housing market index increased for the sixth straight month, climbing above the midpoint of 50 for the first time since July 2022.

“Builders are feeling cautiously optimistic about market conditions given low levels of existing home inventory and ongoing gradual improvements for supply chains,” said NAHB Chairman Alicia Huey.

She added, “However, access for builder and developer loans has become more difficult to obtain over the last year, which will ultimately result in lower lot supplies as the industry tries to expand off cycle lows.”

The bigger than expected increase by the housing market index reflected continued advances by all three component indices.

The NAHB said the index gauging current sales conditions jumped five points to 61, the component charting sales expectations in the next six months surged six points to 62 and the gauge measuring traffic of prospective buyers rose four points to 37.

On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of May.

VCI Global Climbs 84% On The Right To Distribute AI-based Application For Cogia GmbH

Shares of VCI Global Limited (VCIG) are up 84% on Tuesday morning trade after the announcement that it has been granted a distributorship right by Cogia GmbH to promote, market, and distribute its AI-based communication application “Socializer Messenger”.

VCIG is trading on the Nasdaq at $5.24, up 84.98% or $2.41 per share. It has traded between $1.53 and $24.20 in the past 52-week period.

The company stated that the AI-based “Socializer Messenger” is a secured all-in-one communication tool with full data encryption and privacy protection on top of having all the essential conventional services offered by other messaging devices.

VCIG is granted an exclusive distributorship within the Southeast Asian countries and a non-exclusive distributorship for areas outside Southeast Asia, and it will be entitled to a certain percentage of the revenue generated from the sales of the messenger.

This distributorship will be for a period of two years and will automatically be renewed for an additional year.

North America Experienced Warmest May On Record

In 2023, North America and South America experienced their warmest Mays on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

While Africa, Asia and Europe each had one of their warmest Mays, Antarctica had a cooler-than-average May.

Globally, May 2023 ranks as the world’s third-warmest May on record.

The average global temperature recorded in May was 1.75 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 58.6 degrees F. It was such a hot month that May 2023 ranked as the third-warmest May in 174 years. It marked the 531st consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average.

Earth’s ocean surface temperatures also set a record high for the second consecutive month, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

For a second month in a row, global ocean surface temperatures set a record high.

With above-average sea surface temperatures strengthening across the equatorial Pacific Ocean, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center announced the arrival of El Nino conditions.

Global surface temperature recorded in the first five months of this year ranked as the fourth-warmest such period on record, NOAA said in its global May climate report.

2023 will rank as one of the 10 warmest years on record, and most probably, it will rank among the top five, as per NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Rankings Outlook.

European Economic News Preview: Germany Producer Price Data Due

Producer prices from Germany and current account from the euro area are the top economic news due on Tuesday.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany’s producer prices for May. Economists forecast producer price inflation to ease to 1.7 percent from 4.1 percent in April.

At 4.00 am ET, the European Central Bank releases euro area current account data for April. The current account surplus is forecast to fall to EUR 30.1 billion from EUR 31.2 billion in March.

At 5.00 am ET, construction output data is due from Eurozone. Economists expect construction output to remain flat in April after easing 2.4 percent in March.

At 8.00 am ET, Hungary’s central bank announces its monetary policy decision. The bank is widely expected to hold base rate at 13.00 percent.

AT&T Expects 3% Growth In Adj. EBITDA For Full Year

AT&T Inc. (T), a telecom holding company, said on Tuesday that it expects an adjusted EBITDA growth of 3 percent, for full year 2023. This is mainly in-line capital investment and lower handset payments, for the year.

The company noted that it continues to focus to boost high-value customer base for both 5G and fiber.

For the second-quarter, in wireless, the company is tracking slightly above 300,000 postpaid phone net additions, with fiber net additions in the mid-200,000 range.

In addition, the telecom firm anticipates deploying midband 5G spectrum to 200 million people by year-end 2023. The company expects to pass over 30 million consumer and business locations in its traditional service area with its fiber network by the end of 2025.

Beam Global Shares Up 4%

Shares of Beam Global (BEEM) are up 4% on Tuesday morning trade, after the company announced its intent to acquire Europe based Amiga, the pricing of a $22.5 million public offering and provided second quarter revenue guidance.

BEEM is trading on the Nasdaq at $10.35, up 4.12% or $0.41 per share. It has traded between $8.51 and $21.58 in the past 52-week period.

The acquisition of Amiga will help Beam Global’s business to expand into the European market and increase its manufacturing and engineering capabilities. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the third or fourth quarter of 2023.

The company also announced the pricing of an upsized underwritten public offering, of 2.5 million shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $9.00 per share. Gross proceeds from the offering are expected to be about $22.5 million. The offering is expected to close on or about June 22, 2023.

The net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund the initial cash portion of the proposed acquisition of Amiga and other general corporate purposes.

Beam Global provided revenue guidance for the second quarter to be in a range of $15.5 million to $17.0 million. On average 4 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters expect the company’s revenue to be $13.21 million.